Rum Gingerbread Baked in a Reflector Oven

Rum Gingerbread

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

2- 1/2 cups flour

1- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup molasses

3/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup rum

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Combine butter, sugar and egg.  Stir in dry ingredients alternately with the molasses, water and rum.  Pour into a buttered 9 x 12- inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  You may substitute buttermilk for the water and rum.

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Happy Valentines Day!

A sweet remembrance of past Valentine celebrations.

Valentine’s Day at Paula Walton’s 18th Century Home Journal

Nine posts of receipts (aka recipes), projects, & antiques for Valentine’s day

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/the-sweet-rewards…/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/happy-valentines…/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/happy…/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/14/vintage-valentines/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/a-valentine-to…/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/hearts-both-new…/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/13/sweet-love-tokens/

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/…/two-heart…/

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a New Year filled with Peace, Love & Joy! Happy 2020!

Pop Up Shop!!! ~ Antique & Handmade Goods to Welcome St. Nicholas!

Pop Up Shop!!! ~ Antique & Handmade Goods to Welcome St. Nicholas!

Pop Up Shop!!! ~ Antique & Handmade Goods to Welcome St. Nicholas!

 

I have a pop up shop filled with a variety of handmade, vintage and antique items… spun cotton ornaments, teddy bears, antique baby shoes, tiny hanging display cases and more… Click here to see my St. Nicholas offerings!

Happy Easter! Crafting Silhouette Eggs

Silhouette image Easter eggs.

Wishing you & yours a very happy Easter Sunday! Last Easter I posted photos of some of the silhouette eggs I have created over the years. If unbroken these eggs will last indefinitely, but 20+ years of mischievous cats and accidents have taken their toll, so this year found me once again cutting paper silhouettes and saving onion skins.

I originally read about making these eggs in a Country Living magazine article written by Wendy Schultz Wubbels that appeared in the April 1997, Vol. 20 Issue 4, on page148. If you happen to have a stash of old Country Living magazines go dig out this issue! If you don’t, I’ll give you the basic steps for making these amazing eggs:

gather your materials…

Gather Your Materials: First and foremost save the skin from every onion you use! You need a LOT of onion skins to dye these eggs… I needed to come up with a lot of onion skins in a hurry, so I resorted to peeling 6 lbs. of onions! After carefully peeling and saving every bit of onion skin I made a huge pot of French Onion Soup. 🙂

You’ll also need white eggs, an old pair of panty hose, some twist ties, vinegar, white copy paper, small sharp scissors, copy right free silhouette images or your own hand drawn silhouettes, and a large pot.

onions!

French onion soup.

Cut Out Your Paper Silhouettes

Trace or use a copier to transfer your desired silhouette images to plain white paper. I usually use copier paper because I find it to be a good weight to work with and I always have it at hand. Carefully cut out your silhouettes with a small pair of sharp scissors. I generally cut one or two extra silhouettes just in case I have any issues when I place them on the boiled eggs.

Boil Eggs & Steep Onion Skins

Gently boil clean, raw white eggs for at least 30 minutes. You want to get the interiors very hard boiled because the idea is to dry up the inside of the egg as much as possible. While the eggs are boiling place your onion skins in a large pot of water and add a generous splash of white vinegar, simmer on low until you get the color intensity you desire. I like to make my dye bath really dark because I use it to dye multiple batches of eggs. As the pigment leeches out of the dye bath, successive dye lots will get lighter and lighter. You may place the onion skins directly in the pot, or if you prefer to keep things a bit more contained like I do, put the onion skins in the mesh bags that your onions came in, with a twist tie to close the opening.

Mount Paper Silhouettes on Boiled Eggs

boiled eggs and cut out silhouettes…

Cut an old pair of panty hose into approximately 4 inch squares. Let your boiled eggs cool enough so that you can handle them easily. Fill a small bowl with water. Dip one paper silhouette in water and immediately position it on an egg. Gently smooth the paper with your finger so that all the edges are down and the entire surface of the paper is affixed to the egg. Place the egg in the middle of a square of pantyhose, silhouette side down, gather up the edges and pull the hose tight, twist tie edges together at the back of the egg.

mount silhouette on egg

mount silhouette on egg

mount silhouette on egg

mount silhouette on egg

Dye Eggs

Gently lower eggs into dye bath and simmer on very low heat until the eggs are dyed to your preferred intensity. Remove eggs from pot and place on white paper toweling. Let cool and drain a bit. Remove twist ties and hose, then carefully peel off the paper silhouette. Let air dry. Display!

• 

  remove from dye bath & drain on paper towling

  

  carefully peel away paper

  Because I needed to have some eggs that are both cat and toddler proof I also dyed some white plastic eggs that I purchased from Walmart. The only changes I made to the directions above is that I did not have to boil the eggs and I soaked the eggs in a lukewarm dye bath for 24 hours. The dye does not take as well on plastic, so the eggs are lighter and wound up being “brown paper bag” colored. (which I like) 🙂

Cat & Child friendly dyed plastic silhouette eggs ❤

See more of my silhouette eggs in previous posts:

https://paulawalton.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/easter-greetings/

Wishing You Easter Joy!

Wishing You a Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mistress Walton’s Valentine Pop – Up Shoppe ~ SOLD OUT ~ THANK YOU

Assistant shopkeepers Hannah and Isabeau have set up the shipping department on the kitchen table… The girls are very organized, they have boxes, packing materials, and a cart –  all ready to load with parcels for a trip to the post office.

Josephine has been spending her time composing advertisements for the shoppe. “Mistress Walton begs leave to inform her Friends and the Public in general that she intends opening a Pop-Up Shoppe on Tuesday, the 13th inst. with a new and elegant assortment of paper cuttings, stitchery, and love tokens… Mistress Walton takes this opportunity of returning thanks for the great patronage she has already received from her numerous friends… ” Josephine is a devoted reader and she found great inspiration in Advertisements for January, Ackerman’s Repository, Vol. XI, 1814

 

It has been a cold, snowy, ice covered week here in our sleepy little Connecticut home. Even a commute that is measured in yards, rather than miles, has been treacherous. So rather than working in either of my studios, the dolls and I have been sitting in front of the fire cutting silhouettes. ❤

sketching the outlines for new silhouettes…

Last evening we finally finished hand graining all the frames, mounting the silhouettes and framing them. Now that they are completed we are all ready to open our Valentine Pop-Up Shoppe ❤

MISTRESS WALTON’S VALENTINE POP-UP SHOPPE

Most of our various offerings are one of a kind. You’ll notice that several of them are similar, but have different details, varying frames, etc… Each item offered for sale has an item number and price. Free priority mail shipping is included to all U.S. addresses. Exact postage – no handling fees – are charged to foreign addresses. Connecticut residents will be charged 6.35 % sales tax. Payment may be made via Paypal, personal check or lay-away. All items sold on a first come basis. You may email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com with questions or to claim an item. If more than one person wishes to buy a particular item, I will go by the time stamp when your email is received to determine the 1st request.

A note about the photos, because of the glass there are some reflections in the photos. I also had a problem with static electricity and dust. I dusted, and dusted and dusted some more, but every time I looked again there were little dust particles on the outside of the glass… Needless to say, all of the silhouettes look so  much nicer in person :).

Baby Hands

Baby Hand #1 – $29.

Two variations of baby hands with hearts. I drew this little hand a couple of years ago when my granddaughter was a baby ❤ This is a very tiny paper cutting, the mounted silhouette is slightly less than 2 inches square. Framed to hang on the wall. $29.00 each.

# 1. $29

 

Baby Hand #1 $29.

# 2. $29

Baby Hands #2 $29

# 3 Tiny Girl with Hearts – $32.50 This mounted silhouette is 3 x 2 inches, with a frame the extends approximately 3/4 inch beyond the edges if the opening. This frame will stand or hang.

#3 Silhouette of a Tiny Girl with Hearts $32.50

Izannah Silhouettes

The dolls were all very patient about posing for me as I drew the pattern for their silhouettes using  my camera obscura  ❤

Camera obscura image…

… a second camera obscura image.

Izannah Silhouette #4 – $ 30

Izannah Silhouette #4 – $30

#4 Izannah Silhouette – $30 A little 3 x 2 inch bust length Izannah silhouette, framed to stand or hang.

#5 Full Length Izannah Silhouette – $59 with Valentine Heart and Envelope – $30 Mounted on a 4 x 6 inch background, accented with a woven paper Valentine & envelope with a wax seal impressed with an antique seal. Framed to hang.

#5 Full Length Izannah Silhouette $59

 

Hollow Cut Full Length Izannah Silhouettes #6 & #7 – $49 Two versions of hollow cut Izannah silhouettes mounted on 4 x 6 inch backgrounds. Framed to stand or hang.

#6 Hollowcut Full Length Izannah Silhouette w/ heart $49

#6 – $49

#7 Hollowcut Full Length Izannah Silhouette $49

#7 – $49

#8 Woven Heart and Hand – $49 Mounted on a 3.5 x 5 background. Framed to stand or hang.

#8 – Woven Heart and Hand $49

# 9 –  13 Young Girl with Doll and Heart – Five different variations of the same silhouette with different mountings, hearts and frames.

#9 4 x 6 inch mounted version. Framed to stand or hang. $59

#9 – $59

#10 4 x 6 inch mounted version. Framed to stand or hang. $59

#10 – $59

#11 Mounted on a 5 x 7 inch background. Framed to hang stand or hang. $59

#11 – $59

#12 Mounted on a 5 x 7 inch background. Framed to hang stand or hang. $59

#12 – $59

#13 Mounted on a 5 x 7 inch background. Framed to stand or hang. $59

#13 – $59

#14 Mother and Child with Doll. Mounted on a 5 x 7 inch background. Framed to stand or hang. $65

#14 – $59

#15 Third Hand with Heart & Heart Pincushion – $65. Muslin hand with applied thumb on an iron clamp. Use this “third” hand aka “sewing bird” to hold one end of you fabric when hand sewing long seams. Accented with a heart and accompanied by a separate heart pincushion. Both hearts are hand sewn from hand dyed, felted wool, with hand pinked edges.

Third Hand with Heart and Heart Pincushion – $65

#16 & 17 Hand Stitched Adam and Eve Pins – $25 each Tiny Adam and Eve samplers to wear.

Adam and Eve Sampler Pins $25 each

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed attending our Valentine Pop – Up Shoppe sale! ❤

September Newsletter

It’s That time again… my Autumn Newsletter is going out today ❤

A Sweet Remembrance September 2017 Newsletter

Greetings All!

I have lots of exciting news to share in this newsletter!  So I’m just going to jump right in…

1. In just 2 weeks I’ll be having my annual online celebration of Izannah Walker’s birthday. This is an extra-special year because it marks the 200^th anniversary of the day she was born, September 25^th, 1817. I’ll be posting off and on all day on the 25^th at www.izannahwalker.com. There will be some new dolls available for sale that day, which will be posted at noon eastern time. Come visit the blog, join in the virtual party and celebrate with us!
2. Izannah Walker Birthday Greetings Project. As a fun way to celebrate Izannah Walker’s birthday I would like to invite you all to email me a short birthday message along with a photograph of your Izannah Walker doll, whether it is an antique original, a reproduction doll that I have made for you, or a doll that you have made yourself in tribute to Izannah’s dolls! Please send your photo and birthday greeting to paula@asweetremembrance.com no later than September 18th. I will post all of the photos and their accompanying messages on http://www.izannahwalker.com as part of my annual Izannah Walker birthday celebration. Everyone who sends in a birthday greeting will be entered in a drawing to win a special birthday surprise package!!!

https://izannahwalker.com/2017/09/06/remember-to-write-to-absent-friends-izannah-walker-birthday-greetings-project/

3. You may already know that I wrote a twelve page article about Izannah Walker for the September issue of Antique Doll Collector. The issue has sold out. The magazine has no more copies, and will not be printing any more. If you are looking for a copy, try Barnes & Nobel.  Many of their stores still had some this past week, although in very limited quantities.
4. Another thing that you might be aware of is that I am the co-chairman for my doll club’s annual doll show, which is coming up on October 29^th in Southbury, CT. This is the 30^th year for the show, so in honor of both the club’s 30^th show and Izannah Walker’s 200^th birthday, I am curating a special educational exhibit of Izannah Walker dolls at the show.  Admission to the exhibit is included with your paid entrance ($7) to the show.  It is going to be a wonderful show and a fantastic exhibit, with a very large group of antique Izannah Walker dolls belonging to Jenny Lind Doll Club members and friends! To find out more about the show visit the show blog https://jennylinddollshow.wordpress.com/ and the show facebook page www.facebook.com/jennylinddollshow/  you can get discount admission coupons there too. If you are interested in selling at the show, I do still have a little space left!!! Email me ASAP at jennylinddollshow@gmail.com for a contract!!!
5. In case you missed them, my new Third Thursdays are going strong! Because of Izannah Walker’s birthday celebration there is no “3^rd Thursday” in September. There isn’t going to be one in October either, because any dolls I get finished in October will be going to the doll show with me. I want to have some there at the exhibit for people to hold and examine up close. Obviously all of the antique Izannah Walker dolls will be roped off, but I would like to make the exhibit a bit interactive, so I will have some of my reproduction dolls on hand for those who would like to give them a gentle hug and get a good sense of their size and weight.  For more information on 3^rd Thursday’s click on this link: https://izannahwalker.com/2017/07/15/third-thursdays-start-this-month-mark-your-calendar-then-come-back-on-thursday-to-see-this-months-new-dolls-for-sale/ .
6. I have a new article in the upcoming Christmas issue of Early American Life magazine. It is a project article on how to make cotton batting candy containers. Also included in the Christmas issue is the Holiday Directory of Traditional American Craftsmen. I’m very honored to have been included in the Holiday Directory again this year. To see a bit more about my candy container article click here: https://spuncottonornaments.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/look-for-me-in-the-christmas-2017-issue-of-early-american-life/ .
7. The class support sites for both my Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll Making Class and my Spun Cotton Ornament Class have moved to private facebook pages. No one has been using the Ning sites, so I have switched over to facebook. Both Ning sites are still available at this time, so please go save whatever information you would like to keep from the Ning sites. I will NOT be moving all of the previously posted information over to facebook. We are starting out fresh! The spun cotton ornament how-to videos are posted on the facebook site.  If you are already a member of either class and would like to come join us on facebook, please email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com and tell me the email address that you use for your facebook account. I will then check to make sure you are a class member, and send you an invitation to the class page.  At this time I have NOT moved the Alabama Baby Class over to facebook, it is still only on Ning.
8. Sometimes when I post new dolls for sale, they sell very quickly. I do realize that ideally people would like to take their time looking at my latest doll offerings, and then if any of my dolls tugged at their heart, decide if they would like to welcome that special reproduction Izannah Walker doll into their home. I’m sorry that you do not always have the opportunity to do that. Because I am a doll maker, selling my dolls is different than selling antique dolls. If you are selling antique dolls you already have the doll in your possession, so it is possible for you to announce exactly what you are selling ahead of time in the case of doll auctions, or before shows. Which gives people time to make up their minds about a doll in advance. As a doll maker, I spend around 100 hours creating each doll I sell. This is 100 working hours, not elapsed time.  I have to spend quite a bit of time waiting for paint to dry and washing and drying antique fabric… Generally my dolls are not finished until right before I post them.  Even when I do  shows, I have a tendency to be working on dolls right up until the very last second. In my world there is never enough time! So please forgive me for not being able to give you advance photos and lists of the dolls that I will have for sale on Izannah Walker’s birthday, at shows, or on Third Thursdays. Surprises and spontaneity can be good things! I’m always overly optimistic about how many dolls I want to make, so there is the perpetual question of exactly which dolls I will be able to get finished in time. 🙂

Fondly,

Paula

post script: If you like to receive my newsletters in your inbox, email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com and let me know you’d like to be on my mailing list. You can be removed from the list whenever you choose, simply by asking…

Easter Greetings!

Wishing you a joyous Easter Sunday ❤

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Spring Must Truly Be Here ~ It is Flea Market Season Once Again

This past Sunday marked the first day of the 2017 season at my local flea market, the Elephant’s Trunk.  It was a glorious feeling to finally escape the last clinging hold of winter, and be back searching for centuries old bits of this and that on a warm spring morning…

Opening Day at the Elephant’s Trunk

This huge 19th century wooden camera was perhaps the most intriguing item we saw all morning….

 

Extremely large wooden 19th century camera.

 

After a length trek through the flea market field and parking lot, we returned home with a few mementos 🙂

Early 19th century rod back windsor high chair

Pastoral Davenport transferware platter

a half dozen Lenten Roses, quite fitting for Palm Sunday

Much more prosiac, a stack of baseball jerseys…

(click on any image to read caption and enlarge)

Our treasures have quickly become integrated into our household…

Sadie thinks this chair was meant for her… she doesn’t care that somewhere along the line it has lost it’s arms, that simply makes it all the better to recline on ❤

❤

fresh asparagus… another delight of spring

Not Yet Spring…

Winter is reluctant to give up her icy crown…