Ghosties and Ghoulies!

My shelf is full, but hopefully not for long!
I hope you see you at my update tomorrow, here at 11am EST/8am PST! :)

Pre-Halloween Update Announcement!

I just can't wait any longer! I've been dreaming of pumpkins and witches and graveyards and ghosts! The cool air of fall and the colorful leaves and all of those ripe apples gives me such a wondrous feeling that has me thinking that fall really is my very favorite season. And so with those things dancing in my head, I've been conjuring up happy pumpkin people, black cats, devils stewing in pots, and creatures emerging from the grave. I'll be offering a good sampling of them a bit early this year. I hope you'll come and see what I've got! :)

Blog readers get first dibs as usual and if you'd like to be notified about upcoming blog updates and special events, just sign up for my mailing list on the right side of my blog, or leave a comment with your email address.

New one-of-a-kind pieces will be available for purchase on:

Friday, August 17 - Here, the blog - 11:00 am EST

See you here on Friday! :)

Krampus

I posted a little pic of the Krampus I was making a little while back and got lots of curious and excited people wanting to know more about Krampus and also wanting to know if I'll be making more. I made this guy as custom order for a very sweet gal and it has been sent off to it's new home. I will be making other versions...perhaps one or two large like this guy and few smaller and ornament sized. Stay tuned for those!

And as far as Krampus goes...from what I know...Krampus is a colleague of Santa Claus according to the old Germany stories. Santa tells Krampus about the naughty children and then Krampus seeks them out for punishment.

He snatches the children...

And carries them off in a big basket he wears on his back. He carries a birch stick that he uses to punish the naughty children and also sometimes pulls their hair and shackles them in chains.

Pretty gruesome if you ask me...but certainly an effective way to keep your children behaving properly, and probably also an effective way to give them nightmares and a lifelong fear of goats!

Spun cotton Krampus is not recommended for children, but is able to delight adults with it's history. Nowadays children are merely threatened to get nothing but coal for Christmas. Just like the story of Cinderella and other Grimm fairy tales are much kinder to the children who listen to them. (Did you know that in the original story of Cinderella, one step sister cuts off her big toe, and the other her heel, to fit into the glass slipper and at the end, the step mother gets her eyes pecked out by the dove who watches over Cinderella's mother's grave? Yikes!)

Take my New Poll!

As I'm planning my next blog update (for Halloween, mwah ha ha ha)...I am wondering, when is best? I usually have it at the same time (11am EST) on a random day during the week, but I wonder if that's really the best time to have it? I'm flexible..so I wonder what time would be best for you? I'd hate for anyone to feel like they missed out.

If you would, I would be ever so grateful if you took my poll. It's right over there on the sidebar at the top and it's super easy. Pick the time(s) and whether you'd prefer a weekend or weekday. This will help me decide when to have the next update. :) And if you have a more specific idea of when would be best for you, I'd love to hear your comments or send me an email, vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com.

**Oops, I just realized there is a typo in the poll...that first option is supposed to 8 am, not pm..oopsie!**

Thank you so much!! I value your input so so much!

Look Who's Coming Out of Hiding!

I've been slowly but surely working on Halloween lately and I couldn't resist letting a few go right now. I've posted three Halloween spooks in my Etsy shop, including Mr. Mummy, emerging from an ancient slumber and ready to scare the skittles out of small children, and the two nicer gals below...ready to collect some candy, even though it's only August. :)

A note...

After our anniversary yesterday I'm still feeling quite sappy. I have this little piece of paper towel pinned near a window in my studio. It's one of many sweet notes Ben wrote me in the last 8 years. The very first I remember was when we were still in college...we were barely dating when he spotted my $1 vintage bicycle outside of a building on campus and he tucked a piece of paper into the seat for me to discover. Sigh...I'm a lucky girl.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Us!

Wow....Exactly one year has passed since Ben and I were married on a rainy summer evening in the corn field at my parent's house. It was a magical affair and was a night that everyone in attendance will remember hopefully for a long long time. And Ben and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first year of marriage with many more to come. How will we celebrate? We've saved the wedding video my brother made for us and will watch it for the first time tonight! That is after he goes for a bike ride and I start installing the hallway floor...lol.

Click on the photos if you want to see them better...

With major help from my dad, we cleaned up the barn. We moved out a boat, a round hay baler, a giant air conditioner and lots and lots of stuff. We scrubbed and hosed down the walls and leveled the floor while the pigeons watched from above. We hung long swags of fabric and my sister, mom and I made many many many glittered stars to hang. We wrapped countless white lights, picked countless white queen anne's lace from the cow pastures and brought it all together to create one spectacular night.

The name tags were made from scans of a fabulous old children's book I have. I did a blog post on it years ago here. I've since seen the tags in places of honor in many of our loved ones homes.

Pom poms and pennants hang overhead in the buffet area while stars hang above the tables.

The lassos and old farm tools have been there for years and years.

Family photos, wagon wheels, and a people signed the portrait my mom drew just for us with messages of love.

My aunts helped put all the flowers together the day before...all contained in my collection of milk glass. I made the table numbers with white glitter and sumac branches from our yard.

An apple tree branch from my tree and some seeded dill from my aunts garden.

The gold gilded teacups (bottom right) were a gift from my cousin who got them from her aunt who got them from an estate sale at MY house back in the 70's! The set of 6 cups and saucers were a wedding gift to the town doctor who built and lived in my house! The old ladies who moved out in the 70's were great granddaughters or nieces of the doctor. One hundred years later they've come full circle.A place to hide.

A hat rack, ready for dessert.

A giant rusty mailbox delivers thoughtful gifts. A tub for champagne with memories hovering above.

Many many vintage glasses.

Ben and I had our own table because we couldn't fit at any other. My Aunt Barb grew green zinnias just for our big day!

I collected plates, glasses and flatware from thrift stores and garage sales. Everyone had their own different place setting.

Four types of favors...real egg boxes, cardboard top hats, party crackers and glittered candy cones. One favor for each person. I heard many stories afterward of people fighting over them. Some people wanted one of each. I was quite happy to hear that of course but wished I had made more! I can never tell when people will really love something or not care so much.

My childhood home that I still love spending time in...

Wagon ride anyone?

The road to corn. And the means to get there.

Sweet and curious girl.

For the cocktail hour by the pond.

Hurrying to finish my hat flower bouquet with some real leaves before getting into my dress.

The guys with their everlasting boutonnieres.

Ben was excited and let it show!

So many handsome guys!

The big reveal...

My favorite shots. Who doesn't love a weathered barn backdrop?

The old pine tree that grew near the house for a couple hundred years or more was cut down several years ago and part of it was used as pond furniture.

Stars are one of the prettiest shapes and I used them in my hair pieces and earrings. All are covered in silver glass glitter. My veil I found at Salvation Army for a song....it's long and beautiful. I saved all of my favorite hat flowers for my bouquet. My aunt made me a beautiful bracelet with rhinestones that belonged to my great grandmother and one of my long time friends and bridesmaid gave me the vintage rhinestone necklace right before the wedding.

Ben loves to be silly in the old outhouse that was built with the house, which was built in the 1700's.

I've spent many childhood mornings, noons, and nights playing in the screen house and pasture that Ben and I strolled passed.

It was hard not to cry when I remembered Magic, buried out there under the apple trees.

But the girls made me laugh. So so pretty! They picked out their own dresses (I'd hate making people spend a lot of money on something they don't want), as long as they were green and I made them necklaces and flowered hairpins.

The barn was built in the 1800's and has a lovely stash of lumber that I raid from time to time for woodworking projects...like our dining room table.

Dad was so funny that day...so in charge and on top of things. Thank you so much for that!

Before we were supposed to head out to the field...the sky was very overcast and rain was looming. And then it did rain. Lightly, but it rained. My dad told me that he's "calling it". We were going to have the ceremony in the barn. I was crushed and feeling a bit down. After a little while I went into the house to wait to be called out. Several people claim to have been the one to change my dad's mind...but I think when the rain actually stopped for a moment, he decided to take a chance. He came into the house and told me the original plan was back on track. I was thrilled and my mood lifted instantly! I didn't care if we got married in the pouring rain...I wanted to be out in the field! My dad went out to tell the guests, who were all waiting in the barn and I heard a very loud collective cheer, which made me over the moon happy!

Everyone loaded into the hay wagon.

My cousin Kurt drove the tractor.

And I was ready to get married! My dad was hilarious. I always pictured the moments before walking down the aisle with my dad to be so different than how they actually were. I pictured us standing there arm in arm, waiting for the music to begin, him saying something sentimental, me trying very hard not to tear up, and us walking down.
Instead we walked through the cornfield and when we were ready to walk down the aisle, my dad was behind me holding the back of my dress up like Pippa during the royal wedding and was ready to walk down like that. His hair was messy as usual and I grabbed his arm real quick and off we went.

In it's own way, it was perfect.

We got married in a room in the corn field with a long hallway leading from the driveway to the room. People sat on hay bales seat and my dad made the "alter" our of two maple saplings and the strands of ribbon I left for him. It was beautiful. My two sisters, Sara and Suzy, and three long time friends, Andrea and Jessica and Lena (who is my German friend I always send me beautiful vintage German treasures), were there by my side. Ben had his brother and all of his childhood friends by his side, Matt, Dave, Todd, Zwang, Evan, and Dan.

Todd played the guitar while Zwang sang "Marry Me"and brought everyone to tears. He truly has the most beautiful voice.

Ben and I said our own personal vows and I cried...or tried very very hard not to. Ben is so good with words and when I told him my own, they were so truthful and deeply felt that emotion still floods my whole self even just thinking about it now.

Russ, Ben's cousin and our good friend, officiated the ceremony and was so witty, funny and perfect...and has a nice speaking voice. To me the whole point of a wedding is to profess your feelings and promises to your loved one in front of everyone who is important in your lives in your own words. The fact that someone so close to us was there to guide us along was so important...and he knew how to pronounce our names...lol.

Then we were married!!

And we hip hip hoorayed out to the beat of the Star Wars theme song (I told to Ben to pick whatever he wanted for that, lol). We high fived and took a ride back to the barn on the last hay wagon. That was when the rain starting dripping down again. Perfection.

The rain also held us just long enough for us to take some cute photos in the field before heading to shelter.

Back at the barn....

People started partying under the glow of the white lights.

We had a completely vegetarian feast that even my red meat lovin' Uncle Charlie said was great!

And during dinner the cows stuck their heads in the barn and had dinner too, right alongside everyone...except they ate corn silage.

A blue grass band played.

Every one cheered...we did the Jewish chair thing...fun! I wish I could do it again! And people drank and were merry!

Half way into the night, Ben and I danced to our song, "Our House" by Crosby Stills Nash and Young. I love this song so much because it fits us so well and always has. My favorite line, "with two cats in the yard..." The singer in our band wasn't such a great singer and after the first verse, the whole crowd started singing along and it was beautiful. So wonderful and we felt so loved.

It went into the night while the candles glowed and the rain poured buckets outside.

Ben got lassoed.

The night ended with a super late night dessert.

No one could find a knife to cut the cake, so after a minute of waiting for someone to look...I grabbed the sickle off the wall and just used that. Ben ate it right off the rusty blade! lol

Instead of a big wedding cake, my mom, mom-in-law, step mom-in-law and sister-in-law all pitched in to make cakes, cookies, brownies, macaroons and whatnot to place on individual plates on a big hat rack. The cakes were topped with vintage cake toppers. The top tier held the big topper I made for us and the cake we cut held the very special Magpie Ethel cake top. There was something for everyone! And the wonderful caterer surprised us with lemon sherbert which was refreshing and so delicious.

It was the most perfect wedding we could have asked for.

The End...or should I say, The Beginning.