Since we are undoubtedly in a recession- I thought I would try to post something useful for my dear readers. Valentine’s Day is coming up and I am sure a lot of you have a special someone on your mind you would like to buy a gift for. Perhaps you are feeling the economic squeeze on your pocket book and thinking that making a gift from the heart would do in a pinch. If that’s the case look no further because I have some vintage gift ideas for you to create in a jiffy. These gift ideas come from the February 1965
Pack o Fun Magazine – The Only Scrap-Craft Magazine!
For the person who has a whole family to whip up gifts for we have HEARTY FAMILY GIFTS – which proclaim “These gifts are designed for a very good reason – To bring joy to your family at the Valentine season.”
These Valentine inspired family gifts include- an:
Arrow Bowl Scraper for Mom- insert your Mom’s favorite bowl scraper into a heart and embellish with a feather shaft! (This gift will delight Mom- so says Pack o Fun).
Hand Lotion Doll for Grandma: Use crepe paper to make a dress for grandma’s favorite bottle of lotion: add facial features and embellishments to finish the doll.
- Hand Lotion Doll
Make sure grandma knows you have made a doll out of her favorite lotion and note that this is not recommended for the Grandma who has been recently diagnosed as senile.
Barrette Butterfly for Sister: Again using the crepe paper decorate your sisters favorite barrette’s to create fanciful butterflies- embellish with Pop’s pipe cleaners.
Mandolin Matches for Dad: A gift for the Dad that fancies himself a great musical entertainer or storyteller. “Open a matchbook and remove matches at outer edges. Close and cut into a mandolin shape cutting through both thicknesses of match-book. Glue a construction paper handle to top of matchbook. Cover entire top with colorful paper. Draw strings on instrument and heart-shaped opening on body of mandolin. Give this to Dad!” Dad will really appreciate this fire starter that warms his heart if you include a case of beer and the whole families undivided attention. Let Dad warm up with a few beers before he regales the family with songs played on his matchbook mandolin!
Toothpaste clock for Brother: Skip this project and give brother an empty jug so he can play along with Dad.
Nail Suitcase for Gramps: Skip this project as well as Gramps would better appreciate a full jug and a matchbook mandolin. (see above)
I hope you have found these craft fun to make and helpful on your budget- tune in later this week for Valentine’s Day craft gifts for your co-workers!
- Hearty Family Gifts
So where do you find a matchbook these days? Not being a smoker any more, I don’t recall the last time I saw one. And to think they used to be given away as advertising!
Around 1965, I had a small collection of matchbook covers that I had found discarded along the highway that we went through town. Highway 30 — the old Lincoln Highway — was the first east-west highway in the days before the interstate system was completed and a lot of traffic passed through town during the summer vacation period. I don’t remember specifics but the matchbook covers were from a lot of places around the country. We moved to a new house at the end of the summer in ’65, and I don’t think my matchbook covers survived the move.
Our anniversary is on Valentine’s day. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t pay much attention to it. The affect is annoying though – it’s really hard to get a table in a restaurant and everything’s all about the balloons and the hearts. In an ideal world, we’d get married on our anniversary, but it being Valentine’s day makes everything very expensive and difficult to book!
I like the butterflies especially!
Mike – You find match books at estate sales and they are pretty neat. The last couple of estate sales I went to had huge match book collection. One collection was in a clear plastic garbage bag- the size of a 13 gallon kitchen trash liner just full of them. I rolled the bag around in my hands to look at all the places and neat match covers- some were quite old and fascinating. I suppose I would have bought it if I knew anything about match books and selling them- but I didn’t know the value and the lot was quite pricey. Anyway there were some people who collected match books that were probably willing to pay a premium for them.
What it sounds like from what you are saying that back in the day- people could have collected match books like they collect travel charms– very neat.
HI Jenny- the anniversary of what and how long have you been together. i always ask when people are not married not being judgmental- just curious. Some people who live together say the anniversary of when they started living together or when they started going out. I knew an unmarried couple who it was the anniversary of the first time they did the deed! So did you move in together on Valentine’s Day or start going out in a committed relationship and how long.
Jer and I got married on the 1 year anniversary of the day we met. We put that on our wedding announcements- it was kind of romantic. So I know we met March 23 1994 at Pegasus bar in Denver Colorado. It wasn’t an conscious thing keeping track. It just happened that I was a newly single mom and my Mom and Dad would babysit Eli when he was a baby so I could go out to the bars. So since it was so infrequent I had huge circles on my calendar on the nights I was going out. Like maybe 4 times a month HA! Jer moved in with me about 2 months after we met and got a tattoo of my initials inside a heart on his chest like 3 weeks after I met him…. so I figured I had to keep him. Five kids later and here we all are.
I used to sell a good number of rubber stamps to people wanting to personalize their own matchbooks.
Sales have been down in recent years.
Maybe all the anti-smoking laws caused the recession.
Wow. I like hearing people’s getting together stories. I think it’s a really nice idea to get married on your anniversary as well – that’s certainly the way I’d like to do it.
We count it as when we officially started ‘going out’. We’d been out a couple of times before Valentine’s day but I was still saying I didn’t want it to go anywhere at that point! That was eight years ago… well, nearly anyway!
I can’t even think about valentines day right now. *sigh*
Making a gift is a good idea, pooey though your full article isn’t here where I can read it. Things aren’t working well with loading other pages for me today.
Sandy
Jeez I have bad memories of Valentine’s day–my girlfriend slept with my best friend’s uncle . . . but kept the gifts I gave her anyway and tried to tell me, “Chill out, you’re far too possessive.”
Dan I am sure all the anti smoking laws cut back on advertising on matches- but I doubt it caused the recession… who knows though…
Jenny- Ok going out makes sense, I wasn’t sure that it was the anniversary when you moved in, because a lot of people don’t move in together mid month. Too that wouldn’t be very romantic hauling stuff around on Valentine’s Day
Although Valentines’ Day I really think of it terms of fun for the children like Halloween and not so much a romantic holiday.
Hi Meleah – who knows things might turn out well- maybe he will come to his senses or maybe the best guy of your life is just around the corner. I’ll stop by your blog later.
Hi Sandy sorry you couldn’t read the full article. Thank you for stopping by though I appreciate your input.
HE he he Bobby- I’ll make you a matchbook mandolin with lots of hearts this year and send it too you- then you can play with matches at your girlfriends house and her sugar daddy uncle! Happy Valentine’s Day PWOOOSH! crAACkle crackle….
Ah, that’s something that’s a bit different here, I think. Really, nothing too much happens for Valentine’s day and it doesn’t have much to do with children. It’s really only couples/want-to-be-couples who take much notice of it. I lived with an American girl for a while when I was at university, and she gave everyone chocolate and cards… that was the first time I was really aware that there was another side to it than the romantic.
Hi Jenny-
So you really don’t do anything at the school with the children??? Here the school children make and decorate boxes or bags to collect all their Valentines in. Then they take home a list of all their class mates names and they make Valentine’s for all of their class mates. Generally speaking children buy pre-made character Valentines then just fill in the name to and from. The Valentine for any given year are usually whoever is a popular cartoon or movie. For example if Spider-man 3 just came out – boys might give out those valentines or Harry Potter or maybe Barbie if you are a girl. It’s customary to put a little piece of candy with it or maybe tape a lollipop to the Valentine. Then you pass them out in school and they usually have a party. Some parents might bring in pink cupcakes or a cake then and a red punch to drink.
Here I say if you have children- you think of it like Halloween… lots of sweets and passing out cards and candy and collecting the same…
Oh, that matchbook mandolin is so cute! I love how you specify that you should make sure Grandma knows you’ve made a lotion doll and that it isn’t recommended for senile grandmas. LOL. These are a hoot. I kind of want to know about the toothpaste clock now though. The nail suitcase sounds gross though. I hope it is for nails that you use with hammers and not a discarded fingernail collection.
“Pop’s pipe cleaners”. LOL! My father use to smoke when I was a kid. I haven’t see a pipe cleaner in a billion years.
Another Valentines day alone… *sniff* Gee, this is getting to be a habit!
Teeni- the toothpaste clock is basically decorating a box of toothpaste to look like a Grandfather clock- of course it won’t actually work so I don’t understand the point. The nail suitcase is not a finger nail collection thankfully… you decorate a box of nails to look like a well traveled suitcase.
a fingernail collection suitcase would be gruesome- but I think I have seen them at estate sales.
Awake- I see a lot of pipe cleaners in kids projects- you can buy pipe cleaners at craft stores. I think the pipe cleaner industry switched from smoking supplies to marketing to the preschool crafting community. One way to stay in business when your original product is no longer in vogue….
Valentine’s Day is over rated -
Wow – even having realised it was a bigger thing elsewhere than it is here, I didn’t realise how much. After school clubs etc. might have some sort of valentine related craft activity to do, but on the whole, children don’t think of it at all. If they did, it would only be to send a card to someone they really liked. We don’t have parties or anything and no school time will be spent on it… and there’s a distinct lack of chocolate! Humph! I feel like I’m missing out!
All I know is things are REALLY OVER and I am alone all over again. Valentines day is like a nightmare to me!
Ok…when the weather warms up, will head out to a cemetery together. lol I’ve done a fair amount of hiking out west, but don’t remember coming across any of those small graveyards you mentioned. That would be real find. Wonder how well those are documented?
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These are great gift ideas and right up my alley. I am seriously thnking about making the lotion doll for my Mom.