TBT: Spring Craft Show Ideas from...1977

Yes, a few weeks ago was a banner day of thrift scores in the magazine category. Lots of "great ideas" to be found and recycled from days...decades...gone by. Here for your consideration are some bizarre (and some pretty cool) bazaar makes from the Spring 1977 issue of McCall's Needlework & Crafts.

Left page, clockwise from top right corner: felt collage on burlap; place cards made from paper, empty eggs, glue and pipe cleaners; bun warmer hen and chicken egg cozies; and felt babushka egg holder ("After Easter, she'll hold napkins, sewing items." Right page: appliqued house quilt, framed in calico!

Left page: fruit and vegetable pillows; embroidered placemat with appliqued calico text. Right page: "Mary had a little lamb" plushes with their own appliqued calico barn tote; and two fun totes made from recycled children's overalls!

Left page: crocheted long-legged rabbit; crocheted "mouselets"; and no-bake clay pet plaques. Right page: crocheted snake, monkeys, and clown, with a clown appliqué pillow.

And then there's this...

I saw one of these in the case at a thrift store several years ago and I still get a tear in my eye because I didn't buy it, even as a gag gift for my sister. Of course, who knows what sort of bacteria were living in the hair, but still... What a conversation piece! And since I didn't buy her, it will forever by this Decorator's Dream.