It's Calendar Time!

Yes, my friends, if you haven't started already, it is time to start thinking about holiday gifts and the new year! And that means tea towel calendars are all the rage on Spoonflower. The tea towel calendar design contest is my favorite of the year, mostly because I get to return to my graphic design roots. Here is my entry this year, inspired by board games. Start at January, advance through each month, and the first one to make it through December wins! You can vote for all your favorite designs here.

2nd Annual Bizarre Bazaar: Holiday Craft Ideas That Are(n't) So Retro

It's Christmas Craft Roundup time again! All year long I gather old Christmas editions of magazines in order to showcase them around the holidays. It never ceases to amaze me how everything old is new again. This year, instead of featuring the ridiculous crafts that usually come to mind when one thinks of 1970s church bazaars (of which there were plenty in the pages of these annuals), the focus is on those ideas that actually look current. And there are many! What's your favorite?

Good Housekeeping Needlecraft (Fall-Winter 1972-73)

While I'm not a fan of the crocheted sweater, the pattern and color combos of appliquéd flowers on these "Nosegay Sweaters" is nice.

The Hamburger Hassock uses 'suede-look' vinyl for the buns, corduroy for the meat patty, and shiny vinyl for the lettuce, tomato, and ketchup.

Fun patchwork totebag. Love the criss-cross quilting.

Alphabet Comforter and Alphabet Pillows. Nuff said.

Family Circle Christmas Helps (1975)

Cheery felt Fruit & Doves Wreath designed by Jane Slovachek.

Stuffed calico letters to hang on your door for a festive greeting, designed by Joyce Denebrink.

Bold, graphic gift wrap made with sticky vinyl shelf paper! Designed by Sarina Mascheroni and Pat Weissman.

Pins and needles put the finishing touch on this cactus pincushion (left); and some fun stationery designed using pencil erasers as rubber stamps.

McCall's Christmas Crafts in Felt Book V (1977)

Mouse House--love the trim detail and the chimney bricks. Designed by Dorothy Brush.

Larger-than-life boot for decorating, or fill to overflowing with small gifts.

Small amounts of felt, fabric, and trims combine for a colorful, happy scene.

Patchwork designs are made with felt to adorn greeting cards. Designed by Constance Spates.

These charming felt cards are pretty enough to frame! All designed by Crystal Collins.

Felt and embroidery cover simple cardboard boxes.

Beautiful felt ornaments to use on the tree, or in a mobile.

Family Circle Christmas Helps (1977)

The shapes in these salt dough angel and mushroom wreaths make interesting patterns. Designed by Nancy Steiner.

An assortment of vibrant ribbons lends texture and color to this woven stocking. Designed by Constance Spates.

Colorful felt designs transform plain cardboard boxes (top); and sunny orange felt trivets protect tables and countertops.

Lady's Circle 1,001 Christmas Ideas (1977)

Not sure if there are really 1001 ideas in here, but they're definitely "down-home", as advertised.

This DIY (that's "DOUGH-it-yourself") salt dough Santa might be a bit on the creepy side, but is also rustic.

McCall's Needlework & Crafts (Winter 1977)

Nativity figures sculpted from fabric and embellished with paint and stitching.

Yes, this gorgeous table runner and matching placemats were cross-stitched. (!) Designed by Marilla Arguelles and embroidered by Michelle Cohen.

McCall's Needlework & Crafts (Winter 1979)

42 ornaments made with five different techniques. My favorite are the geometric felt shapes and the Mexican yarn craft fish, bird, Santa, bell, star, and tree.

Crocheted novelty stockings--look at those cleats and hi-tops!

Beautifully shiny ornaments are designed with embroidery floss and metallic thread.

The 2015 Tea Towel Calendar Contest Is Here!

Last weekend I was sifting through some old envelopes to find one I could reuse and I came upon a small, white Tyvek one with a piece of paper inside. That piece of paper was a receipt from my very first Spoonflower order, dated November 11, 2010.

Included in the order was a swatch of the first tea towel calendar I ever designed, which was also my first entry into a Spoonflower Fabric-of-the-Week contest (and it ultimately placed second, which became fuel for the fire…). Finding this little bit of nostalgia was quite timely, since this week kicks off the voting for the 2015 Tea Towel Calendar design contest! And here is my entry this year:

This time around I decided to dig into my collection of vintage ephemera: playing cards, labels, seals, stars, milk caps, stamps, envelopes, seed packets, flash cards, dictionary clippings, playing pieces, price tags, receipts, and more! I combined them with some retro Dymo labels and homemade washi tape to create 12 monthly collages. They hang across a chalkboard with hand-drawn chalk illustrations, each tag attached by a clothespin to vintage string from an old toy wooden bead set. Put it all together and you have one scrappy new year!

Below are closeups of each month. I'd really appreciate your vote in this year's competition, and all of the entries can be viewed here. You can vote for as many designs as you like, and you don't even have to be registered on the Spoonflower site to do so! Thank you so much!

TBT: Match Your Mood to Your Refrigerator

Last weekend Turner Classic Movies aired this original Westinghouse promotional video for their line of 1960s decorative refrigerator panels. The 1968 promo, entitled "Match Your Mood", is groovy, hipster, and psychedelic all in one. The patterns range from pretty awful faux wood ("Supreme Walnut") to my favorite, the Andy Warhol-esque soup can. I have seen this or similar products advertised in magazines from the 1940s, but for some reason I never got the urge to get up and dance the pony from the print ads. I think this would be a great idea for Spoonflower wall decals!

TBT: 50 Quick & Easy Bazaar Best Sellers!

Included in the September, 1980, issue of Better Homes and Gardens was a section featuring 50 craft items you could make to give as gifts or sell at craft bazaars. Remember when they were called "Bazaars"?! I thought it would be fun to reminisce about what our moms were all making over 30 years ago: Bandanna Babies, Veneer Tree Dazzlers, "Hand" Bags, Country-Style Key Rack... Some might even be popular today, like the Loveable Fabric Doll, Crayon Caddy Apron, Needlepoint Door Signs, and the Piece of Cake Pincushions (awesome!)... I'll let you be the judge! Do you think all of these items we're making for Etsy today will look this groovy 30+ years from now?

TBT: Cross-Stitched Stockings

From the "Homespun Crafts" article in the December, 1982, issue of Better Homes and Gardens comes these cross-stitched stockings. Now, if you can get past the early-'80s pirate shirt and the kountry décor, the stockings are actually really cool! I've included the original instructions, which you can download here. Enjoy!

Happy New Year? But, it's Halloween!

Today is Halloween, which means there are less than 8 weeks until Christmas. It's time to start thinking seriously about the holidays: parties, gift-making, gift-giving, New Year's resolutions, all that stuff... Wait, New Year's? 2014...already??? There is an episode of "The Brady Bunch", the one where Greg moves his bedroom up to the attic, and Mike and Carol tell the rest of the kids they can each move up to the attic when the Brady kid just older goes away to college. At the end of the episode, Cindy is calculating on the kitchen chalkboard how long it will take for her to get to live up in the attic room, since she is the youngest. She tells Alice that it might as well be the year 2000 (!) before she's able to move to the coveted space. Every time I hear that, I can't believe the year 2000 has already passed...and 13 years ago no less. We've even supposedly partied like it's 1999 already, and back when I was a kid, 1999 was the FUTURE... What happened to all that time?!

Yes, 2014 is fast approaching, which means it's time again for the Spoonflower annual Tea Towel Calendar contest! This is my favorite contest, not just to design for and enter, but to see all the calendars other designers have created.

This year I was particularly drawn to colorful 1960s and '70s psychedelic and Pop Art, a la Peter Max, with its clean lines and hand-drawn look. Here are some of the images I frequently saw floating around Pinterest, which I tucked away for inspiration:

And here are a few screenshots of the work-in-progress:

Below is the final design I am entering this year. If you like it, please vote for it by going to the Spoonflower Fabric-of-the-Week Contest page.

All you need to do to vote is click on the Vote in This Week's Contest link on the right, then find my design and click on it (a green border will appear around the image). At the bottom of the page, click the Review My Votes button. When you have reviewed your votes, you can click Submit...and that's it! You can vote for multiple designs, too! Designs that make the Top Ten are automatically offered for sale on the Spoonflower site!

Thank you so much, and have a Happy Halloween!