cathy of california

happy new year!

happy new year!

i am currently taking some time off to relax - which is something i never do. will be back soon.

thanks for all of your love + support during the past year. it means so much to me.

("do a custom candle stick" from better homes and gardens christmas ideas 1970)

holiday table setting, sacramento, california 1967

you might remember me mentioning a few posts back that i will be at home this christmas and that truth be told i'm really not such a huge fan of the holidays (well except i am a sucker for the decorations that i blog about here and i have never said no to a homemade sugar cookie or piece of walnut fudge).

so this has made me confront some of my fears (of actually celebrating the holidays) and to establish some new ways (i.e. traditions) of just how i should conduct myself this time of year. my boyfriend surprised me a couple of weekends ago by putting up the tree and some lights on the front of the house so that put figuring out what to cook on christmas day at the top of my list.

suddenly all of my focus on my kitchen - a place where i have been in total "autopilot" mode lately. it was a total disaster so a total cleaning and overhaul (not unlike my home office reorganization that i did earlier this year) was in order before i could even think about making a holiday meal. i took some cues from a book i've been reading as well as something that an old co-worker once told me. at work one night she was concerned about having rush home to clean her kitchen. she explained that it was vietnamese new year and on that night the kitchen gods visit (they perch atop the refrigerator) your kitchen to check on it's condition. if things look OK then you get a good report. if things are messy then its an indication of other things not going so well in your life. let's just say that the kitchen gods would have been quite displeased with the state of my kitchen.

i have a small kitchen with little counter area so the first thing to go was the microwave. it was about the size of a buick and we were really only using it to heat up convenience foods (which we shouldn't be eating anyway). i then cleaned out each cupboard and drawer (getting rid of skanky cutting boards, wooden spoons that had taken on the color of spaghetti sauce, gadgets i didn't need, etc.) and put everything back in way that hopefully will make it easier to actually cook in my kitchen. i'm hoping that i finally got the whole "everything in it's place" (mise en place) concept down. 

some menu planning (i'm keeping it simple: roast turkey, mashed yams, brussels sprouts, apple crisp) and grocery shopping followed. those 2 things in and of themselves are so much work - i now have a much deeper appreciation for all of the work my mom and various aunties did while i was growing up. as i prepare today's holiday meal i hope to honor the holiday traditions that i was raised with while i attempt to create some new traditions of my own.

(image from better homes and gardens christmas ideas 1967 - please take note of the use of dansk flamestone - which was just reissued!)

christmas morning, somewhere in southern california, 1968

i just don't know where to start. i love the tissue-paper flower wreath above the fireplace. that mix of ornaments on the tree is so much fun. just look at how all of those presents were wrapped (i so want hallmark to re-issue that big fluffy yarn gift tie!). i could go on and on. this issue of BH+G featured regular people's homes - these are not models - so this is the real deal. OK maybe their decorator helped out a little bit, but i'm pretty certain that there were no stylists on this shoot.

but my favorite thing in the photo is something that's probably hard for you to see. the outfit the mom is wearing is made from towels. yes those are beautiful hot pink on orange patterned towels fashioned into a lovely caftan that perfectly coordinates with the decor. my mom had one of those that she wore as swimsuit cover-up. by the looks of the dad's choice in shoes it might mean it's on the warm side this christmas day, so maybe a dip in the pool is part of this family's holiday tradition. 

(from better homes and gardens christmas ideas 1968)

festive foyer, 1968

yes once again from better homes and gardens chrsitmas ideas, 1968

you can brighten an otherwise plain area in a room by suspending a cluster of lustrous ornaments on ribbons, 1962

from better homes and gardens christmas ideas, 1962

stunning holiday wall panel, pacific palisades, california, 1965

i just love a good felt banner. this one was created - on linen no less - by peggy waters of pacific palisades, california. peggy had a very good color sense didn't she?

the other day i spotted an incredible holiday themed felt banner in the window of a store in my neighborhood. if you happen to be in silver lake take a peek at the felt banner at ten/10 on silver lake blvd. it was created (in i would say the mid 60s) by jean ray laury (who just happens to be stan bitters ex-wife). 

(image from better homes and gardens christmas ideas 1965)

free-form flower bursts, 1969

each year while i was growing up my immediate family would open gifts on christmas morning and then head over to aunt annie and uncle norman's (not really my aunt and uncle but my mom's cousins) house to celebrate with the rest of the extended family. we would have a big lunch and then snacks (onion dip!) would be put out and then even more people would come over and more gifts would be opened up that night. it was always a really nice time but i don't necessarily have many cherished memories about the whole thing because these were people i would see once or twice a year and i never really got to know anyone really that well.

but i do hold some memories very close to my heart about those christmas family get togethers - uncle norman's holiday decorations! auntie annie and uncle norman had very good taste and their house was beautiful - each room was impeccable and had it's own color scheme. the living room walls were painted a deep shade of teal green which to me was totally over the top and outrageous (i grew up in a house with "najavo white" walls). in addition to the 8' tall live tree loaded down with decorations (back at my house was an artificial tree) uncle norman created little holiday vignettes on just about every flat surface that was available - on top of the hi-fi, in the phone nook in the hallway, in each bathroom, above the china hutch, on coffee tables, etc.

uncle norman's style was very classic and traditional but with a complete modern twist (this being the late 60s-early 70s). each vignette (they would change every year) would have lit candles (either those chunky colorful votives or some stylish thin tapers), some sort of handcrafted element (such an angel made from burlap and painted gold), a fabric runner, perhaps something scattered and if the space allowed something hanging from the ceiling (like a few clear glass balls).

i have no photo documentation of any of uncle norman's decorations (which is very strange to me because we were a snapshot obsessed family). in my elusive search through all of my craft magazines for something that resembles his work this image from a 1969 BH+G comes the closest to the style and spirit of uncle uncle norman's decorations.

it's funny sometimes what can make such a huge impression on you and become part of what makes you tick.

(free-form flower bursts - an artistic tangle of florist wire spray painted white from better homes and gardens christmas ideas 1969)

"trim" a tree, 1968

believe it or not, this photo was my original inspiration for what eventually became the vintage fabric christmas trees i made last month for felt club (now available here and here). i actually have a bunch of trim like this and even went to my secret source (don't even bother asking me - this one i'm keeping to myself) to get some more - and it's not cheap so i was feeling really confident about my idea. but once i started to try to make my own version of this tree something just wasn't right and i was unhappy with the results. but i was determined to make trees, after all i had the foam cone shapes and the supplies to make the bases. so i decided to dig through my extremely disorganized fabric stash and found some small scraps of my mom's fabrics that were just perfect! my mom saved even little bit of fabric from all of her sewing projects. it just goes to show you that you probably already have exactly what you need.

(image from better home and garden christmas ideas 1968)

i think that books are the best gifts you can give - and receive!

from time to time the folks at chronicle books send me a book or two to take a peek at. and i'd like to pass along some of that goodness along to my blog readers.

pictured here (going clockwise) are some super cute sukie iron-on patches (leave it to chronicle to come up with such an inventive gift idea),  stencil 101 w/25 reusable stencils and complete instructions, handmade hellos  by the girls from hello lucky and  post card which showcases post card art.

so if you'd like to get one of these books for your very own (or to give as a gift) please leave me a comment. this is going to have to happen kind of quickly so i can pop them in the mail on friday in hopes they get to you in time for christmas (no guarantees though).

here are the "rules":

US residents only

leave a comment to this blog post between now and thursday 12/18 9PM (pacific time) telling me what your favorite "cathy of california" blog post is. that comment i will post.

at the same time please leave me a separate comment (that i will not post) with your mailing address. that way when i choose the winners i can send the books off right away.

i will randomly choose a winner from all of you who leave a comment with the exception of anyone from those silly crafty give away blogs - this is really intended for my regular readers (newbies are welcome too, just as long as you visit my blog for a dose of inspiration and are not trolling the internet for promotions). you can state a preference on which book you want but who gets what will probably also be random.

good luck and thanks!

UPDATE:

and the winners are......

CHRISTINA!   BONNEY!   MEG!   VICTORIA!

thanks everybody for participating - i loved your comments. i'm off to the post office shortly to send off the books and the last couple of sales from my etsy shop.

i'm blogging over at craft stylish today!

just posted a little holiday gift wrapping idea over at craft stylish. i hope it gives you some inspiration! if you haven't checked out craft stylish yet you are really missing out on oodles of crafty ideas.