Bible Character T-Shirt #20

What Bible character may have worn this t-shirt? Clue: The answer is in Proverbs.

Baby Shower Games

One of my favorite things is shower games! I had such a good time planning games for Stacy's shower. Here are some of the games we played:



1. Things Babies Do
This is a page of labels I used to make stickers. I wrote on each one a different activity that babies do, like burp, crawl, cry, mess their diaper, etc. Every lady received one on her back when she arrived. She then had to guess what hers said by asking yes and no questions of the other ladies.

2. Diaper Graffiti
Everyone wrote on the back of a disposable diaper a word beginning with the first letter of her first name. For example, my name is Marie, so I wrote on mine "I'm a miracle!" Of course, one person happened to open up her diaper during this activity to find chocolate melted in it! ha ha.

3. What's This White Stuff?

In this contest you try to figure out what the white substances in the jars are. Can you tell baby powder from coffee creamer? Is that sugar or salt? Which one is flour and which is dry milk? The winner was Stacy's Aunt Lydia, on the right. My grandaughters are in this picture. That's Chloe on the couch holding Lydia's grandbaby. Rachel is in the center and Mallory in the foreground.

4. Baby Figures

Everyone was given a piece of pink paper and asked to tear out the shape of a baby--behind their back! You'll end up with some very strange shapes! Stacy chose the winning baby--it looked like an angel with wings!

5. Guess Who Wore This!

I had collected a few old baby clothes from four generations. And we guessed who wore which ones! I have a white baby dress that my mother wore in 1920. I have my pink baby dress I wore in my baby photo (1942). I had some outfits from my children (1967-1973). And Leah brought her girls' christening dress. The photos on display provided some clues. I threw the ladies all off with one doll nightgown that really was worn only by Anna's dolls!

Stacy's Baby Shower

One of the most fun things I have done lately is plan a baby shower for our daughter-in-law Stacy. Wayne and Stacy will be having their first baby in late January. It's a girl. We are all excited. While they were in the area for Thanksgiving, I held a shower for her on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Here is our "guard chicken" in front of our house holding balloons to celebrate the occasion. (You may have noticed a reference to the guard chicken on the panel to the right of my blog,"about me.")

I chose to use a vintage theme for the shower. I decorated the mantel with old family baby pictures and vintage baby items.

The baby bottle from the 1940's is still in its original packaging. However, its black rubber nipple is hardened over time. The Pablum box is also probably about that old. Isn't it amazing what can be found in my parents' house! Pablum was probably the first brand of baby cereal, and hence we used to call any baby cereal pablum. You know, like we call any tissue Kleenex. Next to that box is my baby picture and my baby hairbrush.

The babies in these pictures are my daughter Anna, my mother Ivah, my son Wayne, and my father Alva McClenathan. The Baby's Nest Egg bank belonged to Wayne as a baby.

On this end of the mantel, in front of our old storefront clock, are Wesley's clown bank, a bootie planter, some vintage children's books, a record, and Stacy's very special cloth ABC book embroidered for her by her Grandmother Brown.

This is the diaper cake I made for the serving table. Notice that I used old-fashioned cloth diapers instead of the popular disposable ones used today.

This crib quilt was a special gift from my mother and me. I found these two appliqued quilt blocks that Mom had made in 1988. So I incorporated them into a patchwork quilt I made with fabric scraps also from Mom's house. (Mom is 88 and lives at a nursing home in Ohio.)

Guess who this chicken bunting is from! You guessed it, the Chicken Lady!

Stacy received many wonderful gifts at the shower. Even her best friend in England sent her some delightful items, and also Wayne's cousin Karen in Minnesota. She is now all set with all sorts of useful and cuddly and pink baby things!

Stacy is wearing a hanky baby corsage. All the guests went home with one of them. I made these from vintage lady's handkerchiefs. Stacy's was made from a special hanky with the name "Mother" on it.

Left to right: Plez (Stacy's mother), Stacy, Marie (Stacy's mother-in-law, that's me!), and Denise (Stacy's stepmom).

There's more about the shower. See the next posting!

Movie: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

We just saw a wonderful movie. I hope that everyone will go to see it. It is called "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." I had no idea what it was about when Walter told me he was taking me to a movie one Saturday. It sounded to me like a comedy Christmas movie. But it was far from that. Rather, it was a story of...well, I don't want to tell you. Trust me, you will like it. If you must, go google it to learn more.

New Chickens!!

I just have to share with you a few of my latest chickens!

The first photo is me modeling the tiny chicken print blouse my daughter Anna sent me from Portland, Oregon. Click on my blouse. Can you see the tiny chicken designs in the fabric?

Next is a carved wooden door stop which a friend of mine had at her booth at the Allen Antique Mall. Walter and I looked at it and I really liked it, but didn't want to pay the price for it at the time. Then I decided to purchase it because it was so different from any I had ever seen, but when I went back to get it, it was gone! Well, Walter had gone back for it and saved it to surprise me on Christmas!

This is a Tiny Tales book that originally sold for $.05 in the forties. The story is perfect to illustrate what happens when we do not obey the call to run to the protection of our Heavenly Father. It reinforces the lesson I teach from my story of Henny, who saves her chicks from a barn fire by covering them with her wings. I found this today as we shopped the Antique Mall in McKinney.

And this flattened bottle takes the cake! It's outstanding in my collection. My "cousin once removed," Tammy Bott, sent it to me from Indiana where she found it at a craft show and thought of me. Isn't it unique? I hung it on my Christmas tree and plan to wear it on a chain around my neck too! Thank you, Tammy, for making my day!

Another Christmas gift (actually for Walter, but he shares with me!)was this Ralston-Purina set of red-checked bow tie, cuff links and tie pin! There is a chicken on the cuff links and tie pin-- you can see them if you look closely enough. These treasures were given to Walter by our daughter Anna and her husband Sean. They had belonged to Sean's grandfather who worked for Ralston-Purina. Aren't they awesome!

Guess what this is! It's a child's chopsticks. Wayne and Stacy found this at a children's shop in Austin called Terra Toys.

I'm having trouble getting a decent picture of this thimble I recently acquired. It is an old metal advertising thimble like I collect. This one I entered into my chicken collection, however, because on it there are pictures of hens and it says, "Lay or Bust, 327 So. LaSalle St. Chicago, ILL."

I hope you enjoyed looking at these samples from my chicken collection. I promise to be back with more photos to share soon.