Friday, May 30, 2008

Birthday Memories

As I read all the creative blogs, out in blogland, sometimes pleasant memories are brought to the forefront of my mind. One in particular was childhood birthday parties.

Back in the 50's there weren't as many birthday parties as there are today. But, every few years we would be allowed to have a little party. Invitations would be delivered, and everyone would look forward to the special day. The guests would arrive dressed in their Sunday best carrying a pretty gift. We would start by playing games like "Simon Says", "Musical chairs" and "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", to name a few. Then the presents would be opened. Some of the gifts might be a book, board game, skipping rope, new rubber ball or paper dolls. After the gifts everyone would gather around the table for cake and ice cream with a party hat and a balloon for every child. These parties usually lasted an hour to an hour and a half. As the guests left they were given a pretty little party basket filled with tiny candies.

I just loved those little baskets and have been hunting for some. A few weeks ago, Beth from Gathering Dust listed some of these baskets in her Etsy shop. Of course, I had to buy them. Each basket came with some vintage buttons and a ballerina cake topper.
Party Baskets and Ballerinas
I was so pleased on how quickly the parcel arrived, usually customs and Canada post is very, very slow. Little extras that Beth included in the package were Vintage scrap, White vintage mop and plastic buttons. and two sweet plastic girl cake decorations.
Little Extras from Beth
I am so happy with all these precious goodies. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the baskets. Maybe I'll use them to store pretty bits and pieces of craft materials.

KarenOX

36 comments:

Fete et Fleur said...

Karen,
These baskets are precious and Beth was a doll to send you all the other goodies. I have two old candle holders from the 50's. One is a ring of little girls and the other is a ring of boys
surrounding a candle. I love them and they bring back such wonderful memories for me too.

Wishing you a Beautiful Weekend.
Hugs!
Nancy

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

Beth always has great stuff. It is a joy to go to her house and play in her craft room. I love to dig around and see all the goodies.

Jessi Nagy said...

ahh that was really sweet,
those baskets are darling!!!
have a fab weekend.
oxoxo,
jessi

Tara said...

KAren

I have a great idea for displaying these goodies...buy a cupcake holder tree from Target and keep them all together for you to admire! It would look great!

Amy said...

yes I remember those games, mostly pass the parcel - they were fun :-)

Heather ~Pretty Petals said...

oh your little baskets are SO cute! So sweet that it reminds you of your birthday celebration, you girls had the BEST things in the 50's!! lol I love this idea to do this for the little children and maybe somehow I could incorporate something similar into my little son's bday party instead of those ugly plastic bags we get today. :))

xo Heather

Betty said...

Those little baskets are so sweet. Beth is one of my favorite sellers. She always adds some nice "extras".

Jorgelina said...

Hi!
Those dancing are beautiful… Pretty weekend

LW said...

Wonderful little baskets…too sweet….

I remember when I was a child I had a party to go to every Saturday for 4 weeks in a row..
I loved the month of May…

First, it was Lisa’s then Jane’s then mine and then Sharon‘s…this went on for a few years…
One year my mother was in the hospital so I was not going to have a party. To my surprise the day of Jane’s party her mother
gave me my own little cake with candles and a Betsy McCall doll …I will remember that day forever…

Louise

kari and kijsa said...

Those are the CUTEST baskets...fabulousness in miniature!

Have a fabulous weekend!

smiles, kari & kijsa

Alison Gibbs said...

What wonderful childhood memories
Alison

Beth Leintz said...

That's how I remember birthday parties- pin the tail, musical chairs, cake and maybe ice cream- we didn't have movie parties or make over parties. And gifts were pretty simple but always a treat.

I'm so glad those cute little baskets went to a good home!

Maija said...

Those are very cool- whata great memory!

Stephanie ~ Angelic Accents said...

Hi Karen! Sounds like you & I shared exactly the same type of birthdays!

Oh how I love all your goodies from Beth! Isn't she just the sweetest person?!?!

How is your Muffin doing? Our Muffin thinks the new chair & ottoman we bought for DH is HIS ~ he has taken it over & "meow-screams" when anyone else dares sit in it! Too funny!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today ~ please visit often!

Big Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents

Unknown said...

Lovely ballerinas!! what a whole lots of goodies :)

Shawn said...

Hi Karen, I just wanted to stop by and say I was lucky to get one of your panels in the birds and bonnets swap. It's gorgeous! Take care, Shawn

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

Being a child of the 50's I remember those parties too. I had some of those baskets. They were filled with small candies and sometimes held a ballion or two if you were old enough for there not to be the fear of you choking on the ballion. Times were so simple then and oh so sweet. I sometimes long for those days....Hugs my friend....Mary

Kingswood Food and Craft Market said...

Ohmygosh Karen you must be zoning in on my brain waves or something...we were talking about kids parties the other day too. Sam has been to so many lately at all these fancy places etc etc and i said to my mum What happened to having a party at home and playing good ole party games? Sams birthday is in 6 weeks and he wants to go to this big playland place OF COURSE but im stepping in and doing all the decorating and catering and stuff...just like all mums should.

maybe im living in the stone age..i dont know...but i want to be the one who does those things for my child, not a bunch of strangers.

oh look at me rambling on. Sorry about that !


oh and those baskets are TOO SWEET !

Hugs,
Shann

Anonymous said...

Hi there!!
What sweet memories and Gorgeous little baskets!!It's always great when your waiting on a parcel and it arrives quickly, I love getting them as you never know what's going to be inside (well if you purchase as much as I do that is bad mandii bad mandii)
Vintage goodies are always FAB!!
Have a great day!!
mandii

roseroomnz.com said...

Lovely post Karen, in my mind parties and presents should still be like that! Lovely baskets and lovely extras Beth tucked in:) Rachael

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Karen, When I was a little girl, my father owned a bakery. I spent a good portion of my childhood in the back of that store. My toys were usually the ballerinas, and sometimes there were indians. The baskets are right out of my childhood as well. Funny, we can be so attracted to the things from our youth. Maybe its nostalgia, but it makes me happy. Susan

Charmingdesigns said...

I enjoyed your blog!!! Laurie

Natasha Burns said...

Karen I love those little baskets, they'd be fab with vintage millinery inside them too!
Thanks for the sweet memories, you conjured up pictures in my mind of little girls in dresses with bows and hair up in piggy tails and boys in neat clothing with shiny shoes, how cute!

{oc cottage} said...

Soooooooooooo jealous am I over those ballerina baskets!

M ^..^

Jorgelina said...

Hi! It enchants to me to celebrate the birthday of my daughter.
Those dancing estan beautiful.
A greeting

Sassafras and LuLu said...

Just wanted to say thank you for your nice panel that I received from the "birds & bonnets" swap. I like the lovely bonnet images w/the glitter and rhinestones added to some of them. I love sparkle! You did a great job.
I try to be creative for my dd's b-day parties & they are mostly home...so many kids have No home parties...all out w/package deals. There's no place like home.
warmly, Carol
www.sassafrasandlulu.blogspot.com

kari and kijsa said...

what great baskets! And filled with wonderful memories as well!! Have a wonderful weekend!

blessings,
kari & kijsa

Anonymous said...

Sweet baskets, you lucky gal'... I enjoy going back on memory lane with you, Thanks, Susie H

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I never thought of a lamp base... could be! I love it, Susie H

Paul Sears said...

I really like your layout with the buttons and hte little figurines! My wife is a big crafter too, and I'll definitely send your blog her way.

CatieAn said...

what special memories to bring to mind. my favorite gift to give was paper dolls! I never got to have a birthday party when I was growing up and at this late date guess I never will. My birthday being two days before christmas it just didn't fit in to the schedule.
catie

Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...

What wonderful memories of the birthday parties of the 50's. I love the items you bought from Beth. Very pretty.
Pam :)

Donna O'Brien said...

Oh, wonderful memories. I'm sure you'll create something wonderful!
D.

Cami said...

I remember when Beth listed the nut cups. Sooo cute! Ran across a bunch yesterday while junkin' and was so torn. I passed and I fear I may regret it... Love your pictures. So pretty.

Andrea said...

Cute party stuff! My lily mae is having hr birthday wednesday and I have a picture of the invitations I made on my blog! You'll love them ..come by and take a peak!

AscenderRisesAbove said...

i remember those baskets... how sad is that? sometimes used on may day. i think ours was the last generation to celebrate may day

see you at the party