I Found My Chicken at Purdue Breakfast Club Grand Prix Weekend

And He's Cute Too!

Those that follow me on Twitter know that I've been dreaming all winter of getting a baby chicken this spring, but one of my requirements was that it had to be a Cute baby chic.  And that I would love it and cuddle it so that it wouldn't attack me and flog my ankles.  So when I found this one I asked Hubby if I could take him home, since I wouldn't have a problem cuddling with him.  Hubby asked him if he ate crickets - he said No.  Needless to say I didn't get this particular chicken.

But that's not the real story here.  Story is I had a guest over till 2:30 am and I had to be up at 5:00 am to attend Breakfast Club at Purdue for Grand Prix Weekend, and I made it! 

Hulk Hogan taking the #3 spot in JunkYardGypsies Top Breakfast Club Costume Showdown.

You have to Love Halloween mid April.  Actually Purdue's Breakfast Club is better than Halloween!

Little Beetlejuice & Lego's to get your morning started?

#2 in JunkYardGypsies Top Breakfast Club Costume Showdown.

Purdue's Grand Prix Charity go-cart race started in 1958 with gas powered lawnmower engines.  Today they are using electric go-carts and it's good thing too with the way gas prices are today.  Smart Planet did an article on the switch from gas to electric go-carts for Purdue's Grand Prix.  A grant from the 6.1 million, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Yeah, Baby!  If you would like to see what a One Million Dollar "College Racetrack" looks like visit the Purdue Exponent to watch a video of last weeks practice run.

I promise you won't be that impressed.

However, Breakfast Club is sure to impress every time.  And this year was no exception.  My number One FAB Find was the Marvel Comic Avenger Group!  These guys take 1st place in the JunkYardGypsies Top Breakfast Club Costume Showdown!  Way to go guys you went above and beyond.

If you want to attend Breakfast Club make sure to get there early.  We arrived at 6:30am and the lines were long, very long in order to get into those clubs to start drinking at 7am, before that 2pm race starts.  Hey you have to have enough time to get your buzz on!

Even though the lines are long everyone was in a super good mood (schools almost over) and more than happy to let us take their pictures.  We had a lot fun looking at everyone's costumes.

Honorable Mentions to:

The Monopoly Gang

 And  *Kiss*

And so many more...

They were all adorable and creative.  We couldn't photograph them all but here's a small sampling.

Thanks, for having Breakfast with us!

Hope you enjoyed

Ciao!

KJ the JunkYard Gypsy

Amazingly Alive in Vintage Jewelry Polyvore JunkYard Gypsy Style

Amazingly Alive in Vintage featuring Amazing Gems by JUST SPARKLES at Bonanza

"My clothing sitting in a chair, Opera singing in the air, I wait to fill you"

Amazingly Alive in Vintage

I love looking at the Bonanza Showcases & Etsy Treasuries.  Some of the themes are very creative, but expression is limited to what their format allows.  If you want to Express a vision for your treasured pieces of vintage jewelry, vintage clothing, even your vintage collectibles, Polyvore is where you can make them come alive, by combining music, art & poetry to express your design.  You can take your amazing treasures and Fab finds and build a whole world around them.

I've actually known about Polyvore for over two years, but just rediscovered it last night, and thought what an amazing way to highlight some of my vintage clothing, vintage accessories, even my vintage collectibles

could find a life on Polyvore!

The exposure for your cherished items is phenomenal.

One set I was viewing averaged 400 hits a month!  Can you imagine what that could do for your sales?  Once you add your product to your set, it enters the Polyvore pool of items that other Polyvore users can access to create their collages.  So the more people who use your vintage clothing, vintage jewelry or collectible piece in their sets, the more exposure your item will receive.

Talk about viral marketing at it's finest.

Within the collage itself as well as in a separate side listing, each item is tagged with it's URL, price & description, that 6.5 million Polyvore viewers have the option of tagging to their Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter accounts.

Polyvore doesn't accept listing from Etsy or Flickr.  But if you have an ArtFire, Addoway or Bonanza store; items are easy to upload, with their clip to Polyvore tool for your tool bar.  It's a very easy site to use.  And Lots of Fun.  The only draw back is that it can be intimidating, as these Polyvore curators are Amazing set designers!

You can also start your own group on Polyvore and run design contests.  Those are very popular.  You have to have 35 people following you in order to start a group.  I would love to connect and help promote your items in my sets.  Just use the drop down arrow on the "search products" click member and search for - (take a guess) - JunkYardGypsy!

Hope to see you there,

Ciao!  

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• * Polyvore * (gutseylulu.wordpress.com)
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March Madness Search for Vintage File Storage

With the Ides of March just a few days away I find myself once again referring to March Madness.  Of course everyone associates “march madness” with basketball & of course the advertising retailers couldn’t let an awesome coined term slip by without cashing in on it, but the term has a much earlier beginning.

March Madness is an old proverb of sorts; farmers would say “March Mad” in reference to how hares (rabbits) were behaving during the breeding season of March, or “ Mad as a March hare”.  I always thought of it more in reference to shaking off the winter and being far too antsy for spring to arrive.  Which is basically what those rabbits are up to anyway.  However, I think that, for the American population, it most certainly had to start in 1916 after the 16^th amendment was enacted, with everyone rushing around to get their taxes filed.  That’s when the madness set in, I’m almost positive.

So with tax time looming over our heads – now might be a good time to get organized with some storage filing boxes.

If you stop to think about it, filing hasn’t always been so easy.  Filing cabinets weren’t even around until the mid-1800s.  Prior to that paperwork was Pigeon Holed on shelves, in desk drawers, cubbyhole slots and boxes.  Hum, come to think of it, a lot of mine is filed that way.

One of the nifty boxes they first came up with to in order to gather and bind their important documents into some sort of orderly fashion, would have been similar to this.

Pretty ugly, huh?  I photographed it before I even cleaned it – vintage cocoon and all.

So it’s an “M” month and the box is titled “The Manhattan Files” so out of sheer Madness (with tax month approaching) I naturally went the Atomic theme.

Titled it Letters “To the Evening Star” (an old hymn).

Old sheet music from “Our Prayer” …”upon eternal love and life” and dark blue hemming tape to hide the writing.  A tigers eye button attached to the leather strap.

Front music sheets are from “Our Prayer” …earthly sorrow, Grant them the peace which calms all earthly…to life’s day the glorious unknown morrow…and… Grant them the joy…
A little genie smoke leading up to a maple leaf cradling a vintage button and an embellishment from a new line I’m creating called “Caledonia Charms”.

Inside cover you’ll find the sheet music for the “Battle of Armegeddon and a pressed peony.
Under the letter “B” – “The Black Sheep Returned to the Fold”, “G” - “That Glory Bound Train”,  “I” – “I’ll Never Dream Again”,  “P” - “Pin’s and Needles”.  “T” - “Turn Your Radio On”,  “W” - “ Write Me Sweetheart”, back cover “The Prodigal Son”  all sheet music from
1943 Milene Music Co. out of Nashville Tennessee

All items are vintage except for the handmade

Caledonia Charm and pressed Peony.

Another vertical filing box.  Same concept only this is metal, where as the above is cardboard.  Easy to spray paint, hand paint, add decals or other embellishments.

available at Retroology on Etsy

Now this is what I’m thinking – Embellish! ~ 

I Love it, something for “My Junk”

(If I made one for hubby do you think he’d actually put anything in it?
~ Nah, who am I fooling.)

available at AnEmbellishedLife on Etsy

Sometimes those vintage gray metal filing boxes are in such good condition you'll want to leave them just as they are.

available at EphemeraAndMore on Etsy

Don’t want to dress it up but still would like some cool retro flower power?  This one Pops!

available at MoxieThrift on Etsy

Once you’ve decide on your vintage file container you’re going to need some dividers.

A fantastic idea for recycling old album covers!

 available at FreestyleGifts on Etsy

So many fun vintage filing systems.

This is one is a bit different from the others, but it’s one of my FaVs!  If you purchase and end up Upcycling this piece,

I sooo want to see.

available at TheFrontHouse on Etsy

I really like this dual filing system. 

A little spray paint it and it’s as good as new

 available at HavenVintage on Etsy

Well, I guess I better dig out my pigeon holed stash of documents and start sorting!  Happy Filing ~

Ciao!

Midnight Madness March to Memphis

Well, train, train, take me on out of this town.

Train, train, Lord, take me on out of this town

Well, that woman I'm in love with, Lord, she's Memphis bound 

Well, leavin' here, I'm just a raggedy hobo.

Lord, I'm leaving here, I'm just a raggedy hobo.

Well, that woman I'm in love with, Lord, she's got to go

 

Well, goodbye pretty mama, get yourself a money man
Goodbye, pretty mama, Lord, get yourself a money man 

 You take that midnight train to Memphis
Lord, leave me if you can 

Oh, take that midnight train to Memphis

Lord, leave me if you can
Oh, take that train, baby

Lucky Strike ~ Baumer

How am I not myself?  Do people ever change?

Perhaps it is you who are not the same?
You breathe in love like a cigarette,

And put it out as you light up the next

Love- you say it calms your nerves
Love- stills your hand as it burns
You say its cool and keeps you thin
This one's done- light one up again

Burning baby, you're making your way
Through lines of lovers, you're up to a pack a day
So long baby, I wish I could stay
So long romance

How am I not myself?
Can people remain the same?
Relapsing into what you call insane
Inhaling love like a cigarette
And hoping a lucky strike's up next

Love- you say it calms your nerves
Love- stills your hand as it burns
You say its cool and keeps you thin
This one's done- light one up again

Burning baby, you're making your way
Through lines of lovers, you're up to a pack a day
So long baby, I wish I could stay
So long romance 

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

W.C. Handy, won't you look down over me?
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a girl can be

Then I'm walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Saw the ghost of Elvis on Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
I watched him walk right through

Now security, they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb
There's a pretty little thing waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room

When I was walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Walking in Memphis
(Walking in Memphis)
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
(Walk)
Walking in Memphis
(Walking in Memphis)
But do I really feel the way I feel?

They got catfish on the table
They got gospel in the air
Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
Boy, you've got a prayer in Memphis

Now Gabriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see him
They asked me if I would

Do a little number?
And I sang with all my might
He said, "Tell me, are you a Christian, child?"
And I said, "Man, I am tonight"

Walking in Memphis
(Walking in Memphis)
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
(Walk)
Walking in Memphis
(Walking in Memphis)
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Walking in Memphis

(Walking in Memphis)
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
(Walk)
Walking in Memphis
(Walking in Memphis)
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Put on my blue suede shoes...

Are you starting to feel that Midnight March Madness?

I am!  Dreaming of my summer VaCa to Surf City, NC.
Last son's wedding, class reunion, and of course getting out to those sales to do some Junking!

 

Thanks for hanging with us!

Ciao!

Junkyard Gypsies Vintage Clothing & Accessory Pictures taken at the Big Four Railroad Depot Riehle Plaza Main Street Bridge in Lafayette Indiana.

Music lyrics: "Blackfoot - Train, Train" "Baumer - Lucky Strike" "Cher - Walking in Memphis"

All Vintage Clothing, Vintage Jewelry & Vintage Shoes pictured are available at Etsy JuNKyArDgYpSIes  

I'm a Hot Chocolate Snob ~ There, I Said It

Did you know that cocoa beans

were used as part of Aztec currency?
It was very important to their way of life,

and their chocolate drinks. 

The Aztec’s drank cold chocolate drinks flavored with wine and chili peppers, no sweeteners at all.  It wasn’t until the Spanish started importing it, that they began serving it hot and sweet.  Right around the 1700’s chocolate became a hit in England and the later baroque period picked up on the Hot Chocolate Craze with it’s own version of Starbucks, in their trendy little coffee shops.

Which brings me to my point, I am a Hot Chocolate Snob, and to me, there is something is decidedly wrong with making hot cocoa with water.

That sharp after taste of some concocted powder that sticks to the roof of your mouth, followed by warm water, yuck!  Knowing that it started that way doesn’t help, and the
inclusion of chili peppers doesn’t entice me at all.

And though it may not be of connoisseur quality, I prefer mine made of milk and (hate to say it) Nestles Quick!

(Love this container! Beatles on the back!

No I don't have it ~ DRATZ - Worth about $1000.00 if you can find one)

Why Nestles Quick – duh, because it’s… so rich and quick and chocolate  - that you can't drink it slow...

oops mines gone now!

Stan swears he didn't grow up with this water cocoa either, but every year I find him in the kitchen pulling out the cocoa, powdered milk, shaving candy bars trying to concoct his own hot chocolate mix to dump in…you guessed it…. Hot water!  I just walk by and say something intelligent like "That might taste a lot better if you pulled out the jug of milk sitting in the refrigerator" then I smile.  I always smile, just to make sure I don't get jabbed.  Think I’ll start suggesting chili peppers and wine next year.

Of course, toast with butter is always a good accompaniment to hot chocolate. Preferably some thick slice of homemade bread toasted and slathered in real butter, but I'll take a piece out of the bag & use some oleo if none is to be found.  I like the crunch factor that goes along with the creamy smoothness of the milk & chocolate.

My mother use to like to dunk her toast in her hot chocolate, and make it all soggy, which tends to made me want to gag.  Personally, I think that the only thing that should be dunked in milk is an Oreo.

If I had had a little hot chocolate foresight, instead of like 3am in the morning, as I’m writing this, I'd make cinnamon rolls… not from scratch mind you, from the can.

Speaking of the dough boy, I think I'll call him and have him pick up some fresh milk and a can of Pillsbury to satisfy my real hot chocolate craving, and be done with this pseudo cocoa concoction.

Since I’m not drinking milk (which is suppose to help you to sleep) here’s to hopping I dream of Swiss Alps instead of large goofy looking bunnies.

Good Night & Sweet Dreams – silly wabbit!

Related articles

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I Wanna Be...Your SledgeHammer

Ok, how about just your Soft Metal Mallet?

Most of us are familiar with 3 or 4 kinds of hammer.  Because we only use them for about 3 or 4 things.  We drive and pull nails.  We break things (hopefully what we plan on breaking) and occasionally to change the shape of something,

like straightening a bent nail.

We know a little about the claw hammer, the sledge hammer and the ball peen hammer.  Those with a little more experience know about the rubber mallet, the leather mallet, and maybe a cross peen.  In some industries there are also brass hammers, for working around explosives and combustibles, so they don’t make a spark when they hit other metals (an important feature around dynamite or gasoline).

And there are times when negotiating with a stuck nut or bolt, which the wrench simply can not move,

you need a “Persuader”.

Of course today such a situation would call for a large rubber mallet.

But those have not always been available.

So What did they use before that?

Well, they used a soft metal mallet.
  Usually made from lead.  But after a few uses the lead was badly bashed out of form.  That meant buying another one!

Until business man, tinkerer and inventor John Horat, from Lafayette, Indiana, designed the
Horat Soft Metal Hammer mould in 1914.

 When your lead hammer got in such bad shape that it was no longer usable, you simply cut the head from the handle, inserted the handle into one side of the mold, put the lead in the bowl, heated it till the lead melted, turned the form so that the lead flowed from the bowl into the form and waited

for it to cool.  And Wala, a new lead hammer to persuade the next stubborn bolt!

So what are you getting your honey for Valentines Day?

Well if you haven't hammered out all the details you may want to take a look at Graham Tools.  They have lead hammer mold sets starting at $109.95

Antique Horat mould pictured above is available at Bonanza