Giving Annuals and Yearbooks as gifts: a Christmas tradition

I remember as a child looking forward to receiving an annual book at Christmas. I think my favourites were from Twinkle closely followed by my beloved My Little Pony. I also loved reading my brother's annuals from the Beano and Dandy. Reading about Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan's exploits became an important part of my Christmas. I'm not sure if my brother was as keen on reading Twinkle...he might have had a sneaky peek when noone was looking.

I bought these Tiger Tim Annuals at a jumble sale a little while ago. One dates from 1924 and the other from 1954. It goes to show that giving Annuals as a gift at Christmas is nothing new.

It's amazing to think that over 90 years ago a child unwrapped the 1924 annual on Christmas Day morning. Because I purchased the two Annuals together at the jumble sale, they may have come from the same house. So there's a possibility the 1924 child grew up and maybe had a child of their own. In a bid to instill a love for Tiger Tim, they may have bought the 1954 Annual for their offspring. When you're a collector of vintage items, you often can't be sure of the back story, but I like to think this scenario could have been a possibility. After all, that's how most Christmas traditions are kept alive, by family members passing them down through the generations.

I think getting an Annual as a gift was seen as a special event for most children. You would see and read things in these books that didn't appear in the weekly comic. There was also something lovely about holding a hard backed version of your favourite comic too.

The 1924 Tiger Tim Annual is still bearing up pretty well, despite its age. I particularly like the colour illustrated plates dotted through the book. This endearing image of three children dressed as rabbits on their way to the Bunnies Ball in the snow is really lovely. I would love to have this as a framed print, but I would never tear a page out of this Annual!

Most of the characters who appear in the Tiger Tim Annual are way before my time. But I'm sure children of that era loved "Peter and Olliboo" and the "Brownie Boys" to name just a couple...I'm sure they were the Peppa Pig or Bob the Builder of their day.

The other thing I love about these vintage annuals is the adverts on the back and inside the book. There is one for Green's cake mix and Green's is still going strong today. There is also a Cadburys Car Race for children to play in the back of the Annual.

There is also an advert for the weekly "Playbox" and "Rainbow" comic books. The publisher obviously needed to engage young readers in Tiger Tim's adventures on a more regular basis.

Finally I love the little letter from Tiger Tim to his readers. I believe that Fleetway House on Farringdon Street in London has been a centre for book and magazine publishing for many decades.

Even in our technology saturated world, you can still buy annuals featuring today's generation of favourite characters. A quick search online reveals that most major retailers have Annuals in stock this year. I have seen Annuals for Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, Match Football and even Strictly Come Dancing. It goes to show that some Christmas Traditions never go out of date...

This week I'm linking up with:

Share with Me over on www.letstalkmommy.com

Pick 'N' Mix over on mummyandmonkeys.com and www.acornishmum.com

Grab a bargain: I'm having a half price sale

I'm having a sale! Save 50% on all my vintage fabric peg bags, lavender sachet owls and rabbits. There are bargains galore in my online shop, head on over to see the full range. This is perfect opportunity to grab some Christmas gifts for your friends and family.

Special Christmas Offer

**special offers**

free Shipping to the United Kingdom

Plus 10% off original price - £12.50 reduced to £11 on all of my vintage fabric lavender rabbits

free Shipping to the United Kingdom on all my felt mini-stockings with vintage trim & vintage fabric Rudolfs

You can see my full range of vintage fabric handmade goodies and vintage trim by clicking here

Handmade Felt Christmas Stockings

I still can't quite believe there are only five weeks and two days left until *whispers it* Christmas...

Yes that's right, I've said the C-word

As someone who like Christmas to stay within the confines of December and more specifically, the last two weeks of December, it comes as something of a shock that I'm preparing for a Christmas Fair at my daughter's school.

I've started making these felt stockings, embellished with vintage trim.

They are simple, but effective and the trim is so festive. I'm really pleased with the way they've turned out.

Now available in my online shop!

Pair of mini felt stocking decorations with vintage nordic style trim...plus free shipping to the United Kingdom.

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I also sell a range of handmade goodies, including vintage fabric cushion covers, lavender filled rabbits and owls and a gorgeous range of vintage trims see my work here

The winner of my November Blog Giveaway is.......

Comment number 14 was chosen at random on random.org

Two Cheeky Monkeys will be receiving her parcel of vintage goodies through the post soon!

Vintage Love: Fisher Price Hospital

In the run-up to Christmas the toy-industry marketing machine goes into overdrive. Just like any other parent, I've wrapped up lots of new toys for my little girl. But I thought I'd share one of my daughter's favourite toys. Something she plays with nearly everyday. And it's not new...far from it. It was mine when I was a little girl. It dates from the late 70s and was part of a collection created by Fisher Price.




I had quite a few pieces, including this hospital. My Mum has kept all of them and as you can see from the photos, they are still in fantastic condition. Fisher Price made some amazing toys in the 70s and 80s. They really fired-up my imagination up as a child and they are still doing the same today with my daughter. She will quite happily play in her room acting out countless scenarios with this hospital...people get trapped, babies get sick, someone gets stuck on a roof.



What's so lovely about the Fisher Price toys is the attention to detail. I think the X-ray machine is my favourite part. It's a simple concept, press down on the footplate and the "X-ray" sign turns into a rib-cage. I love it, it's got so many humorous little touches. The ambulance is great too and the working lift, operated by a handle on the side, is as popular with my daughter as it was with me!
Obviously, it makes me feel ancient that my childhood toys are now classed as "vintage"...but it also goes to show, good toys never go out of date...

If you'd like to see more retro goodies, head on over to my "Vintage Finds" board over on Pinterest...

Follow Pouch : blogging + craft's board My Vintage Finds on Pinterest.

Free UK Shipping until November 30th

I'm offering FREE SHIPPING to the United Kingdom from today until 30th November 2013!

A great opportunity to grab some Christmas presents...

I've also added two new products to my online shop.

First up are vintage trim selection packs. I've put together these selection pack as a little taster of the vintage trims I have on offer. Perfect for appliqué, collage, mixed-media artwork, scrapbooking and much, much more...

I've also added a selection pack on vintage fabric hearts. Perfect as stocking fillers, wedding favours, a christening gift or housewarming present.

You will receive four lavender hearts and you can either let me choose a random selection of colours, or you can pick your own. More details here.

7-day Half Price Sale!

The Pouch blog has been really neglected recently...this is due to the disruption caused by moving house! We're nearly packed and ready to go, so I've decided to run a 7-day Mega Sale. Next week I will have to temporarily close my online stores to move house. I wanted to offer my customers a chance to grab a fantastic bargain before I shut-up shop for the next few weeks.

Check out my Half Price Sale Section here

There are so many bargains available in my sale section and they all have a whopping 50% reduction taken off the original price.

Like this Reversible market day tote in chocolate and toffee brown, reduced from £25 to just £12.50!

And all my vintage fabric peg bags are now reduced from £16 to just £8

Half Price Sale Section here

Free UK Shipping!

I'm not usually one to discuss Christmas shopping in September, but bear with me whilst I explain!

We're in the process of relocating homes and there is a good chance that we will move sometime around November or December. This means that, shock horror, I will have to close my online shops whilst we make the move and get ourselves settled and more importantly, reconnected to the internet!

So in a bid to encourage my lovely customers to buy their gifts early, I'm offering Free UK Shipping in my Etsy store. Please use the code POUCHUK at checkout.

Etsy coupon codes are a doddle to use, simply click "Apply shop coupon code" at checkout to open the field to enter the coupon code for your order. Etsy automatically apply the discount to your order, so you can sit back and wait for your goodies to arrive!

Etsy store

I'm also offering free shipping in my Folksy store too. This is slightly different as Folksy don't offer the option to use coupon codes. So if you purchase something and you're in the UK, I will refund your postage costs via Paypal.

Folksy store

Handmade Christmas Gifts

My Auntie is a fab knitter and we've been really lucky to receive lots of lovely presents from her over the past few years. We had a knitted bride and groom for our wedding...and lots of knitted animals when our daughter was born - you can see all her hard work here

This year was no exception - she kindly knitted our daughter a gaggle of Father Christmasses and a snowman. They are so cute and my daughter loves them! They've all had a trip round the house in the pushchair - an honour usually only offered to her Peppa Pig toy :)

My online stores will be closed from 20th December through to 27th December whilst we spend time with my husband's family over the holiday period. This will probably be my last blog post before Christmas, so I would like to wish all my customers and blog readers a very merry Christmas!

Charity at Christmas

It's so easy to get caught up in shopping, decorating and planning for our own family Christmasses that we forget people who are much, much less fortunate than ourselves. I read about this clever idea in my local newspaper and wanted to share it on my blog.

It's such a simple idea, yet since StreetSmart was established in 1998, it has raised over £4.7million for the homeless. Basically, you eat in a participating restaurant (there are lots all across the UK) and a voluntary £1 donation is added to your bill. A 100% of that £1 goes to homeless charities.

In my home city of Bristol there are over 12 restaurants taking part and the funds raised will go to help charities such as Bristol Soup Run Trust, Caring at Christmas and One 25.

So, whilst many of us are out celebrating, the StreetSmart campaign reminds us how important and how easy it can be to give a little bit back to charity at Christmas.

Vintage fabric Rudolf decorations

Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night are safely out of the way, it's time to start thinking about Christmas...after all it's only 7 weeks away!!

So on that festive note, I'd like to introduce you to my latest creation - vintage fabric Rudolf decorations. Handmade with vintage fabric in shades of amber orange, chocolate brown, pure white and jet black. He's filled with non-allergenic stuffing and has wool felt detailing in shades of chocolate and toffee brown. His look is completed with a bright red button nose.

I currently have two versions for sale, one is unscented and the other contains a delicious combination of dried star anise, cinnamon and cloves. I have had lots of fun making the latter as the scent is just amazing.

So far, I have had lots of fabulous feedback for Rudolf from crafting friends and most recently he was featured on the popular Craft Gossip blog, the Cuteable blog and of the UK Handmade Facebook page, which gained lots of thumbs up from their readers!

Also, if you are quick, there is a chance to win one on the popular Bugs and Fishes blog.

I just wanted to add, I made two versions partly because not everyone will like the festive spice mix, everyone has different tastes! But also because certain countries do not allow dried plant products to be imported into their country, most notably Australia has very strict laws relating to this. So the unscented version is available for worldwide shipping and the scented version is for United Kingdom and Europe only.

They are available in both my Etsy and Folksy stores.

One more sleep!!

So, today is Christmas Eve and I've still got presents to wrap and food to sort out - but I'm not really stressing about any of it. Christmas for me is about relaxing and enjoying yourself. We've got a very quiet day planned, just me and my husband, our gorgeous girl and my Mum. We're sure to raise a glass to my late Father, he's always in our thoughts, especially at this time of year.

I've had a fantastic 2010 watching my daughter grow and finding my crafting feet again after the initial shock of early-motherhood! The past few weeks have been pretty hectic sales wise after being featured in an Etsy finds email - there are lots of lavender owls and rabbits winging their way around the globe - hopefully all of them will be in their new homes by Christmas!

So, I just want to wish all my blog readers, customers and twitter followers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

My Etsy and Folksy stores will be closed until 1st January whilst I take a break over the festive period - see you in 2011!!

Vintage love: Christmas decorations

I'm a huge fan of nostalgia. If there's one time of year where people feel nostalgic, it's Christmas. These decorations were bought out of the loft every single year when I was growing up. The pom pom robins were made by my Mum before I was born, so they are at least 35 years old. They still look in good condition considering their age. It probably has something to do with the fact that we were under strict instructions as kids to never to touch them!

The cardboard gift boxes are also a Christmas decoration from my childhood, they are at least 30 years old. Mum would put them under the tree with gifts in. Somehow they managed to survive years of manhandling by me and my brother, eager to get at the presents inside them.

I now have the pom pom robins on display in my house in the living room and the festive boxes take pride of place on the dresser in the dining room - I think they are too delicate to put under the tree. I think it's lovely for my own daughter to see decorations from my childhood - hopefully she will love them as much as I do and maybe in a couple of years we'll have a go at making our own pom pom robins...

If you'd like to see more of my vintage finds, head on over to my Pinterest board...sharing images of my fabric collection, ceramics, childhood toys and much more...

Follow Pouch : blogging + craft's board My Vintage Finds on Pinterest.