Book 'em Sunday - The Happy Hollisters

Today for Book 'em Sunday, we are going to do something a little different. We are doing a set of children's books called The Happy Hollisters.
These were written by Andrew E. Svenson, under the pseudonym of Jerry West. They were illustrated by Helen S. Hamilton. The series was published between 1953 - 1970 and it included 33 titles.
The family, which includes Mrs. Hollister, Mr. Hollister, 12 year-old Pete, 10 year-old Pam, 7 year-old Ricky, 6 year-old Holly and 4 year-old Sue. They also have Zip, the adopted collie dog and White Nose and her five kittens.

This adventurous family goes around solving mysteries and having all sorts of family fun. Mrs. Hollister is always ready to lend a helping hand or prepare a surprise picnic. Mr. Hollister owns the Trading Post, a combination hardware, sports and toy shop. He is never too busy to play ball.

I could not make this description up if I tried. It is actually listed on the back of each book.
I read these when I was little, along with the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames and my personal favorite, Trixie Belden. Though I was older for some of these series.

These are a very enjoyable read even for adults. The times were so different then and it is fun to see what was popular. Considering what is out there today, though, these are very tame.

I own 23 out of the original 33 that were published. These are not the ones I had as a kid. With the exception of my Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, none of my childhood books came with me when I left home. As a side note of stupid things we did and wish we hadn't, I owned all the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. I sold them one month when I was eighteen to pay my trailer rent. Oh, I needed the money but I really miss those books.

Anyway, these were purchased for me as a gift about 8 years ago. I really need to find the ones I am missing so I can have a complete set. These reside on the library mantle and look adorable.
These have not been reprinted, so you will need to find them at a used bookstore, Ebay, or a antique store. I waffled about including them for Book 'em Sunday because they are not easily found. I don't know why that is, unless it is just because they were generally sold through a subscription and they are kids books, which are handled less carefully. But I ended up doing a blog about them due to the fact that they are from a different time and really are just cute.

So if during your travels you see one, pick it up and prepare to giggle your way through a mystery.
P.S. - Congratulations Huskies on winning the Pac 10 Championship. Go Dawgs!

Revamping old Letter Trays

So since yesterday I did where women create, today I thought I would show you what women create.

I love to remake things. To take something that was broken, old, or out of date and rework it into something new. Some things just need to be spruced up and they can go on their merry way being in use again.

These are letter trays that were used (and still are) on desks in offices. I find these all the time at the Goodwill. I like the wood ones but I also own a few metal ones. With the metal ones, a quick coat of spray paint for metal and they can be any color you want. The wood ones you could paint as well.
I like to go a different route and jazz them up. I use one to hold magazines and the other ones hold papers that I need in the home office. Anything goes when you are creating. Don't be afraid to be bold.

The letter trays were purchased for .99 a piece and everything else I already owned. Paper scraps, paint, letter decals, stickers.

The green set was a two piece set that I bought a few months ago. First I took off the hardware and set it aside. Then I sanded, primed and painted the trays green. I also changed the color of the hardware from brass to chrome because I can't stand brass, but you don't have to do that.
Then the fun part, the theme! The theme was travel and I had some wrapping paper that was a map of Paris and a map of London. So I cut to size and decoupaged the paper to the inside of the paper tray. One note about decoupaging, when you lay down the item you are decoupaging, put a layer of decoupage medium on top fairly quickly. Then you will need to push down the air bubbles and have it lay flat. If you allow the bottom layer to dry before you have covered the top, it is very difficult to get the air bubbles out. Just a helpful hint. Then I took some rub on letters and created the words. Added some stickers on the inside and some accents on the sides. Put another coat of decoupage medium over the whole thing and assembled it back into a double decker letter tray. Easy!

The pink tray was done the same way. Only I used paper scraps and did the inside sides as well.

My favorite is the Nancy Drew letter tray. I sanded, primed and painted the tray white. I had a old Nancy Drew book that was falling apart and had some pages missing.

I have to say that I would never want to destroy a antique book for a project like this. I am a big believer in books staying intact. It breaks my heart when I see books dismantled and the pictures removed and sold. That being said, you can find reprints of older books at the Goodwill, garage sales that will be perfect to use in crafts.

Since this book was not an antique and was in pieces, I thought it was fine to use. I removed the pictures that were in the book and set them aside for the time being. I trimmed the paper and laid out the pattern I wanted. Then it was the trusty decoupage and a paint brush. I covered the entire tray with pages. I sanded between each coat of the decoupage because I wanted a smoother surface.

Then I moved on to the pictures. I hand-tinted them and used a sealer to hold the color. Then I took an exacto knife and removed all the excess paper around the picture. I wanted the words to show through. I decoupaged them on top of the pages. I cut out the title of the book and also added that. I finished the project with rub on letters that say Nancy Drew and A Clue on each side. Sealed it all with a couple of coats of decoupage medium and then a coat of clear sealer.

So there ya go! Some easy projects that will make doing paperwork almost fun. You can make any theme and color that appeals to you. There is no wrong way to do a craft project.

If you need any help, just contact me. If you have done some craft projects of your own, lets see! I love to look at other peoples creativity.