well hello there! i have missed planning & mulling over what ramblings to share. been nearly a week since i checked in and that's mostly due in part to the wildly fantastic labor day weekend that took place @ shady hollow flea market. i must thank everyone who trekked out. from what i hear parking was nil. it was a tish warm and the crowds were intense. but those who dared entered my little cottage were friendly & fun was had by all.
so. here we are. schools in the area were back in the swing of things on tuesday. the neighborhood kids were hitting the dusty trail to wait for the bus. seeing the yellow transports {like that one below} scooting around always makes me think of my own trail i used to hoof down to hop on bus #6. i was the first one on. and the last one off. when you're a country kid that's the price you pay. though i truly didn't mind it. i always got the best seat in the "house"!
and even though it's been a few {or more!} years since i've had to worry about school supply shopping....i find that one of my favorite things to collect hoard is all things related to "old" school.
my list is long. where shall i start? maybe with what i consider to be one of my most prized pieces. found it years ago @ an antique mall. saw it in my preliminary sweep. a teacher's aid in the form of a reading chart w' it's original stand. the cover is what stopped me first {seen below}
then when i cracked open the somewhat weathered pages {shown below}
...i was hooked. i took the bait. i tried to fight the temptation. but in the end the very insistent "collector" side of me won. i knew this kind of opportunity may not come up again. and they certainly were not making these lovelies anymore. so now it resides in my office nook {below}
that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as my collections go. i'll try and speed up the process of showing ya some others. flashcards also top the list. I have a cupboard full of 'em. they work great for projects o' plenty. i can't get enough of them. even the inside of the box lids are inspiring {peek below}
i've used them in displays @ patinaWHITE and was asked by quite a few of you if they were for sale. so i decided late last year to have them reproduced off my ALPHABET variety. my hope is these will be available for purchase online this fall. keep checking in for updates!
can you imagine a time when kids formed sentences w/ the aid of the classroom printer antique stamp set? {below}. i was lucky enough to score one ages ago. before the rage and high demand of vintage rubber stamps hit.
it would have been like art all day if i could have used this in my classes. i found much enjoyment in the little time i plucked away on it making a fun sample for this post. though a bit indecisive on what exactly to say. i managed to form a few short sentiments {below}.
on the subject of {old} school. i snapped a shot of an actual old school this summer. it's one of the oldest schoolhouses left in our county. and it has been moved to our fairgrounds & kept true to it's roots with original period decor {below}. laura ingalls would be proud of this "classroom".
do you see the very tail of the ALPHABET "border" in the photo above? i have a set of my own. been looking for the right spot to incorporate into our environment. it hasn't happened yet so to "show and tell" you about mine...i laid it out in our driveway. now that's my kind of paper trail {below}
i'm getting to the bottom of my school supply roster. there are others items that pique my interest. books. got 'em. rulers. yep. crayons. check. i'm sure i could scare up a lunchbox or two. and i can't forget to mention the oodles of slates that i use often. though it's a far cry from their original intended use as one of the first forms of a "scratch" pad.
mine are enlisted for silly sentiments and drawings. you've likely seen them used on my blog for some styled shots. sort of like that of the one {below}!
i am certainly partial to these old school relics that i've shared with you today. i'm a bit an old dog learning some new tricks. part of me likes the idea of stamping sentences out on lined paper instead of sending text messages on my phone. i know enough to squeak by. but a far cry from the knowledge that these "whippersnappers" of today's society possess.
next time one of your kids ask for the latest + greatest gadget...pass a slate chalkboard their way. tell them this is what the generations before them used to take notes on. all it took to get a message across was just a piece of chalk. no wi-fi needed! now that's my kind of technology!
thanks for sharing my love of {old} school objects.




