No Spam Straight From The Can!

Spam salad, stir-fry and musubi all made in our Doll's kitchen.

 

       Above are three spam toy foods that "mix-up" the way spam gets treated in our doll's play kitchen: Spam stir-fry is on the large platter, the bowl contains a pickled SPAM served with fruits and the third is SPAM musubi place upon an attractive decoupaged Hawaiian platter.
       What is SPAM you might ask? SPAM is a brand of lunch meat (processed canned ham) made by Hormel Foods Corporation, an American multinational food processing company. It was introduced in the United States in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II. As of 2003, Spam was sold in 41 countries, and trademarked in more than 100, on six continents. read more . . . 

Spam steaks with a rice cake and seaweed wrap are called "Spam musubi." This is a very popular lunch food in Hawaii.

How to make real SPAM musubi:

• emmymade makes SPAM Musubi
• Aloha To You makes Spam Musubi

Santos Chronicles takes his family to the Spam 

Museum in Austin Minnesota.

Students can read the dialogue bubbles or 
speech bubbles above to discover just how 
good Bob's cooking is. This a very vintage
advertisement for canned SPAM. The pack-
aging for SPAM has changed but the food
still tastes the same. Unless, you are Bob,
his cooking is the exception according to
his wife and friends. Click to enlarge the 
advertisement for better reading.

The dolls serve pancakes for Fat Tuesday . . .

  "In some Christian countries, especially those where the day is called Mardi Gras or a translation
 thereof, it is a carnival day, the last day of "fat eating" or "gorging" before the fasting
 period of Lent.'' Wikipedia

Pancakes shaped using Sculpey

       The term Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Many Christian congregations thus observe the day through eating pancakes or, more specifically, the holding of pancake breakfasts, as well as the ringing of church bells to remind people to repent of their sins before the start of Lent. 
       The pancakes shown here were sculpted using oven-bake clay called Sculpey. It is easy to shape them any size you like by rolling out the clay into small balls and then pressing these down to make flat pancake shapes. Stack them all together and bake in the oven according to the directions on the Sculpey package. I then painted them using several shades of brown acrylic paints. 
       The tiny details like the butter pats on top, the peach wedges and pecan halves were shaped, baked and then glued to the top of the pancakes before painting them. Blue berries are not clay but made from Styrofoam beads. These were painted blue after applied to the surface of the pancakes using a tacky white school glue.
       All of the pancakes were finished with a final coat of Mod Podge after the paint dried.

• How to make single servings of doll foods...
• DIY doll sized hot glue pancakes by DelightfulDolls
• Color a small boy eating pancakes

Vintage Karo syrup advertisement. Pancakes have always
been popular! Click here for the Karo corn maiden coloring
sheet at Thrifty Scissors.
 (Product logos advertised in photographs here no longer exist.
The ads are used for teaching students about historical content
 only.) Karo syrup is still being made today with a new logo.
I use it everytime I bake a pecan pie.

How to cut and assemble cosmetic compacts for a doll...

Cosmetic compacts for a doll's purse.

       This doll makeup craft, an eye shadow compact, is one of the oldest like it on the web. I've made our own versions to stuff inside of our party handbag favors...

Supply List:

• colorful papers
• white school glue
• toothpick(s)
• Mod Podge
• tiny rubber band(s)
• silver tape (optional)
• scrap cardboard
• mirror or ''reflective'' paper (tin foil)
• cotton ball

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut small square, compact sized rectangles from scrap cardboard.
2. Score them down the center on the outside of each compact.
3. Cut tiny tabs of paper, glued ends together and paste on the edge of the compact to create a closure for the compacts. (see photo) You will need three of these loops. Two on one side spaced apart and one between these two, pasted to the opposite side.
4. Mod Podge each compact with a layer of black paper on both the inside and outside of each compact. These finishing paper layers should cover the pasted raw edges of the paper loops so that these ends will not be seen, only the loops will be seen extended from the sides of the compacts.
5. Now cut a toothpick to slide between all three tabs. Cover it's end with a bit of glue and cotton batting. Cover the stem with metallic tape. This is the makeup applicator. 
6. Using a hole punch, make colorful eye shadows. Paste these inside each compact on one half.
7. On the other half of the inside, cut a smaller mirror from mirrored paper and glue this in place.
8. Use a tiny rubber band to hold the compact closed along with the toothpick applicator through the loops.

Left, different sizes for compacts containing pretend eye shadows or blushes.

Avon, the makeup company once begun in the U. S., sold products
door to door. It was known as a 'woman's' company, a way for 
ladies to grow their business entrepreneurship and bring home a
supplemental paycheck to help pay for their family's needs. But it
has long since passed now and so has the age of door-to-door 
salesmen or women . . .

Retro Radios From the 1950s

       Below is original advertising for those radios sold during the 1950s. People would listen to both radio shows, news and music for hours prior to the invention of the computer. Today, many Americans do not even own a radio. (Product and or logos advertised in photographs here no longer exist. The ads are used for teaching students about historical content only.)

Bantam Radio Design from 1950.

Kriesler Radio and Record Player Combined from 1951.

How to make doll sized lipsticks

Finished 18" doll sized lipsticks for a doll's purse, of course!

       This project requires a steady hand and patience for detail. Again, it also involves the careful use of hot glue and should only be attempted with parental supervision. An older teen could accomplish it far easier than a child so this craft is recommended for older students. 

       The caps of the lipsticks do not necessarily need to be sealed with hot glue; this craft is just as cute without this small detail and therefore would make it safe for a younger child to manipulate if left off to begin with...

 Supply List:

• hot glue gun and hot glue
• skewers
• utility scissors or small hacksaw 
• acrylic paints: black, pinks and reds
• metal tape
• transparent straw or two
• white school glue
• black paper

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the skewers down to the size of lipsticks that would fit neatly into an 18" doll's purse or makeup kit. Ours are approximately 3/4" long.
2. The lipstick is divided into three parts: the top is the makeup for staining the lips, the middle is the tube and the bottom is the part of the tube that is twisted to lift the makeup up and down, in and out as it is used. These sections are made by gluing layers of paper on top of each other with white school glue. This is a detailed by easy process that requires a bit of patience.
3. After the levels of paper have dried, paint the makeup tube dispenser black or any color you would like. 
4. Then paint the lipstick makeup a shade of pink, mauve, or red.
5. Cut a transparent straw to fit over the tube and stop at the part of the stick where the tube and twisting mechanism meet. 
6. I cut a tiny piece of metal tape to hold the lid onto the tube. This can be easily remove during play and reattached when done. 
7. To seal the transparent straw at the top, squeeze out a small amount of hot glue onto a slick surface and push the top into the glue. 
8. Wait a few seconds and then remove the top from the glue. Pull the unwanted portions off of the outside of the straw and leave the inside to seal the tube.

Mini wooden lipsticks in progress... Left, unpainted. Right, beginning to paint.

Make More Doll Cosmetics:

• Pretend Doll Sized Nail Polish
• Doll Cosmetics line the shelves of these Salon booths/stations here...

A very frightening advertisement for lipstick I might add.
"You simply use this special lipstick that's made to blend
with the color of human blood." Sounds more like a 
Halloween advertisement to me! But, I guess it was an
interesting angle for selling cosmetics in the old days?

How to Craft Button-Top Salt and Pepper Shakers for Dolls

Left to right: doll sized coffee grinder, toaster, salt and pepper shakers and butter.

        This has got to be the tiniest, cutest craft I have ever made for 18" dolls! It's so simple and quick to put together and that's a good thing too - because I can see how easy it would be to loose doll sized salt and pepper shakers.

3 Sample sets of button-top salt and pepper shakers.

 Supply List:

• a matching set of tiny buttons
• scrap cardboard
• white tacky glue
• masking tape
• decorative paper and /or tape
• acrylic paints black and white
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut and roll scrap cardboard to make two identical, pretend shakers. These may be 1/2 inch tall or shorter.
2. You can tear off a tiny bit of tape to hold these together in a tight curl.
3. The tiny shakers need to be level enough to stand freely on top of your doll's kitchen counter or table.
4. Dab onto one end a bit of tacky glue and position a button on top of each shaker.
5. Wrap and glue decorative paper or metal tape around each shaker for decoration. 
6. Paint the top of each shaker black or white. Black being for pepper and white for salt.
   

Move Related Crafts:

• How to Make Utensils for Your Doll's Kitchen
• Crafting a Herb & Spice Collection for AG dolls...
• The Story of Common Salt

''When it rains, it pours" Morton Iodized Salt advertisement from 
the 1939. Read about the benefits of using non-caking salt!

DIY Doll Dairy for Play

Above are milk carton types and butter
sticks, one whole and the other sliced.

      Shown in photos here are the extra dairy foods that I made for our 18" doll kitchen refrigerator. 

       To make the pretend bottled milk, I filled two mini glass bottles with white paint and then sealed the openings with hot glue. I then wrapped the outer edges with tape and a cardboard tops to make simple lids. The lids were then painted with a grey acrylic paint.

       I crafted the box shaped milk carton using cardboard, white paint, and a milk label cut from a grocery flier. Then I Mod Podged the surface to make it durable for play.

       The small butter trays are cut from cardboard and the butter is shaped from Sculpey and painted a creamy, pale yellow color. Then the surfaces are also sealed with Mod Podge. These butter sticks fit perfectly in the door butter compartments of our doll's refrigerator. 

       Below are the cheeses sculpted from oven-bake clay and painted to resemble cheddar and Swiss cheese varieties. I also picture the slices of Swiss and cheddar cut from Fun Foam and wrapped in tiny plastic bags. The shredded faux cheese is also meticulously cut from a yellow foam sheet as well.

Left, are the sculpted cheeses and butter prior to painting. 
Right, are the finished versions of foam cheese slices, painted cheese
bricks and shredded cheese for pretend doll recipes.

       For dolls who are allergic to dairy students could make butter replacements just like Vegetable Oleomargarine. Below is a vintage advertisement for this food substitute. Apparently "The Finest and Freshest Spread For Bread."

'Good Luck' vegetable margarine advertisement.

How to make soap for Pioneer dolls...

Bars of pretend soap for any dolls.

       We made pretend soap for play with all of our dolls, not just Pioneer Dolls.  But there is an interesting video included here for those students interested in knowing just 'how' the Pioneer's actually made soap over 100 years ago. I sure am glad that this is no longer a chore we need to perform!

Supply List:

• cardboard scraps
• ruler
• masking tape
• white school glue
• acrylic paints
• scrap paper for labels (optional) 
• Mod Podge

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut many multiple pieces of cardboard into the same sizes.
2. Using white school glue, adhere layers of these cardboard pieces until your pretend soap is the size and shape you desire.
3. Mask the surface area to make it stronger for play.
4. Paint the surfaces of your soap in the colors you prefer.
5. Seal the painted faux soaps with Mod Podge.
6. If you like to put your doll sized soap on display at a doll fair or market, wrap it with paper and label it with stickers.

How soap was made by American Pioneers by tellervo...

See Old-Fashioned Soap Making at Youtube:

• Soap Making with VIP Cheryl
• Mountain Craft - Soap Making  by Resort Adventures
• Homemade Soap at Marshes
• Tread of Pioneers Museum Makes Soap
• Making Soap in Appalachia - cold process soap making

Actress, Loretta Young dialogues with magazine readers about her
love of LUX soap in the 1930s. 

DIY pineapple upside-down-cake for dolls!

       To make these mini cakes for your dolls you will need the following supplies: cardboard scraps, Sculpey oven-bake clay, white school glue, acrylic paints, a paper napkin and puff paints. 

Above on the left are the finished upside down pineapple doll cakes, including maraschino
cherries inside of the pineapple rings; this is traditional in the United States. Maraschino
cherries are preserved and sweetened. Right is what our doll cakes look like on the bottom.
 These are single servings of cake, intended to be plated individually on dolly china.

       An upside-down cake is a cake that is baked "upside-down" in a single pan or skillet with its toppings at the bottom of the pan. When removed from the oven, the finished upside-down preparation is flipped over and de-panned onto a serving plate, thus "righting" it, and serving it right-side up.

       Usually chopped or sliced fruits like: cherries, peaches, or pineapples — melted butter, and crumbled brown sugar are placed on the bottom of the pan before the batter is poured in, so that they form a baked-on topping after the cake is inverted. A yellow cake batter is frequently used with these recipes. Boxed cakes are suitable for these recipes too; just replace the water with the juices of the fruits and add water to make up the difference when there is not enough fruit juice.

       The first American recipes for upside-down cake, using prunes, appeared in newspapers in 1923.

       In the United States, pineapple upside down cakes became popular in the mid-1920s after Dole Pineapple Company sponsored a contest for pineapple recipes. They received over 2,500 various submissions for the inverted pineapple cake and ran an advertisement about it, which increased the cake's popularity.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the size of the cakes you prefer using the cardboard.
2. Glue multiple pieces of these identical cuts together using white school glue. Let dry.
3. Shape the pineapple rings using the Sculpey. Using a toothpick score the tops just as pineapple rings look when canned.
4. Roll out a maraschino cheeries from the Sculpey and lightly press it into the center of your pineapple rings. Bake as directed. 
5. After the clay, fruit elements have cooled, glue these onto the cardboard cake pieces. Let dry.
6. Cut out, from paper napkin, the bottoms of the cakes to glue underneath. This rippling from the napkin makes the cardboard surface look more like cake. Let dry.
7. Paint each cake yellow on the sides and bottoms.
8. Now paint the fruits.
9. Squeeze a butterscotch puff paint color on to the top of each cake to make these look like brown sugar toppings.

Long ago, just like today, people purchased pineapple
in cans from Hawaii to make this tropically
inspired cake!

DIY Basmati Rice for American Girl Dolls

        In order to sew 18" doll size Basmati rice bags for our doll's kitchen, we decided to recycle the large beautiful bag that the rice normally comes in. What this means for our small family is that we have to wait a full year in order for the rice to be consumed!

Left, the original Basmati rice bag. Center, the front of our American Girl Doll versions
of this rice bag. Right, the backside of the bags are made of the same rough woven fabric.

 Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. To begin, I cut out the smaller round logo design from the front and back of the bag, leaving enough fabric around it to sew a small bag approximately 2" x 2 1/2".  Then I also cut fabric without printing from other areas of the rice bag to be the backsides of the doll versions.
2. Sew the right sides together using a tight straight stitch, leaving the top edge open. Turn the small bags inside out and sew a secondary blanket stitch along the outer finished edges of the rice bags using heavy embroidery floss. 
3. Then stuff each rice bag with seed beads and sew the top edges of each bag shut, turning in the raw edges. 
4. Cut off the handles of the original rice bag. Measure these to the lengths that you like and fold them in half lengthwise to whip stitch each one shut.
5. Attach a handle to each doll rice bag using the embroidery floss. I covered the ends with tiny cuts of brown felt and stitched these over the ends to prevent fraying. 
6. The weight of the seed beads make the doll rice bags feel nice and heavy, just like the real Basmati bags that come from the grocery store!

A vintage Riceland ad from the 1940s. "Little Girls Love Riceland" ...the
so-easy-to-cook Rice is never sticky. Always perfect.

Sculpt French toast for dolly's breakfast!

Our finished versions of sculpted French toast and puff
cereal. The toast and strawberries are made using Sculpey
oven bake clay. The strawberry syrup is red acrylic
paint. I also used red puff paint to show a heavier, creamer
syrup on top of the toast dripping down the sides. The
white powdered sugar was painted on with a thin tipped brush.

        French toast is a dish made of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and typically milk, then pan fried. Alternative names and variants include "eggy bread", "Bombay toast", "gypsy toast", and "poor knights" (of Windsor).

Above, I included strawberries, syrup and powdered sugar here to top
our doll's French toast breakfast.

       When French toast is served as a sweet dish, milk, sugar, vanilla or cinnamon are also commonly added before pan-frying, and then it may be topped with sugar (often powdered sugar), butter, fruit, or syrup. When it is a savory dish, it is generally fried with a pinch of salt or pepper, and it can then be served with a sauce. Our doll's version includes strawberry sauce.
       In New Orleans Louisiana Creole cuisine, French toast is known as pain perdu and is most commonly served as a breakfast dish. The recipe calls for New Orleans-style French bread; the batter is an egg-based custard. Common toppings include cane syrup, strongly flavored honey, or fruit syrups; a dusting of powdered sugar is also traditional.

Left, paper egg carton is recycled to make the bowl shown above. Center and Right,
detailed photos of the puff cereal or 'Kix' brand cereal. Puffs are Styrofoam balls painted
yellow to resemble cereal for a doll's breakfast.

Dollfun version of clay french toast, 

visit her site to see much more!

Vintage advertising for Kix corn cereal, "It's taking America by Storm!"
(Logos advertised in photographs here no longer exist.
The ads are used for teaching students about historical content only.)
Kix cereal is still popular today but it has a different logo.

Christmas Gift Wrap for Dolls

       It's easy to make doll sized wrapping paper and bows to include in photo opportunities and on doll sized presents for Christmas. All you need are wrapping paper scraps, white school glue, small boxes and paper tubes! I wrapped a variety of six inch paper tubes with scrap wrapping paper and neatly glued down the edges to prevent the paper from unravelling. I purchased the tiny, festive bows from a dollar store to decorate the doll sized presents.

• Box templates or patterns for baked goods or anything else really...
• Post Office mailing labels for dolls here.

       You can see that I also included ribbon and some alternative bobs and bits to finish the packages with alternatively. You may wish to wrap empty boxes or stuff them with real, doll sized gifts depending upon the time or interest you have during play.

       We chose to wrap lids separate from the box bottoms so that our dolls could reuse the Christmas packages many more times in the future.
       Dolls can wrap up their Christmas gifts with see-through Scotch Brand tape, just as we still do today in real life. Learning to read blog posts and advertisements is an important literacy skill among modern students today. Check out our Literacy labels at the bottom of this blog to read all kinds of different content.

"For Holding, For Sealing, and For Mending
Scotch Cellulose Tape" vintage advertisement.
Scotch brand tape still exists today but their
logo depicts a Scotch Plaid enhanced logo now.

Shirley Temple Dolls

       Some of the finest first Shirley Temple Dolls were released in 1936 through an ad campaign following the release of her many popular films. The dolls wore a matching costumes just like their namesake. . . ."Each doll is packed in a special Shirley Temple box, bearing the little star's picture and signature, confirming that it is the one and only Shirley Temple Doll. Each doll wears a celluloid Shirley Temple button which her little owner can proudly wear to school. The doll is 13 inches tall and is officially endorsed by Shirley and her mother.

       The doll is the very image of Shirley Temple, with laughing eyes, sparkling teeth, curly, natural hair, winning smile, cute dimple, and dressed exactly as she appears in her latest picture."

"Here's how you may get this genuine Shirley Temple Doll as your prize."

       Many Shirley Temple-inspired products were manufactured and released during the 1930s. Ideal Toy and Novelty Company in New York City negotiated a license for dolls with the company's first doll wearing the polka-dot dress from Stand Up and Cheer! Shirley Temple dolls realized $45 million in sales before 1941. A mug, a pitcher, and a cereal bowl in cobalt blue with a decal of the little actress were given away as a premium with Wheaties.

Shirley Temple Doll by Ideal from 1957.

       Shirley Temple Doll by Ideal. "We proudly introduce the brand new Shirley Temple doll as the star herself makes a long-awaited return. She and her wonderful movies are on T.V. now. This vinyl doll with life-like skin has washable curls galore, twinkling eyes that look in all directions, and dimpled cheeks. She wears nylon party dress, petticoat, hair ribbon. 17 inches tall."

       Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, the third child of homemaker Gertrude Temple and bank employee George Temple. The family was of Dutch, English, and German ancestry. She had two brothers: John and George, Jr. The family moved to Brentwood, Los Angeles.       
       Her mother encouraged Shirley to develop her singing, dancing, and acting talents, and in September 1931 enrolled her in Meglin's Dance School in Los Angeles. At about this time, Shirley's mother began styling her daughter's hair in ringlets.

Shirley Temple, child actress.

       While at the dance school, she was spotted by Charles Lamont, who was a casting director for Educational Pictures. Temple hid behind the piano while she was in the studio. Lamont took a liking to Temple, and invited her to audition; he signed her to a contract in 1932. Educational Pictures launched its Baby Burlesks, 10-minute comedy shorts satirizing recent films and events, using preschool children in every role. Glad Rags to Riches was a parody of the Mae West feature She Done Him Wrong, with Shirley as a saloon singer. Kid 'n' Africa had Shirley imperiled in the jungle. The Runt Page was a pastiche of The Front Page. The juvenile cast delivered their lines as best they could, with the younger players reciting phonetically. Temple became the breakout star of this series, and Educational promoted her to 20-minute comedies. These were in the Frolics of Youth series with Frank Coghlan Jr.; Temple played Mary Lou Rogers, the baby sister in a contemporary suburban family. To underwrite production costs at Educational Pictures, she and her child co-stars modeled for breakfast cereals and other products. She was lent to Tower Productions for a small role in her first feature film (The Red-Haired Alibi) in 1932 and, in 1933, to Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Pictures for various parts.

• Antique Shirley Temple Dolls
• Shirley Temple Doll, ca. 1934
• History of Shirley Temple Dolls
• Shirley Temple paper doll by Laura Brock

Ideal video for their 50s Shirley Temple Doll

 

A Picture Story of Shirley Temple's Life With Her Dolls.

       Top, Wash Day is a serious problem for a little girl who has 200 dolls to look after. Most of her collection has come from fans in the countries the dolls represent. Left Center, A Big Back Yard at Home With A Special playhouse is where Shirley spends days she is not working at the studio. Circle Center, she is seen summoning some of her Santa Monica playmates to "c'mon over and play." Right Center, "Nellie" is on of the favorites among Shirley's many dolls. Though she has several "Shirley Temple" dolls that look just like her, she prefers the others. Shirley is 42 inches tall now and this doll is almost as big. Left Bottom, Playing Grandmother, is easy for Shirley because she has so many male believe games with her dolls. She always has at least one on movie set where she is working. Shirley has a grandmother living in Santa Monica, too - Mrs. Temple's mother. She visits her frequently. Right Bottom, They had to build special cases in Shirley's room at home to hold the many dolls she was given. She is shown here holding "Mary," a doll that she had since her second birthday. "Mary" is taken to bed every night by the tiny film star, while the newer and prettier dolls stay in their case. Shirley has given away many of her dolls to her friends. 1935, Indianapolis Times

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Advertising From The 1960s

"New diamond-bright Gossamer the only hair spray that passes the close-up test."

A bouffant /buːˈfɒnt/ is a type of hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides. Read more...

"If you're setting up house... you'll live happier with Holstalen" cartoon ad for plastics

Find out what plastic is, how it's made and who made it. Read more...

"Romance has faded right out of my life!" cartoon ad by Colgate toothpaste

Why you should be using cartoons to sell product...

'Unders' & 'Overs' by Kayser (knee socks for school girls)

Knee highs became popular during the 1960s and 1970s with the increase in popularity of the miniskirt. Read more...

The differences between early, mid and late 1960s fashions.

Craft a Foam Pumpkin Pie

You can make these fun foam pumpkin pies for any doll's holiday celebrations. I made these for our
 family's American Girl dolls to play with but you could just as easily cut them smaller for a 
Barbie Halloween or Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Steps for cutting both slices of foam pumpkin pie 
and a whole pumpkin pie if your dolls prefer it.

       Our dolls are getting ready for both Halloween and Thanksgiving by preparing a few homemade pumpkin pies fresh baked from their kitchen this year. 

       We have even acquired some lovely china dishes for the occasions! Read below to learn how to make similar pies yourself.

Supply List:

• orange craft foam sheet
• Q-tip cotton swabs
• brown paper bag
• brown cardboard
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• white craft glue
• pinking shears 

Step-by-Step Directions: 

1. First you will need to draw and cut out a pie wedge shape. Trace this onto your orange foam sheet.
2. Cut out at least four identical shapes and then glue and stack them together.
3. Cut a long narrow piece of foam to attach to the side of your faux pumpkin pie slice on both sides of the pie. 
4. The back side of the pie wedge doesn't need to be covered with a foam strip because you will glue the back side of the cut cardboard here.
5. Cut a pie crust from clean brown cardboard. You will need a wedge shape for the bottom of the pie slice and a side piece of crust from the cardboard as well. I clipped a ruffle into the side crust to add a bit of detail. (see number 5. right)
6. I also cut four foam circles and one cardboard circle to stack together into the shape of an entire foam pumpkin pie.
7. Then I wrapped brown paper around the edge of the whole pie and attached it neatly with craft glue. I also cut a ruffle around the upper end of the pie with pinking shears to create a ruffle. Then I used the tip of my regular scissors to punch a wholes into my pie pieces in order to glue the tips of Q-tips into these. The Q-tips act as our pie's whip cream.
   

PET evaporated Milk ad from a 1940s vintage magazine. The famous Fultz quads or Reidsville,
North Carolina are thriving on PET MILK. I still make pumpkin pie using evaporated
milk during the holidays.

DIY Durable Boxed Doll Foods for Play

Our American Girl Doll, Molly, unpacks groceries made
with our vintage food labels.

       In order to make play foods durable, I often will craft them so that boxes can not be opened and emptied of contents, especially if I am going to gift these to a child younger than six or seven.

 Supply List:

• flimsy cardboard
• corrugated cardboard
• white school glue
• Mod Podge
• printable labels
• food labels cut from ads and/or food product

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Print and cut out labels found under the 30 vintage labels post.
2.  Stick these to a smooth faced, light weight cardboard first. Cut them out.
3. Stick the same labels to corrugated cardboard four times over. Layering the thicknesses on top of each other. 
4. Stick light weight cardboard to the final outside layers on both the edges and the back of each small cardboard food.
5. Mod Podge the entire surface of each box shaped food.

The labels for these particular food items may be downloaded from here and printed out on your
home computer for personal crafts only. I restored them for this purpose from the public domain.
They are, however, my own interpretations, so do not resale the content or redistribute it
 from your own web pages.

Frozen strawberry boxes and the Five Roses
Flour cake box for a doll's pantry.

10 Quick Tips for Working With Cardboard:

1. Because cardboard is processed with acid, this chemical will leach out and be absorbed into paper materials glued to it's surface over time. Therefore, turning surfaces yellow and corroding them completely.. If you wish to slow this process, seal the cardboard with liquid Gesso before applying acid free paper prints of labels.
2. Apply a thin cardboard to the face of corrugated cardboard surfaces in order to avoid a rippled texture in your paper mache crafts. 
3. Many layers of cardboard compressed together, lend greater strength to your paper mache toys. 
4. Toys made entirely with cardboard and paper are biodegradable. This means you can toss them into landfills and the bacteria there will break them down naturally.
5. Paper mache toys that survive well, are also collectable.
6. Cardboard is a forgiving craft material. It can be easily manipulated, cut, molded and transformed into practically anything if you develop the skills to use it.
7. Cardboard is cheap and in many cases, free!
8. If your cardboard warps, layer heavy books on top of it overnight, or until it's surfaces are restored to rigidity. 
9. Do not store too much cardboard at any given time in one area of your home. Collect and work with it as you need it. Cardboard can attract insects and spiders who love to make their homes inside it's cracks and corrugated medium.
10. If you work with cardboard frequently, you will find that you need sharp tools to cut it. Remember to carefully store razor blades, craft knifes, box cutters and sharp scissors away from places where small children can access these tools!

Left, you can see that there are four layers of corrugated cardboard glued together to create the
illusion of a 'box' for the doll's Five Roses Flour cake box. The outside layer is made with
cardboard from a cereal box. This layer is smoother and yellow as is my printed logo. I didn't
 need to paint my samples for this reason; I only needed to seal all four sides with Mod Podge
 in order to give the finished craft a professional look. Right, here you see that I'm trimming off
the edges so that the boxed food items can stand on their own.

Left, a Fashionista models for the camera. She demonstrates size/scale of boxed granola.
I found these tiny photos on the side panel of product I purchased for breakfast.
They are the perfect scale for our Barbie dolls to play with and they are made with
the same method of layering cardboard described in our simple craft above.

• Remaking Play Food Boxes to Last
• DIY Miniature Cereal Box made from recycled cereal boxes

Read a cartoon with dialogue balloons talking about
the benefits of Kellogg's All-Bran cereal. This vintage
advertisement is about a food product we still eat
today and is quite common to American markets.