We finally got our first real snow day here! I really loved sitting in the breakfast nook “taking tea” and enjoying the snowy pines out the window. It was the perfect day to stay inside and finish up packing away all the Christmas decorations and to do some winter styling in the kitchen.
One of my favorite yard sale finds is a collection of charming vintage recipe cards. Over the years I have used them time and time again in seasonal vignettes. As I was styling this winter vignette on top of my old retro cabinet filled with Rae Dunn Pottery, I got the idea to do a little post all about my vintage recipe cards. *This post contains affiliate links.
The small chippy recipe box is full of old recipe cards, and the loose recipe card for “Snow Balls” was part of a another large stack of cards found at the same yard sale a couple of years ago. I honestly could not believe that someone was selling what appeared to be family heirlooms after I started reading through all the cards and noticed some original recipes.
I think they look so pretty here displayed on some antique ironstone and my favorite Hearth And Hand With Magnolia kitchen towel. As with all things vintage, I am always fascinated by the simplicity of previous generations. Actually, typing in a recipe in a search engine on a phone and finding what you need nearly instantaneously is probably far more simple than writing out 100’s of recipes over many years, but there is just so much charm to these handwritten recipes, and they preserve a bit of history and culture too. Take a look at the recipe for homemade mayo below. Notice any silica dioxide, sodium benzoate, MSG or anything you can’t pronounce?
Did you know cursive writing is no longer taught in many schools? Just the fact that these cards are in cursive with pretty penmanship adds to the charm. Several times I have skimmed through these cards looking at all the interesting recipes that I have never heard of. Everything calls for homemade ingredients. No microwaving, no boxed junk!
Just like with antique and vintage post cards, vintage recipe cards are wonderful small accents for tying together vintage vignettes with a seasonal theme in a cottage-farmhouse style kitchen. Here are a few ways I have used them.
In my early fall home tour, I had a September apple theme in the kitchen. Here I used the Dutch Apple Cake and Apple and Grape Jelly recipe cards.
Of course for October and November I just had to put a recipe for old fashioned Pumpkin Pie card on display! If you love fall decorating ideas year round like I do, you can find some inspiration in my Grateful Gatherings In The Kitchen post.
For Christmas I didn’t use any individual recipe cards, but I did keep the full stack on display in my Rae Dunn cabinet with the snow balls recipe on top of the stack. When I was packing away the Christmas items from out of the cabinet, I decided to use the “Snow Balls” recipe card on top of the cabinet in a winter vignette grouped with a cute little snow man and a fun Rae Dunn Chill Mug.
Before working on this post I hadn’t really read the “Snow Balls” recipe ingredients. I thought it was a recipe for snow ice cream, but it appears to be some sort of dessert. Has anyone every tried this particular type of “Snow Balls?”
The recipe suggests to “serve with preserved fruit or strawberry sauce.” Well, I am gluten free, dairy free, casein free, sugar free and egg free…so this recipe is out of the question for me, but I can’t help to think I would be serving snow balls with chocolate sauce if I could!
I became really curious about these so called “snow balls,” so I looked on Pinterest and found so many recipes for them with different variations! There is even an allergy friendly snow balls recipe by Gluten Free Vegan Love that I am going to try soon.
But not too soon…I just got the kitchen cleaned up from the holidays!
I would like to just “chill” and enjoy it for a few days!
I actually do have some work to do however, as I will be participating in a winter neutral home tour as part of a blog hop next week with some talented blogging friends. I will share a few more photos of my winter kitchen on the tour as well.
I hope you have enjoyed taking a look at my vintage recipe cards. This coming spring and summer I will be sure to share some more photos of whichever recipe cards I choose to display then. Right now though after a bit of snow and arctic temperatures, spring seems a world away. Until then, “chill out,” but stay warm!”
Amber
If you are looking to add vintage style decor to your home, check out my recent post:
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9 Comments
I never considered decorating with old recipe cards, but it is such a great idea. They add so much charm to your kitchen decor!
January 15, 2018 at 7:14 pmThese remind me of my mom’s old cards! My sister and I each have some, I’d never get rid of them! Love how you use them to style seasonal vignettes! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! xo Kathleen|Our Hopeful Home
January 22, 2018 at 11:51 pmThank you Kathleen, of course a vintage spirit like you would never part with those special cards! Thanks for visiting and for hosting Vintage Charm. See you tomorrow at the party!
January 25, 2018 at 5:23 amWhat a fabulous find, Amber!! I would be tickled pink if I stumbled across these beauties while at a yard sale!! I absolutely adore how you have displayed them!! They look right at home!!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful find with us over at Waste Not Wednesday!
January 30, 2018 at 10:46 pmThank you Sam!
February 4, 2018 at 12:51 amI recently inherited a recipe box full of handwritten recipes. I can’t wait to go through them and use some of your suggestions for displaying them. Thanks for sharing this with us at the Waste Not Wednesday link party. Can’t wait to see what you are up to this week.
February 1, 2018 at 12:53 amOh how wonderful Denise! Have fun playing around with your new treasures!
February 4, 2018 at 12:50 amDecoration of the kitchen is so much nice and beautiful and It is looking very good and nice.
March 5, 2018 at 6:20 amThank you very much!
March 6, 2018 at 4:11 am