Old World Pastry and Old World Santa Tag

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

What are you going as to Halloween? Here's a handy costume, and bloggers don't have to do a thing! Blogger Zombie! Just stagger up from your computer chair and start handing out candy, with yer ghastly pale skin and dark circles under yer eyes from blog surfing waaaay too much.

Now up in my shoppes - "Tattered and torn" Old World Santa tags, in 2.5 x 3.5 size! Very flexible - make tags, decorations, cards, more out of them! 

I love the fanciful depictions of Santy, in cloaks and robes of all hues. The older versions of Santy look a bit sterner than our modern jolly fellow. In my day, Santy gave out a lot of "switches." I always got quite a few switches. And got switched,too. Ah, what fun, remembered getting switched on Christmas. It's a wonder I don't drink.

And here we have (below free tag) a quick Old Mexico Empanada recipe. Don't waste those jack o'lanterns. You used a nice unscented candle or a battery operated one like The Olde Dame told ye to last week, didn't ye? Otherwise the pumpkin will cook up nasty and smell of funny fragrances.

Old Mexico Empanadas

Depression Oil Crust - Follows - This is the ONLY PIE CRUST recipe you will ever need. 

Pumpkin/Jack O'lantern

3/4 cup brown sugar

Salt

1/2 cup white sugar to sprinkle on crust

Spices like pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, or what you like

Cut up the pumpkin into slabs - leave peel on. It's easy, because when you made a jack o'lantern you did the hard work of getting the seeds/strings out. But if any strings/guts remain, scrape with a melon-baller or a big old metal spoon and throw them outside for the animals.

Cook pumpkin using the method you like best - I suggest pressure cooker w/grate if you have one, boiled, or oven baked.

The pressure cooker will take only 10 minutes once it gets up a head of steam. Put water in up to the grate and put the slabs of pumpkin in on top.

The oven will take about 45 minutes to an hour at 350 - place pumpkin skin side up in roasting pan and add a cup or two of water and cover.

Boiling it will take about 30-45 minutes, keep sticking a fork in it to see if it is tender. Don't overcook it.

No matter how you cook it, once done, take it OUT of any remaining water while hot and let it "steam" dry.

Now pull the skin/peel off of it. It usually will come right off!

Get a hand blender if you have one, and blend the holy heck out of it. Get those strings chopped up or out. Use a regular blender if you don't have a hand one. You can also use electric beaters but will have to keep pulling the strings out.

You want it SMOOTH.

Now add in the brown sugar and the spices and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Use at least 2 teaspoons of the spices (total).

Mix well.

Take the crust and roll out. Cut out circles about 4-inches or so, small tortilla-sized.

Put a dollop of filling on them, on one side, keep it off the edges.

Fold the dough over, put a bit of water on the edge and push to seal.

Rub water on top and sprinkle with sugar.

Put in 375 oven for about 10 minutes then turn to 325 for 10 more or until the pastry starts to brown.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THEM

Depression Oil Crust

Put 1 and 1/3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt into a bowl, mixed, and make a well in the middle.

Measure 1/3 cup oil (I like corn oil or a mix of corn and canola) and 3 tablespoons cold milk into a cup, then pour into the well and mix it up all at once the LEAST you can mix it and it hold together. This keeps it tender.

Sprinkle some flour on waxed paper, place crust ball of dough on it, rub flour on your rolling pin and roll out. The scraps from this crust can be gathered and rerolled and still stay tender.

Perky Percolator Xmas Tag - Free For Ye!

Those kitschy 50's designs are so cute and fun. Here's a vintage card turned into a tag. 

This could be especially neat stapled to a little brown lunch bag with different things coffee hounds would like - a mug, or some flavored creamers, or those drops you put in coffee to make it taste like hazelnut or vanilla, etc.

Thank'ee for stopping by. Got an email and no, I haven't forgotten the empanada recipe and will be posting it tomorrow! Can't believe Halloween is nigh.

Remember to read about how to save this tag - see right sidebar!

For Those Who Love Birds - Printable Christmas Tag

Here is a complimentary Christmas tag featuring a lovely bird from the brush of a long-ago artist, most likely German. They created so many of the early Christmas cards, although their work was primarily printed for the market in England and the USA. Birds were a popular subject. 

Here in West Texas the grackles and king birds are making a tremendous racket as they flock together. Some people dislike these noisy birds, but I dearly love them. I love how they will "help themselves" to anything you are foolish enough to leave outside -- I have lost quite a few elements of my picnic lunches that way. They will even tug zippers on lunchboxes open.

I have a new "six pack" + bonus of lovely old-fashioned birds in my Etsy and Artfire shops! All 6-packs are $2 this season, and you can print the files as many times as you wish.

Please read about "how" to save this tag for your needs - to print or just decorate a blog with -- see right sidebar.

Thank'ee for stopping by.

Printable Retro Santa Gift Tag

And here we have a simple retro Santa from a 50's card, placed on a gift tag that is the same size as a business card. Yes, it's not even Halloween -- my sense of season is addled by being elbow-deep in glitter and bows at my various horrid jobs.

Remember to read "how" to save these images over on the right sidebar. There is more than one way to save them, depending on how you plan to use them, printed or just on-screen. Remember that they look huge but print much smaller.

Thank'ee for dropping by.

Have you noticed how my volcano and storm predictions are also coming true? But a fierce volcanic explosion is yet to come, dearies. And so is a tremendous earthquake. The earth feels funny under my tiny feet.

Christmas Is Coming -- BEFORE Hallowe'en?

Oh yes, for those who work in retail, it's very Christmasy right now. I spent half the day moving boxes of cards and bows and Advent Calenders and other Christmas goodies around while the jack o'lanterns grinned in a forlorn manner.

For artisans and handcrafters, Christmas comes "early," too -- we have to start our projects pretty early, sometimes.

This is a free printable giftcard holder for those who are planning to give that wonderful one-size-fits-all instant gift of a giftcard! I would certainly love one.

I find these giftcard holders to be very expensive in the stores. I barely have enough for the giftcard itself. I don't want to spend more on a holder! Yet I'm not going to just go THROW it at the recipient!

See my new Victorian giftcard holders at my Artfire and Etsy stores!

Print this out, glitter it, add some doodads, or what have you. It's ready to go plain, too. When folded, the front tucks into a little tab that you have cut into the back. This is the same design places like Barnes and Nobles uses for its gift cards. It's about 4 x 4.25 inches once folded and holds a gift card nicely.

The fold line and the tab cut-along lines are subtle and don't detract from the design.

Hope ye enjoy. Remember to click it, let the larger image load, and click again for largest image. THEN right-click to save it.

Click-or-Treat! Trick or Treat Free Printable Rustic Tag

This would be fun to print out and attach to some goodies!

I love the treats of Halloween. And I wish that candy apples, caramel apples, and popcorn balls have not fallen out of fashion. We had donuts, too, freshly fried. Long ago, far away.

We don't even get trick-or-treaters anymore. Last year we snuck up to the UPS truck pulled up in front of the neighbor's house and put a handful of candy on the driver's seat. He got a kick out of it! He was our only "trick-or-treater" that night!

Please see the information to the right on the sidebar if you need advice about how to save this tag for printing or just placing on a blog. It's all in how you click it!

Thank'ee for stopping by.

Predictions, and Rustic Angel Tag for Scrapbooking, Gifts, Even Blogs

This tag uses a rustic "hangtag" base that seems very popular with those buying printables for Thanksgiving.

I'm jumping the gun with a Christmas angel, in spats no less, but the Thanksgiving tags are still being listed and relisted on Etsy and Artfire.

I might do more tags of these Victorian Christmas children, but erase those wings. Hmm.

I do love the rustic stuff. I have a "Soap for Sale" rustic tag that a bloggie friend made, and it never fails to get a comment - it's hanging off a rustic wood cabinet we use as a medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

Please read the "how-to" information on the right sidebar if you're unsure of how to save these free tags properly. It's easy! Remember that the size they display on your screen and the size they print are entirely different. This tag will print out 2.25 x 4.25" approximately.

Thank'ee for stopping by. By the way, I predicted two earthquakes and their locations last week, but seem to have missed on my "early blizzard" prediction, unless one roars in soon. I am predicting another strange U.S. earthquake, too. And an incredible storm in London. We'll see.

UPDATE: Wrote this post, set it up to automatically post, and then looked at the news - earthquake in Wyoming!

Cat Christmas Tag

It's a Kitty Cat Christmas tag! 

A young cat hands his pretty penny over for some treats at a Christmas cart in Old London, from the looks of this vintage image.

Please see instructions on the right sidebar if you need help with saving this free tag -- pick the right size for your needs.

Thank'ee for stopping by.

It's That "Recipe" Time of Year

Seems like the holidays are the very best time for getting new recipes that are actually good.

So many truly dreadful recipes floating about not only on the internet, but in magazines and cookbooks, too.

The best are the hand-me-down recipes friends will sometimes share!

Here is a little card, printing out about 3.25 x 3 or so, to jot down a recipe to share. Family recipes are more valuable than gold!

Please see information to the right about how to save this tag so you can print it out and use it yourself!

Thank'ee for stopping by.

A Jarring Image!

Here we have a very old canning jar sporting a pretty vintage Thanksgiving painting as its label.

Please see instructions to the right about how to save this image for PRINTING or for BLOG USE.

Drop by my Etsy or Artfire shoppes to see my collage sheets with six of these jars on them! Only $2 for a downloadable sheet!

Thank'ee for stopping by.

I'm Arch About This Free Halloween Tag

Just another one of my bad puns, dearies.

This is a new "arch" tag design. I have a new Half-N-Half sheet -- half Christmas, Half New Year's -- up in my Etsy and Artfire shops that feature this tag shape.

This is a lovely old Ellen Clapsaddle painting - I think this young gent has done a fine job with his punkin carving.

See instructions to the right about saving this image, if you need them! Remember to click and let 2 larger images load if you are saving this to print out. It will LOOK huge but print normally, about 2.5 x 4 inches.

USE A PLAIN CANDLE, not a scented one, or even use a flicker battery-operated candle in your jack o'lanterns this year, then cook up the pumpkin and make empanadas. I'll be posting a recipe. A neighbor long ago from Old Mexico gave me this recipe and the empanadas were out of this world.

Thank'ee for dropping by.

Free Thanksgiving Tag Printable - Fruits of the Harvest

Those grapes in the painting would have been rare on the olden-day Thanksgiving table in most of the country -- the frost would have gotten them by late November.

Grapes make a wonderful dish to take to a potluck. Clean, stem, and dry grapes, about a pound or two, then add them to a mixture of small tub of sour cream and powdered sugar [I use a cup at leas but some like less, some more] -- some folks make it with beaten cream cheese and the sugar --  and mayhap a tiny bit of vanilla, coating them well. Then sprinkle the top with a bit of brown sugar and some chopped pecans. Leave out the pecans if making this for those who may have difficulty chewing nuts.

Do this RIGHT BEFORE you need it -- you want the mixture sticking to the grapes well, not sliding off due to the vicious effects of gravity.

Everyone will want this recipe. So print out these tags and write it on the back and bring them along, placing them by the grapes! Don't forget I have new "Half-N-Half" tag sheets (half Xmas tags, half T'giving) up for sale in all of my shops - Etsy, Artfire, and Zibbet. At Artfire, you can just click Paypal and buy without registering. I like that. Too many places to keep track of otherwise!

Look over to the right sidebar and scroll down a bit to get instructions on how to save these files! Got tired of retyping it each post.

Thank'ee for dropping by!

Over the River and Through the Woods to a Free Printable Tag!

Oh what a pretty pilgrim!

I once went as a pilgrim to Halloween. What fun! Sadly, the costume seemed to SHRINK ever more dramatically as the years passed -- quite unwearable now -- how STRANGE that it shrank, yes? Just stored in the air shrank it, mayhap -- It couldn't be that I GOT LARGER, now could it? NO INDEED bloggie friends!

Remember that these files are HUGE due to being designed to print out at 300 ppi for wonderful clarity -- they do print out proper 2.5 x 3.5 size!

*shriek* of joy -- it's so fun to POST and YAK and YAMMER and hold forth and not hear a peep out of any of you! Tee hee hee!


Regular-click it to get it to full size, then right-click to save, or right-click this little version below for bloggie use.

Kooky Fun Witch Printable for Halloween

This is my original long-nosed witch silhouette, which I see in quite a few places now, including for Cricut machines. 

I've redone her with some fun polkadots on her skirt!

Similar to the new witchy digital printable collage/ACT/tag sheet I have up for sale in my Etsy shoppe!

I think it'd be fun to get all kinds of candy corn, blend them in a clear cellophane bag, and tie with an orange and black ribbon, along with one of these tags!

Candy corn is a vegetable, isn't it? Vegetables are GOOD for you!

Just a png version offered today -- these single card files are not TOO large -- click to load up a larger image, then click again if needed to load up the largest size (if a little "+" sign is present on your cursor) -- then right-click to save it. Just right-click the small version you see below if you want to place it on your bloggie sidebar.

Pretty Turkey and Victorian Child Printable for Altered Art and More!

Oh dear, oh dear, the merry month of October is passing too quickly.

Here is a printable tag that can also be used to decorate a bloggie. Both png and jpeg files are posted.

I have to wonder if the poor turkey is being led to a roasting pan...

Please see yesterday's post if you need help knowing how and what to click to save it -- I'm just entirely too lazyboned today to write it all out again!

Hope ye enjoy.

Ghostly Beauty

And here we have a hang tag similar to my new "Ghostly Beauty" digital tag sheet.

Visit my Etsy store for truly unique printables!

The png and jpeg file types are both given here -- choose the png if you plan to alter the image using an online free program such as picnik or photobucket's graphic editors. Choose the jpeg if you just want to print it out unchanged.

Regular-click to load the larger image (that will print regular business-card size) - then right-click to save it. It can be used on blogs, too.

Attention Potions Mistresses - Printable Spooky Bottle

I wish the whole Harry Potteresque business were true, and that people could brew up amazing potions. I personally would be in the kitchen right now, leaning over a hot cauldron, stirring up an extra-strength version of Slimming Sauce. Then I'd try my hand at Everything's Chocolate Concoction: One drop and the nasty little baby carrots taste like chocolate chips.

 

SHOESTRING TIP for Halloween:

 

Pop up a variety of microwave popcorn, then put a few handfuls of each type in a small cellophane treat bag. Tie a bit of string or ribbon around the tops of the bags to close, and leave very long tails that you can then tie together to make a cluster of the bags hanging from a "web." Add a tag and deliver your treats right away!

 

FREE PNG and JPEG versions of a tag similar to the Potions tags I have in my Etsy shop. 

 

You can just save these smaller sizes to use on a bloggie or webpage with a simple right-click. To print, keep reading:

If you plan to save and alter or print: Regular-click the images to load up a much larger image that will print out the correct ATC/tag size of 2.5 x 3.5" later -- choose the png file for best quality -- but it's a BIG file -- or the jpeg if you are conserving disk space. Then right-click on the larger size to save it.

Tiny Girl with Pumpkin - An Old-Fashioned Free Printable Tag for Halloween

This tiny girl is taking no chances of dropping that pumpkin.

It's hilarious to watch kids at a pumpkin patch. Left to their own devices, they tend to end up choosing the most misshapen or peculiarly colored gourds in the hemisphere, or an absurdly microscopic gourd. My son once choose a pumpkin so bizarre -- a bilious yellow with a bad case of the warts -- that I was scared to turn it into a jack o'lantern. Feared it might get the knife from me.

You can just save these smaller sizes to use on a bloggie or webpage with a simple right-click.

If you plan to save and alter or print: Regular-click the images to load up a much larger image that will print out the correct ATC/tag size of 2.5 x 3.5" later -- choose the png file for best quality -- but it's a BIG file -- or the jpeg if you are conserving disk space. Then right-click on the larger size to save it.

Lovely Lady Hang Tag or ACT Card is Today's Free Printable

Here's a lovely lady hang tag similar to the new sheet of tags up in my Etsy shoppe!

I love baking pumpkin bread, putting it in a clear cellophane bag, and giving it out to friends and neighbors, with a tag attached for a whimsical touch! I put chopped pecans in my bread -- toast them first and DREDGE IN FLOUR before adding to your batter! Dredging keeps them from sinking to the bottom.

Regular-click this image to make a larger image load. Then save that image with a right-click. When you go to print it, it will print the right size -- 2.5 x 3.5" -- and have lovely qualilty at 300 ppi! Both png and jpeg files are included. For just printing out, choose the smaller jpeg file -- if you want to alter the tag yourself in a computer graphics program or online program, choose the png file!

Hope ye enjoy, dearies.

You can also just save the smaller sizes to use on a blog or webpage!

Welcome and Welcome Again

Penniwigs is back online, with a twist: Free tags, labels, and other scrapbooking and cardmaking printables join easy-to-use blog and webpage decorations.

I feel more lean times may be ahead. Mayhap folks will wish to make more handmade goods and cards -- the free tags and suchlike will come in handy. I personally love handmade creations, despite working for the world's largest commercial greeting card and ornament maker, and stocking said items in the world's largest retailers' stores! Handling tens of thousands of same-same cards and gift tags whets the appetite for handmade ones!

Join me for printables, digital art, antique recipes, strange lore, and musings -- but not comments. Nay, dearies, 'tis just me, The Olde Dame, holding forth -- so just read and enjoy! Never any pressure to respond or comment on this olde bloggie.

Thank'ee for dropping by. Hope ye enjoy.

Regular-click to load the high-quality image, then right-click to save it. Right-click the small image to use it on a bloggie.

TWO FILE TYPES PROVIDED. 
The .png file -- better quality but large file size. 
The .jpeg file - much smaller file size but not quite the same quality.