Here are some etiquette “rules” or “suggestions” addressed to children from the 1950s that I found on a loose sheet from an old handbook, I thought they were interesting to share.

Considering that these were standard expectations just 50 years ago, it’s a reminder of how fast things can change.

CHILDREN IN THE HOME

1. Always greet the members of your family when you enter and always bid them goodbye when you leave.
2. Always rise to a standing position when visitors enter, and greet them after your elders.
3. Never address a visitor until he has started the conversation unless he is a person of your own age or younger.
4. Never interrupt a conversation. Wait until the party talking has finished.
5. Always rise when your visitor or your elders stand.
6. Never let your mother or your father bring you a chair or get one for themselves. Wait on them instead of being waited on.
7. If you leave or cross the room you should say “Excuse me.”
8. If a visitor should say, “I am glad to have seen you,” you should say, “Thank you.”
9. Never run up and down the stairs or across the room.
10. Talk in a low, even voice. It denotes refinement.
11. Always give way to the younger child. It is your duty to look after them instead of fretting them.
12. Never retire without bidding the members of your family good night.

Follow these suggestions and you will assist in making the members of your family happy as well as in benefiting them in many other ways.

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Here are this week’s recipes found around the net that have caught my eye, enjoy!

• Summer Eggs: Quick & easy meal with a half dozen green, red and yellow peppers forming the basis of this dish, from Have Pinny Will Cook.
• Pizza Breadstick Casserole: Use a box of Pillsbury’s refrigerated Parmesan breadsticks to make this easy hot dish, from LisaCooking.
• Beef and Salsa Skillet: Cook and serve dinner from one skillet! You’ll only have one pan to wash after you’ve devoured this tasty Mexican dinner. Found on the Betty Crocker website.
• Garlic Chicken w/Sweet Roasted Pepper Sauce: This recipe comes from a supermarket’s free recipe card promotion (they give you the recipe, you buy the ingredients–everyone’s happy). Very quick to make (the recipe series is 30 minutes or less), from My Tasty Space.
• Skillet Chicken & Potato Dinner: Serve these tender chicken breasts prepared with hearty vegetables for a quick weeknight meal. Recipe from Land O’Lakes website.
• Southwest Skillet Ragu: Quote from the website…This is one of those go-to weeknight meals that we can throw together with our eyes closed and one hand behind our back. Chewy pasta and gooey cheese are balanced out by a big helping of veggies. Add in a spicy kick and everyone leaves happy. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples at our house, and there’s plenty of flexibility in the recipe to throw in whatever happens to be in season or on hand. Recipe from The Kitchn.

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According to Wikipedia, Green Goddess Dressing was possibly the most popular dressing before Ranch dressing was invented. Here’s the recipe I have for it from an old community cookbook:

Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 TBS tarragon vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, crushed fine
2 TBS parsley
1 TBS lemon juice
salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Directions:

• Beat for 20 seconds in the blender. Chill for at least 1/2 hour before serving.

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Today’s feature is from Gardeners’ World with How To Make A Bubbling Urn Water Feature … this is easier to make than you might think:

The gentle babble of flowing water from this urn water feature helps to create a calm and soothing mood in the garden. A water feature like this is really simple to assemble and is also a safe choice if you have young children as there is no accessible reservoir of water.

Supplies Needed:

• Water feature urn
• Large terracotta pan
• Small pond pump
• Plastic-coated grille
• Pond liner
• Cobbles
• 60 cm of hose
• 4 bricks

Still lots of summer left to enjoy this water feature in your backyard or garden! Please visit the site for all the project details.

More projects for the yard:

• Cool Backyard Project: Design A Mini-Garden
• 33 Backyard Projects You Can Do
• How To Build A Fire Pit - Tips & DIY Resource Guide

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This week’s pattern freebie is Tuesday Sunbonnet Gal.

Today is ironing day and Sunbonnet Gal has a piece of decorated linen draped over her ironing board. She has her iron in hand and is focused on her task ironing out all the wrinkles.

You can download the pattern here: Sunbonnet Gal - Tuesday Download. You’ll find all the details for this pattern series here: Days Of The Week Sunbonnet Gal.

Printing Instructions: Make sure to save the pattern to your computer desktop first (right click, save as…), then open the file on your computer, select “Print”, uncheck anything like “Fit To Page” then print. These will each fit on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper.

If you need help transferring the pattern, see this page: Embroidery Pattern Transfer Tips - Vintage Notes.

There’ll be a new pattern from this set available to download next week, enjoy!

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Today’s feature is from Elsie Marley with Post Office Bag Tutorial, this is one super-neat bag!

Now that I have an etsy shop I find myself at the post office more than ever. Along with all the packages I have to carry I have a stroller to push and a toddler’s hand to hold.

The packages are always weird sizes and never seem to fit in a paper bag, so I came up this handy dandy post office bag. It’s just a long piece of fabric with some handles and pockets, but it works like a charm. The pockets are sized to fit a long envelope and there is one on each side.

I put my receipts, my stamps, and my custom forms in the pockets so they don’t get lost in the bottom of my purse or the diaper bag (which they usually do). I figured since there are so many etsy sellers there must be a lot of you who have this package transport problem (kids or no kids) and so I wrote a simple tutorial for this super easy bag. It shouldn’t take more than a couple hours from start to finish.

All you need for supplies are: 1 1/2 yards heavy duty fabric; about 1/2 yard interfacing and thread to match.

It’s an interesting bag with no sides so that you can fit all sorts of packages and larger envelopes, perfect if you sell on eBay or Etsy. Found via Whipup.net.

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