25 Years Ago This Would Have Been On Your Pinterest Boards.

By Mandi 07/30/2012

So you know when you are walking down the isle of your fave thrift store (its especially fun when you are with someone) and cant help but say “OH.MY.GOSH.” and not in a good way?

I think that 25 years from now people will be saying that about our creative crafts that are viral on Pinterest.

This gorgeous fan is something that us DIYers would have eaten up back in the day.

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And the rosettes? Amazing.

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Did I mention that it is made out of plastic forks?

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Pretty freakin genius.

What is the worst craft you have found thrifting?

Love  Your  Guts,  Mandi

40 thoughts on “25 Years Ago This Would Have Been On Your Pinterest Boards.”

  1. Funny thing is that a lot of the crafts and projects I see shared now are just updated versions of the things my mom and her friends were doing in the 70s!! Nothing new under the sun…

    Love this Mandi!

  2. I hate to say it but that doesn’t look very old. I am betting someone made some “interesting” decor for a wedding shower or wedding reception! One thing that I keep seeing in thrift stores are cake plates made from a glass plate and glass candlestick that are glued together. That fad may already been heading out the door!

  3. This so looks like a Sunday School craft from the 80’s to me. Someone got that for mothers day and then waited 20 years to get rid of it and now you’ve posted it on the internet and their kid will see this and the charade will be up!

  4. Ha! That’s totally from the early 80’s. Although it wasn’t made from forks, I carried a tacky fan as a bridesmaid in 1984. Plastic, with lots of lace and sup-par silk flowers……Oy!

  5. I am older than alot of you so I was a Mom in the 70’s (a young Mom) so I have seen alot of tacky things in my time. And I probably had alot of them in my home, plastic flowers in vases, macrame hanging plant holders, and bamboo and beads hanging in the doorway. When I see pics now I wonder what the heck I was thinking lol. You guys laugh now ,but then we thought we were cool lol hugs Tobey

  6. Crafting has definitely come a long way! But…there are still a LOT of tacky crafts out there. The fan is definitely a classic though, LOL! I just discovered your blog–and I am so glad that I did!!

  7. MANDI! I double dog dare you to re-purpose that fabulous fork display. I would LOVE to see what you’d come up with! I bet you’re the only one who could make it AWESOME!

  8. You might laugh but I’m totally going to save this idea for dance costumes in the future. You never know when you might need a fan prop. Thanks.

  9. My grandmother has one of these. It used to hang in her living room, but I convinced her to move it to the bedroom. It is almost identical to this one.

  10. I think I just threw up a little bit. That is hideous! 🙂 Have you ever seen the Ugly Lamp Contest over at Better After blog? OMWord, some UGLY stuff is out there for the finding people! 🙂
    I live for thrifting but nothing in particular really stands out at me right now. I think perhaps your fan has scorched my memory:)

  11. Bear with me on this idea- sometimes, groups will decorate a home for charity,decorators will strut their decorating style in their rooms and the paying public comes to see what is new. I have this fantasy of creating the TACKIEST room ever, with the ugliest lamps, paintings, etc. that I can find, kind of like the Ugly Lamp Contest. Wouldn’t it be the most fun thing? I would have a ceramic frog with false eyelashes for sure and that fan would find a place. What is amusing is the fact that some items, like a macrame is coming back and I can remember when it was in, then decorating poison.
    Oh, and I am after my son to submit the lamp I gifted him years ago, that belonged to his Nana, to the Ugly Lamp Contest. I believe it is a winner, winner, chicken dinner. Just remember, someday, people will marvel that we hung rusty bedsprings on our walls and thought that was tre chic.

  12. Oh, my, I just looked at the fan again and it is just a hoot and a half! Remember safety pin art? When does tacky spill over into kitsch? I know I have been drawn to items that I never, ever would have looked at years ago or rejected years ago. Obviously, since I am writing again, I love this post!

  13. Dear Lord, I’m getting old. But I’m giggling . . . over your pics and the comments. I think it was ’85 when I did an entire wedding with fans. Oh yes I did! Every bridesmaid had a lace fan adorned with minuet (white with magenta tips) baby roses. Oh, how the bride loved ’em, heehee.

    What’s really scary is what another commenter said – when I see trends and pins termed “vintage” that I remember, like, really, really well. ugh. 😉

  14. ROFL! Because you are so right! I remember when the lace and rosettes were HUGE! Love this post…brings me down memory lane. I’d love to snag up a picture of the sweatshirts with the bibs that were quite the big deal for a while. It might have been a Utah thing.

  15. I’d like to think I’d never make anything like that. If I’m going to make something, I don’t want it to look crafty, I want it to look professional.

  16. Oh Mandi, that’s hilarious!!!!!!! I, like Emily, would like to see you repurpose it!!!!!!! You have made my day … I had a good chuckle over that …

  17. Wow! I remember these- I hated them even then. My well-intended sister made one for me and I was horrified at the thought of displaying it. Fortunately we lived far enough away from each other that I didn’t have to- after all, it would have brought down the classiness of my sponge painted and stenciled dining table, LOL!!! That was around ’95. Good grief.

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