Flash back a few decades to see the Kodak Instamatic camera – which defined amateur photography for a generation & inspired the digital photography of another!
Vintage crafts & hobbies
See several 1960s sewing machines here. Turn the knob and automatically do straight stitching, fancy embroidery, mending, button-sewing and much more.
This collection of vintage Girl Scout uniforms, badges and insignia represents a century of tradition, friendship and — most of all — girl power.
Who remembers when these vintage 1950s Singer sewing machines were new? One big seller was the Swing-Needle SINGER Automatic, which came in black or beige, in lovely cabinet or portable style.
As long as antique buttons have adorned our clothing and shoes, people have been collecting them. Made from a multitude of materials – from metal to bone, wood to plastic – buttons are miniature pieces of everyday history.
Try this beautiful melted bead suncatcher DIY! These decorative plastic crafts can even be embedded with foil, glass nuggets, marbles, shells, and more for countless interesting designs.
The best part of this collection of vintage calendar towels is remembering the ones from years ago – just like our moms, aunts and grandmothers used to have in their kitchens.
These retro Christmas ornament craft ideas may be more than 50 years old, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less festive than you’d expect to see today! Take a look at how easy they are to do.
Hot on the heels of the flower child era, back in 1974, Mattel introduced a set of toys that were sort of the anti-Barbie: The Sunshine Family dolls.
Here’s a collection of gingerbread houses to inspire you this holiday: a fairy-tale cottage, half-timbered country house, marvelous Victorian mansion, and many more – along with details on how to make your own classic gingerbread house.
Want to have a holiday get-together with a little retro charm? Check out these creative and colorful 1960s Christmas party decor ideas!
People of all ages will love these cute vintage Christmas cookie houses, which can be made easily and inexpensively. See examples and get directions here!
A Rice Krispies gingerbread house – or Christmas cottage – made from crispy rice cereal is easier and faster to put together than most conventional gingerbread houses! Here’s how to do it.
Here are some crafty fabric Christmas ornaments you can make yourself. There are five different designs using an inexpensive patchwork design.
Here’s how to craft creative salt dough ornaments for Christmas! It’s easy to stir up a batch, and makes getting into the holiday spirit extra fun.
Having a retro party for the holidays? Here are lots of crazy kitschy vintage Christmas appetizers you may want to serve… at your own risk.
Take a look at these beautiful sequined ornaments and beaded fruit crafts from the 1960s & 1970s for a little DIY inspiration!
As an alternative to paintings, drawings and sculptures, antique bust silhouettes like these – hand-cut from paper – were a relatively affordable way to remember loved ones.
What was one of the hottest style trends of the seventies? It was the shawl, y’all! See several vintage 70s shawl styles here, straight from age of disco.
Adapted from an article that ran in Better Homes & Gardens print magazine back in December 1970, this cute craft how-to for “colossal Christmas balls”
The chance to take a trip through the aisles of Toys R Us in the 1990s is over forever, but you can join us in reminiscing with this collection of the toys and games kids wanted back then!
Back when cheap Halloween party decor was a distant dream, people had to make their Halloween decorations the old-fashioned way: by getting creative. Ghoul School 1919 is now in session!
Billions of 80s stickers were collected by millions of kids – and appeared on everything from binders to books, cassette tapes to sticker collection albums. Do you recognize any of these vintage stickers?
Here are some vintage tips for how to tie-dye clothes, right from the 60s & 70s. The results are vibrant patterns, from geometric to lush organic effects.
The vintage screen made of circles could work as a DIY project – this eye-catching retro room divider was simply made with craft hoops and oak strips.
This beautiful boho bathroom decor was created by none other than Gloria Vanderbilt Cooper back in the 70s, using a collection of flower prints she designed.
If you’re looking to make a bedroom look a little retro, take a look at these DIY headboards with a vintage look! They may be just the inspiration you need for some old-fashioned home decor.
Learn how to macrame with the 70s technique to create vintage-style projects – a macrame plant hanger, a belt, basket-style coasters and a macrame owl.
As this girl’s interest and sewing expertise grew, she asked her parents to transform a tiny, unused back room into a super-efficient, light and cheerful sewing room just for her.
Beaded curtain comeback? They’ve been here for years Beaded curtains have been in use in Asian culture for over 2,000 years, gracefully partitioning spaces with
That characteristic mid-century modern flair — with an abundance of color, clean lines and geometric patterns — translated perfectly in these examples of 1950s Christmas wall decorations
Remember apple head dolls – the early American craft with folk art roots that became popular again in the ’60s and ’70s? Find out how to make these shrunken apple dolls, and more about the art of dollmaking.
The best way to gift-wrap a bulky or odd-shaped kitchen appliance or utensil is – don’t! Give it a fanciful shape, instead – with Christmas paper, ribbons, ornaments and more.
When you were a kid, there was nothing else like the joy of old-fashioned treehouses or forts: a little getaway that you built (maybe with some help) that could be a clubhouse or castle or spaceship or simply a place for a little peace and quiet.
Here’s the ’80s way to use everyday corn syrup and tissue paper to make non-toxic face paints for Halloween or a school play!
Incredible Edibles, the candy-making Thingmaker counterpart, said that their Sooper Gooper would mold sugarless liquid Gobble Degoop into chewy gumdrop-like morsels in 4 flavors. Here’s how it worked.
Based on one of the many traditional needlework crafts, these vintage needlepoint designs might just inspire you to get creative in all-new ways!
What better use to make of those big, clumsy cartons that once held ar new refrigerator or range? Make a fun toyland for the kids with these creative DIY cardboard box fort & playhouse ideas!
By the early 20th century, materials were more readily available to make picture jigsaw puzzles – and the novelties were soon found in households across the country.
Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? They were DIY crafts that could be made by coloring on a plastic sheet, cutting out the various shapes, and then shrinking them down using heat.
This easy-to-make vintage cardboard dollhouse is a project that can grow with your children! Here’s how you can make it – along with tips for cute ways to decorating the little play house.
Antique scrapbooks have been made for generations – each era having their own creative styles as well as unique subject matter. Here’s a look back at how and what people were scrapping long ago.
Creativity is not something you are either born with or not: it needs to be discovered, nurtured, and expressed for it to grow. Here are 12 tips from the 1980s that are just as helpful today as ever, plus a look at some creative visions from the past.
Back in the late sixties, a small company started selling these vintage Make-A-Plate kits, which were a huge hit with kids, parents and teachers. What better gift for mom or grandma than a one-of-a-kind melamine plate featuring a child’s artwork?
These vintage Rig-a-Jig toy sets were popular back in the fifties, and were sort of a hybrid of TInkertoys, Lego and an Erector Set. See how they worked, and what you could create with them, here!
From the 1950s: Dozens of bright ideas for your home with colorful oilcloth! Create many helpful things for around your home, because the coated fabric surface doesn’t spot or stain, stays color-fresh, wears and wears.
Put together a half dozen pieces of this DIY fun furniture for kids, and your child will have endless play ideas. Made from just one simple box construction, the pieces are great for pretend games, the right size to use as table and chairs.
Folk-art painted furniture: Upcycle & renew furniture with tips from famed vintage artist Peter Hunt
For decades, artist Peter Hunt specialized in upcycling furniture and found objects by renewing them with colorful peasant designs. Here are examples of his work, and tips for how you can create your own folk-art painted furniture!
Artist Peter Hunt was known for his colorful peasant-style folk-art paint designs. He insisted that everyone – even people who couldn’t draw a straight line – could create these whimsical designs, using the simple techniques he explains here.
The basic concept hasn’t changed much in 100 years, but vintage Erector Sets like these are still popular, still inspiring creativity, and still being used to build everything from mini roller coasters to motorized robots.
These vintage zodiac cross-stitch designs could be used as-is, interspersed and contrasted with plain squares, or the designs adapted to many other uses — such as cross-stitch embroidery for table linens.
Find some elegantly vintage Easter egg crafts and artsy inspiration right here! The ideas may be old, but they’ll probably seem new to you.
