Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

Wow, Inge. Do you even get any sleep? I’m getting really jealous looking at all those outfits—each one prettier than the last. Very nice.
How tall were your three little darlings again?

spoons (big and small)

I just found a cute pattern here on CP and wanted to comment on the photo, but I don't know how or where.
In the "old design," there was a "Comment" option, but now that doesn't work anymore. Can anyone help me?
Thanks a lot

Congratulations to everyone—you’re all amazing :-))

Fern

Omelet turner

Once again, I’ve enjoyed admiring all your wonderful creations.
I still had some leftover yarn from the “Woll Butt It’s a Girl” sock yarn (from a swap).
This little star doll is what I made with it.
She’s still with me for now, but she’s welcome to move on when the time is right.

Wishing everyone a relaxing weekend of crafting🧶☕️🙂

Solyanka (a kind of soup)

tasted absolutely delicious—they’d chop up all kinds of leftovers and throw them in: sausage, cucumber, ketchup, or lecsó...

exhausting

Periwinkle

Pancakes

Hi Anja,
my warmest birthday wishes—all the best, lots of luck, and above all,
good health—that’s what matters most.
Stay just the way you are, and enjoy wonderful moments with your family.

Warmest regards
Andrea

Your light of life

Rostbrätel (a popular dish, often served with bread)—mmh, delicious

Saturday

closed slippers or open-back slippers

Hunter’s Schnitzel

Dahlias

Here in Berlin/Brandenburg, it’s not a public holiday.

But I have the day off and am enjoying these days. Just crafting and doing needlework as the mood takes me. 
That’s nice, too.

Wishing you all a healthy New Year. You’ve all been so busy again—and such great projects!
Ina, thanks for this thread.
I’d like to share my little projects from the new year, too.
To kick off the New Year, here’s a 🍀 and 💕


Stay healthy, everyone 🫂🙂

Thanks, and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
There’s no snow here either—it’s dry, sunny, very, very cold, windy, and currently -4 degrees.

I don’t need snow either when I have to work.

Hugs, Andrea

Oh, how cute, in that teddy bear outfit—so cuddly—exactly

Belated best wishes from me too for your birthday. 
Of course, wishing you a wonderful Christmas with your family as well. All the best

Kind regards
Andrea

Your glitter beetle looks great. How big did it turn out to be? I really like it.

You all have such pretty displays.

Here’s mine

Nudossi

is still around today, but I used to love eating it when I was a kid—and I still do—but somehow it doesn’t taste the same as it used to. Can taste buds really change?

Very beautiful yarns—I’m always a fan of glitter.

By the way, that’s a pretty little angel and flower arrangement.

Thank you so much, ruthk, for letting us know. I was completely shocked. Our Moni here from CP—she’s just not here anymore. That made me very sad. I’d also like to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family.
We’ll miss her, with all her lovely knitting projects and the dolls she was always knitting. She was a kind-hearted person full of ideas. Even though we never met in person, we’ve become one big family here on the forum, and now one member is missing. :-(

We’ll always think of you, dear Monika ****** rest in peace
 

M = Mikado

—the famous Mikado game. I’m sure it’s still around today, but what I remember from my childhood are those wooden Mikado sticks my grandma had. These sticks had red and blue stripes; one was black-striped, and there were also yellow stripes (those indicated the point value). Whoever had the most won.
Later, I had a Mikado game with plastic sticks—they were so beautifully colorful (solidly colored). I loved playing with them; they made such a lovely clattering sound when you dropped them on the table.
Unfortunately, it somehow got lost during all our moves. What a shame.

Oh, and Ina, my FDJ blouse was made of cotton—it was more comfortable to wear, though you still worked up a sweat in them.

UHT milk in bags
I remember that UHT milk in bags. You needed a plastic holder to put the milk bag in, and then you cut off the corner of the bag to pour the milk into something. 
Later, I think there were those triangular cartons, like condensed milk. I drank those straight from the cardboard carton.

We had that plastic holder for a long time; later we kept our dish brushes in it.

Homemade Advent calendars are, of course, something very special. Two years ago, I made one out of paper (I think the pattern was from here, that star box calendar).

A tea calendar. That’s a great idea, too. There are so many varieties. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.

Veronika, very interesting. There were already some beautiful yarns in there. I thought it was full of patterns, so you can also crochet something with the yarn to suit your own wishes. That’s great, too. I like your Tanfred—it looks so funny.

Sandra, wow, you’ve been making calendars for 13 years. Respect. I can believe you’re running out of ideas by now. If they’re meant to be little things, you could also use those giant plastic chocolate egg shells; they can hold quite a few small items. I often hear that you can do all sorts of crafts with those cardboard toilet paper rolls, for example covering them like Christmas crackers with crepe paper at the ends...
How about a school-cone Christmas calendar? That would be something out of the ordinary.

FDJ —Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ members)

—was a state-sponsored youth organization in the GDR. Back then, I always thought it was cool to wear the blue shirt.
However, I never liked those FDJ meetings. I still have my blue shirt, and it even still fits.


 

B = bread bag
the good old bread bag, I miss it. I loved it; mine was light brown, with a long shoulder strap, and inside it had a kind of plastic insert. The clasp was made of metal,  you turned it so it would fit into the slot to close it. I still remember that so clearly, and it smelled so wonderfully of leather. I will never forget that smell. Later on, there was a matching school satchel with reflector clasps.

What a lovely idea to show us your Advent calendar again. Thank you so much, dear Veronika.
Unfortunately, I was too late to order one for myself. I wanted to try it out too, because I still had the pictures of your calendar from last year in my head.
It’s interesting to see what you make out of it. Please post more pictures.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a calendar this year. I didn’t even manage to finish making one myself. Terrible.
Something always came up—especially the stressful shifts in my caregiving job—so I just didn’t feel like it and was constantly tired and worn out.

I hope that changes next year.

S = Stasi (abbreviation for the Ministry for State Security...)

Many people may associate this with bad experiences; I personally don’t, but that’s just how it was back then. Everything had its place.

I don’t have any pictures on hand right now, but I recently saw in an English Christmas movie that you can also wrap gifts with old scarves (headscarves or square neckerchiefs). Just wrap the gift in it, then tie the ends of the scarf into a bow. Done.
I hope that explanation makes sense.

Dear Ruth,
I’d also like to send you my very best wishes on your special day today—wishing you good luck and good health.
Stay just the way you are, with all your creative ideas, and continued success with your shop.

I’m sure your family will spoil you rotten today, and I hope you have many wonderful hours with your loved ones.

Warm regards
from Andrea

Oh my, I didn't even notice. Thanks, Ina. Hope it works properly now

Hi everyone,
your windows are decorated so beautifully.
I started decorating last week, too. I always need colorful lights.

Warm regards from me

Lollipops
are still around today, but I can still remember the colorful ones from my childhood very well.
They came in yellow and red, and afterward your tongue was always colorful. Funny. Especially those chocolate lollipops with cocoa inside. I like to suck on them, just like those pipe-shaped lollipops—elongated and red, as far as I remember.
There were some interesting candies back then, but we paid close attention to dental hygiene. We learned that as early as kindergarten.
 

C = Cama, was a low-calorie margarine produced in the GDR. It came in those round plastic tubs with lids.

My grandma lived a healthy lifestyle and often spread it on her bread; I didn’t like it back then. I preferred the cream butter.

UTP classes (Technical Production classes). They were mandatory starting in 7th grade, with both theory and practice. We did work experience at companies and took technical drawing classes. But it was fun (except for having to get up early). I enjoyed technical drawing.
That was also the time of the slide rule—I loved it.

 

Interflug
That was the state-owned airline of the GDR

A “dacha”

used to be a weekend cottage or garden shed.
We didn’t have one back then, but we did have a small boat and a tent. My parents would often take us by boat to the campground when we were on vacation. Great times. Three weeks straight out in nature—fishing, playing hide-and-seek, campground parties, swimming, walking around the island, barbecue evenings...

Ina was faster

T = Wallpaper trim

—I only know that back in the GDR days, when my dad helped us hang wallpaper, they’d always nail these narrow strips of wallpaper trim to the wall as a top border. They came in all sorts of patterns and colors, as far as I can remember.

And I think my mom used the leftover ones as a support frame for my kite; she covered it with packing paper, painted the whole thing, added a “newspaper tail,” and it was done.

Here we have frost, it’s freezing cold, but the sun is shining.

I met up with a friend in town for our first mulled wine in a long time. It had been half a year since we last saw each other. The Christmas market opens here on Monday. Then we’ll have roasted almonds again.

Yes, I know that string game too; I can still do it today. Rubber band jumping/Gummihopse—oh, that was so much fun. We didn’t need much to be happy or to play.

I’ll continue now with P = Pioneers

There were the Young Pioneers (blue neckerchief), and from 4th grade on the Thälmann Pioneers (red neckerchief). We were so proud to wear the Pioneer uniform with the neckerchief, plus a blue cap. We also had a Pioneer ID card... it was still a lovely time.
It’s nice when you can reminisce. Everything was so carefree.

I’ve been crocheting with my leftover yarn, and this is what came out of it.
Based on a purchased English pattern

B = Sherbet powder

I loved that as a kid. Those little packets with the sherbet powder inside. You could dissolve it in water and drink it like a fizzy drink, but the best part was dipping our damp fingers into the powder and then licking it off. It gave such a great tingling sensation on the tongue. Ah, those were the days.

Here’s my Grinch in the meantime—that was the only green I had on hand.
Following a video tutorial, I also crocheted this little Christmas doily and edged it with glittery yarn.