Halloween & Nancy Drew in Country Living

Halloween & Nancy Drew in
October 2011 Issue of Country Living

I was very fortunate to be asked to share my other passion--Nancy Drew collecting tips and books and collectibles in my collection with Country Living Magazine. They are featured in the October 2011 issue in the Collecting section spanning 3 pages with a very nostalgic layout. It turned out great! Here's a sample of page 1:

Author Katy McColl contacted me back in April and that's how it all began. Between interviews and e-mails and then sending off items from the collection in June and then edits and what not in August, it all came together for a fun feature for Nancy Drew fans and collectors.

The focus was on decades of Classic Nancy Drew from the 1930s to 1970s featuring books 1-56. We selected a book from each decade that was evocative of Nancy Drew's style and the decade as a whole so I sent off covers for #1 The Secret of the Old Clock, #20 The Clue in the Jewel Box, #31 The Ringmaster's Secret, #44 The Clue in the Crossword Cipher, and #48 The Crooked Banister.

They also wanted a few collectibles for showcasing the decades. A 1930s Lobby Card (repro) was sent off to represent the 1930s Nancy Drew movies.

A 1950s boardgame and then 2 diaries for the 1970s (which didn't make the cut). They had a copy of the Nancy Drew Cookbook on hand so they used that for the layout.

It was a great honor to be included in this issue and get to see Nancy Drew collecting be highlighted in a widely circulated national magazine! Hope you enjoy the issue and you are too inspired to collect and reread treasured volumes from the Nancy Drew series. They are timeless!

As for the Halloween theme articles in this issue, you may have noticed that this year's cover was more evocative of fall rather than Halloween--kind of like Martha Stewart's October issue looked more like a November issue. Though there was less emphasis in the images on the cover on Halloween, I enjoyed seeing the twist on pumpkin decorating--the toile pumpkin. It gave me some ideas for decoupaging a faux pumpkin for this year's Halloween party. There's an article inside on decorating these pumpkins.

In the fresh picks section there's a focus on black and white decor. I liked the glow-in-the-dark eyeball wreath. There is an interesting bird theme article--I liked the raven painted pumpkins best. On page 126 I couldn't help but spot a vintage tin Halloween jack o' lantern! It was a little light on Halloween this year but there were some nice basic ideas in what was there.

Jenn:)