This is a most riveting subject, and a most interesting thread. I think there is a little bit of truth in many of the posts so far and I've changed my mind on this one at least five times. The actual print inside the frame gave me the impression of a photograph because of the fine white line like old photos get when they are damaged. That being said, one can take a photo of a drawing and parts of this picture are without a doubt hand rendered including the background and that could very well be a studio backdrop. My impression at this point is that this is likely a studio portrait and that it is in essence a composite with the facial features being the true rendering off a negative and the rest a lot of touch up and very poorly executed outright embellishment. If you'd like to see an example of a turn of the century hand painted studio backdrop, I can show you a large portrait of my great-grandfather and his brother sitting in a real chair, but with a very fake staircase behind them. LOL It was not an unusual practise, clear on up to the forties and fifties for some photographers to take portraits in black and white and hand tint and retouch them in the dark room. It wasn't because of the cameras not being able to, but the studios having the equipment to develop them. So seeing 'sketch marks' doesn't prove anything but the skill of the craftsman who took and developed the portrait because you're just as likely to see the editing on a real photograph as not. I have a portrait of my g'grandmother I'm inserting here because judging by her age it would have been taken about 1918-20. It has been hand tinted, and if you look at her blouse, it has obviously been hand retouched for detail and the bottom darkened out to extend the photo as much as possible to the paper to fill it. I think this is what happened to the boy's dress......it was probably enhanced by hand and the chair by imagination and lack of artistic ability. Even poor people scrounged up the money for portraits in the old days, God knows my ancestors weren't rich people and we have them to pass along. But they certainly were special enough not to be done on a whim. One portrait my g'parents had taken in the twenties was of my little aunt who was expected to die at birth, but lived until two years. So, they coughed up the money, even with ten kids, to have a portrait taken of her. I'm no expert and I'm not pretending to be but before I'd blow this one off as a fake, I'd have it checked out. Regardless of how it pans out, and even if it turns out to be a Cracker Barrel nostalgia shot..........it's a Jim Dandy and worth hanging on a wall just to see the mug on that kid.

Ugh! I lost the long reply I had to everyone. Don't have time to re-write right now but thanks to the ideas you offered up, I've decided on a theme (Team Umizoomi - my boy/girl twins love them!) and will incorporate their circle/shapes/numbers theme into a few of the games that were suggested - particularly the obstacle course. christina_ca - I am planning on an "adopt-a-puppy" (play) theme next year for their 4th. A friend suggested it & did it for her daughter. She said it was such a fun time. She collected stuffed puppies on sale/clearance in the months before the party. On the day of the party, she had each child go with her into another room so they could select their puppy privately and then each child went to different "stations" - check up by the vet (her DH is a doctor so he was in white coat with his basic dr kit), pretend bath & grooming station, puppy treats station and receive official adoption certificate station. That was enough activity apparently and it worked perfectly for everyone to have their puppies and go into ice cream & cake. My goal now is to use the theme but remember what I wanted in the first place: an old-fashioned backyard birthday party. Having the theme puts everything into focus for me now - I didn't think to have a theme until y'all mentioned it. Again, thanks for all the ideas.

Well, I'm back to square one on these four atypical size bedroom eave doors (46.5" height x 32" width as interior measurement of hole). I hoped to replace them with non custom, not overly expensive double doors (rather than one sliding door) which swing out from the middle. I've checked Lowes and Home Depot. Lowes has some 80" x 32" hollow doors of various consistency. This would mean having to cut the door to 45" (what a waste) and then bisect that piece to make into two meeting in the middle. Bifold doors come in 32" width but I don't see how you can cut them to 45 some inches height given the fold. And the lumber company said they only make custom on this. I wish I could find some interior eave size doors. My problem can't be all that uncommon as a lot of homes have a slanted roof. Any other suggestions? I hate to start working again with that heavy plywood already there. The painter didn't sand the previous brown semi-gloss paint before painting the door white with BM White Dove semi-gloss and thus you see I started scraping the white all off to sand it because as it slid along the slider the white paint curled up and removed itself. I've crow barred the slider to enlarge its width by brunt force, which has helped some. Any other ideas here? I'm all ears. Thank you for any help.

Though a repeat from another site, this is what I did with a few: An old wooden framed window, a few sheets of glass, clear caulk and a glass cutter are the basic tools you will need. Simply remove the clear glass panes (if present) from the window. These will provide great templates for your colored glass. If there are no existing clear glass panels, a cardboard template will work wonders. If you purchased a multi-pane window, never assume all of the panes are the same size. Simply cut the stained glass to fit into the sections of the window. You would be amazed at how easy it is to cut glass, though I do suggest using a pistol grip cutter and not the typical cutter one can find at any hardware store. You can find easily find someone who has cut glass and will be happy to show you. My husband is actually the one who showed me, and on the second try I had it down pat. Simply cut the panels to fit the windows, use clear caulk to seal them in, and wa-la! Inexpensive first try at working with stained glass. Very simple, basic, easy to do and colorful! You can use all the same colored glass if you wish, or mix them up. I used various colors in one of my first projects, an assortment of various clear colors I had in the glass supply box. I have numerous thin strips of stained glass which I have in mind for another window created with these strips. In stripes. I'll simply cut small pieces of wood to go between the strips of glass. Though I have a few panes left to fill in (waiting for the right colors to show up at the craft store) this gives a basic idea of what I'm talking about. (copyright from another site, but this is my picture) Recently I found old wooden windows with many tiny windows, but have yet to begin that project. We live in the country, so this particular window set did not get the full treatment of sanding the windows, painting them, etc. I was going for the "Trash to treasure" feel. The picture I'm showing was taken in the shade, but you should see the colors when the sun sets on the windows! :-) Here is a link that might be useful: