Apparently back in the 70’s, the standard bet at a casino was $2, and most casinos in Vegas offered a 3-piece chicken dinner with a potato and vegetable for $1.79.
So if you won a bet, you had enough money to get a chicken dinner, hence the expression, “winner winner, chicken dinner!”
I’ve only been to a casino once in my life.
We stayed at a campground owned by a casino, and you got $10 free to play at the casino with your campground stay.
I played my $10 bucks at a slot machine, and won another $10! Just like that, I had $20 bucks on my first try!
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
But I didn’t buy a chicken dinner with my winnings.
I had tasted the sweet taste of winning, and I wanted more of it!
So, I moved on to a different machine, not wanting to push my luck at the same machine twice.
….. and I lost $10 bucks.
BUT, I still had the original $10, so all was not lost.
Now, a smart person knows when to walk away from a casino, with their free 10 bucks.
Apparently, I’m not that person.
… Maybe I should have stayed at the same machine,
… or maybe I should have bought a chicken dinner with my winnings, and walked away with a full tummy.
but either way, I lost again.
The good news is, I didn’t risk any of my own money, and I did walk away after losing all the free money that had so briefly been in my possession.
But a chicken dinner would have been nice.
So what does my brief time as a gambler have to do with anything?
Not much, except I was in the mood to make use the chicken shape stencils to make a shape chalkboard, and the expression, “winner, winner chicken dinner” popped into my head.
and it would’t leave.
I think I even heard it in my sleep, so after church today, I had to pick up a chicken dinner.
HAD to.
It was finger lickin’ good too.
Chicken Shape Stencils available HERE.
Before I sign off today, I need to share an important stenciling tip.
Never, ever, EVER try to speed up the drying time of the paint on your stenciling project by using a hot blow dryer WHILE the stencil is attached.
Never … just take my word for it.
I wanted to put multiple coats of chalkboard paint on the board, and didn’t want to wait for each coat to dry naturally.
I curled the toes on my poor chicken stencil, but fortunately it didn’t happen until the last coat, so I didn’t ruin the project. I guess I held the blow dryer just a bit too close.
I felt dumber than a chicken for not thinking before I did this.
Blessings,
This is a fun project, Angie! You are coming up with some great stencils!
Loved hearing about your time as a “gambler”! lol The chicken stencil is adorable! Blessings to you Angie!
You gotta know when to hold ’em.
And know when to fold ’em.
Especially if a chicken dinner is on the line. 🙂
Happy day friend!
karianne
I went to a cassino for a free meal, and it was so smoky i could not eat fast enough, never went back. Love your chicken and your story,heard the saying but did not know that’s where it came from.
You are one of my favorite posts, blogs (what are they supposed to be called) anyway I love your stories and wonder where you come up with all this information. I love what you share with everyone. Please keep this old lady entertained and inspired. Thank You
Thanks so much, Colleen! 🙂
Such a cute stencil! And your gambling story had me cracking up. You definitely have to know when to walk away – as I always remind my husband.
Jeanine
I never knew the origin of that phrase…I just thought someone threw it together because it rhymed…that’s really cool to know! Love your sweet little chicken chalkboard…I’ll bet this stencil becomes one of your most popular! Oh, but that poor chicken’s foot…bet he’ll be chicken to use a hair dryer after this incident! 😉
lol… we must think alike. I made a rooster sign for my sister with a stencil (wish I had seen your first!) and wrote a blog post about it that’s going live next week. She raises chickens so I’ll probably end up having to get the feed sack stencil to make her something else. 🙂