What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

These are a few of my favorite (Christmas) things

I'm participating in Jen's Vintage Pink Christmas Swap. My partner is Joanne at My Little Cottage in the Making. To say we are both excited about this swap, would be an understatement, to say the least. She saw the Halloween cones that I made this year and requested a Christmas cone. I've never had a swap partner request anything, let alone, something that I made. Yea me!

In strict swap tradition, here are my answers about my favorite things.

1. What is your favorite Christmas decoration? My woodsy tall tree covered in all vintage ornaments that I have picked up for pennies all year long. I love finding one one vintage ornament in the bottom of a box or a sweet pipe cleaner Japan angel or elf to add to it each year.

2. What colors/themes do you decorate for Christmas? I have a huge collection of Santa's, the ones I really love are Santa's made out of other things - Coke bottle (Thanks, Carol), an okra pod, an acorn, a walnut, a rock, a paintbrush, you get the idea. I also love my Christmas Annalee dolls which I think are cute, contrary to what some people think....

These are my only big Annalee's. The girl in pink and the reindeer were one of the first things I thrifted (when I really began thrifting after The Bean was born and I knew I needed to make money, so ebay seemed the right fit). I saw them in the back of the thrift and my memory is that I vaulted over a couch to get them, but I doubt that I ever vaulted over anything, let alone a couch. But, I knew I had to get them before anyone else spotted them. They were $1.00 each. The Santa was a lucky yard sale find for $1.00.

Three fun Annalee Santa's found at one of my thrifts for 25¢ each. The little Annalee mouse was $1.00 at a yard sale. Love them!

3. What Christmas item would you love to have? I would like to find a feather tree someday that I could afford. I'd also like to find more fancy Shiny Brites - figural ones and non-silvered ones.

Shiny Brites! Who doesn't love Shiny Brites!


4. Favorite goodie & hot drink? I'm not much of a hot drinker drinker. I drink coffee in the morning, but only a cup and a half - straight coffee with creamer - no flavors or anything, so that is pretty boring. I had The Bean convinced for years that you could only have hot chocolate when it snows, so we rarely drink it either. As far as goodies go - whatcha' got? Anything but fruitcake is good to me. I love those peppermint nougats with the Christmas trees in them at Christmas time. Yum-O.


5. Are you a crafter? If so what crafts do you do? I dabble in a lot of everything - paper crafts, felting, felt crafting, etc. I do not sew. Or knit. Or crochet. Or weld. (!) I want to learn to solder and felt with roving.


6. What is your favorite pink item in your home? My favorite pink item is in the backyard. My pink glider and chair.


7. What do you collect? Now, now, now, we don't have enough space for that! I'll keep it to my perfect trifecta - vintage matte white pottery, vintage tablecloths and old packaging with great graphics.
A mere portion of my massive Matte White Pottery collection.


8. Do you have special family traditions for the holidays? The usual - looking at lights, opening presents on Christmas Eve, stocking on Christmas day, we make lots of candy, baking, basically just enjoying the holiday.
We now return to our scheduled Autmunal, colorful, ghoulish Halloween festivities until it is time for Christmas chatter.......

5 comments:

  1. What kind of feather tree are you looking for?

    I have some in the attic I bought to sell on Ebay, and then, umm, I never did.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:20 PM

    You have some of my favorite kind of Shiny Brites in there - the blue ones that look like they've got snow on the top. And you've got a LOT of them, lucky you! That pink glider and chair is pretty awesome, too. Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm, ok so now I have a few ideas for what to look for. I'm on a treasure hunt now. I hope to find things on your wish list.

    This is going to be fun! I love the pink outdoor furniture you have.

    Hugs,
    Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have to say, I drool over that set of vintage yard furniture! I WANT IT!!! I hope to get lucky and find one in my journeys!

    ReplyDelete
  5. THANKS for the laugh with the Annalee dolls!!! I had read a blog 'bashing' them the other day and thought "Hope Shara doesn't read that!"... guess you did!! Guess it's a good thing that we don't all have the same taste, or we'd never get any good 'finds'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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