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.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Let's Talk Turkey. For Now.

I am dying to decorate for Christmas. I want to see my pretties and my vintage goodies that I bought last year and throughout this year. I don't even remember all my treasures. Not to mention, I am practically obsessed with hitting the thrifts looking for even more and more vintage goodies this year.

But, I will show restraint. I will not decorate for Christmas. Yet. I will enjoy the turkeys and the Pilgrims and the Indians and the fall leaves. (Even though I want to push them off the shelves with my left arm while I put my Christmas goodies up with my right.) Restraint.

Until everything turns to snow capped bottle brush trees, vintage Shiny Brites and rubber faced Santas, I present to you - The Official Thanksgiving Decor. This is the first year the Thanksgiving decor has made it's appearance, thanks to my newly organized Holiday storage area in the garage.
There's my Oops cabinet, along with a scarecrow, a huge basket chock full of sugared fruits, gourds and pumpkins that I scored at a yard sale for $2.00, a glass pumpkin jar full of candy sticks (10/$1.00 at Cracker Barrel - not a fan of the food, but love the retro candy department!) and an, oh so, sweet memory of The Bean's Kindergarten days - a Mayflower made out of a milk carton. Say it with me now, "Ahhhhhhhhhh". Hey! How'd that glittered house and Santa sneak into the Official Thanksgiving decor?????

The Bean's Native American name is Crow Walker - so I have quite a collection of crow related items. As they do not completely fit into my daily decor, I have delegated them to Fall and Thanksgiving decor. I love that vintage Turkey planter on the top of the white box. That was a happy find at a yard sale last summer. The turkey pillow was at the thrift this summer and I tried to talk myself out of buying it. But, I guess you and I can both see how that turned out.
A mish mosh of Fallish things. Various tsotchkes, acorns and leaf shaped items. I was happy to find a General Store in a Fall decor a few years ago. (I have an All General Store/Grocery Store Christmas Village, for anyone keeping score at home). The big pressed wooden leaf dish came from the Super Cheap Thrift last week for 45¢. Check out that teeny little Japan honeycomb turkey in the center. I went to a thrift last week, a huge thrift in fact, and all I could find to buy was that teeny honeycomb turkey and I was ecstatic about it. I mean, is he cute or WHAT? Oh, yes, and he only cost a grand old quarter.

The Official Turkey Shelf. Out of all my turkey salt and pepper shakers, I do not have a matching pair. I picture a family of giblet gravy eating people with slippery hands letting the turkey salt shaker fly across the room and shattering on the floor. Either that, or people are stealing one from the table to start their own collection. I don't know. Can you make out that little set of gourd head shakers near the center. They. are. so. cute. I mean it. Cute, Damned cute. They have cork stoppers and are marked Japan on the bottom. Like so many other things I love, they were purchased to sell, but they grabbed me by the heart strings and here they remain.

Two of my favorite crow's sitting on mini hay bales and a stick tree festooned with raffia crows and birdhouses. Throw in a leg dangling turkey and a wooden pumpkin and you have it! The Official Thanksgiving Decorations.

It's not that much or that great - but I am happy to have The Official Thanksgiving Decorations out this year to enjoy. And, then I will box those bad boys up so fast I might get a nosebleed and break out the Christmas Decor. Yea, baby.
And, because no post from me is complete without a thrift store score, here goes.
A small handmade handpainted basket for $1.00. I love handmade baskets and the snowman just made it too sweet to leave behind.

A box of what, I didn't really know until I got home and investigated them a bit more closely. I found a label indicating "Button Mould Co." which led me to think they are coat buttons - the kind that has a fabric center to match the fabric of the coat. I don't know what I will do to them, besides add them to my craft stash. But, they were only 25¢ for the box, so why not? They are old heavy plastic and I am sure they have another possibility in life.

A set of five vintage house candles. In order - a Church, Cake Shoppe, a House, Flower Shoppe and a Schoolhouse. They are vintage enough to me - 1972 to be exact. I was in Kindergarten, so I think that justifies it as vintage. Maybe even antique. Damn.

6 comments:

  1. I think you may have motivated me enough to pull out my Thanksgiving decorations! The Halloween has all been stashed away, and I was thinking of just doing a good cleaning in prep for Xmas decorating.... Nah. That can wait! THANKSGIVING here I come!! (Thanks Shara!)

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  2. The little christmas houses are really cute.
    We don't have thanksgivng- we do burn the effigy of a man on top of a bonfire on the 5th November which is quite interesting...

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  3. Now I have the funniest vision of you sweeping all those pumpkins off the table with one arm. :) I love those little gourd guys! I wouldn't have been able to part with them either. I got my T-day stuff out on Monday night after FINALLY putting Halloween away. I only have a few things (one small tote) so taking it all down for Christmas won't be too hard. Halloween was another story--I only got a few new things this year and I even got rid of some stuff, yet I swear my totes were more full than ever. How does that happen?

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  4. Cute cute cute....I love all your Thanksgiving decor! But I'm with you, I want to bring out all my Christmas goodies...and add to the stash with all the stuff I've bought this year!!!

    Hugz,
    Michele

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  5. Anonymous7:11 PM

    I like the mismatched salt and pepper shakers - and those gourds are cute! I don't put out the Christmas stuff out until the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm planning in my head ... can't wait! Barbara

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  6. Wow! For someone who is more into Christmas then Thanksgiving decorating I can not believe how much Thanksgiving stuff you have. So cute!

    Oh and I KNOW you put that darling little pink glitter Christmas house in that picture just to torture me some more. You know I love it and have longed for one like it forever! LOL

    Can't wait to see what your place looks like at Christmas.

    I really should go shopping in my garage. I'm like you, buy tons but it ends up in there thinking the perfect spot will come soon and I forget I have it.

    Hugs,
    Joanne

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