Temporary Vintage Decorations

When I decorate for Christmas, I completely strip the house. Everything decorative is gone, only furniture and shelving remains. I took everything down on Friday, but I knew that I couldn't do any real decorating until today. But, the house looked so blah. Plain and empty. And, I really wanted to see some of my things. So, I grabbed the box labelled "VINTAGE CHRISTMAS" and threw it on the bookshelf. I love to see it all out like that. But, it's temporary - everything will be put somewhere else. I really only decided two years ago that I loved vintage Christmas items. More specifically, vintage Christmas packaging. I've done well to acquire so many wonderful vintage items - all at my local thrift stores for practically pennies.

I've been the lucky recipient of vintage items in swaps and surprise packages in the mail.An egg basket full of ornaments. I love the look of this - but they have to go on the tree eventually. Hopefully I can find more this year to fill it up again. *Crossing fingers*



Lots of ornaments, plucked from the 10¢ box at The Super Cheap Thrift, one at a time.

I'm joining in on the Vintage Christmas Party at Anything Goes Here. I don't usually join in on blog parties - but VINTAGE CHRISTMAS???? Count me in!

I'll be back every Monday until Christmas with more vintage Christmas finds and photos. ANd, probably pretty much every other day too.......I'm crazy that way!

Lights, Garland, Action!

I love to pretty up my house for Christmas.

Lights on the roof, a blow up Santa in the yard.

You're all invited back to see it!

It's going to be GREAT!

*Old abandoned house found on a country road on our Annual Thanksgiving Day Drive.

Not my actual house!

Sparkle Time

The only rule in my quest to purchase one lowly bottle of dish soap today was that I did not want to shop anywhere that they sold turkeys or cranberries. I worked in a grocery store for ten years. I know the nightmare that is "The Day Before Thanksgiving." People buying 23 pound rock hard frozen turkeys at 6:30 in the evening and expecting to serve it to their guests at noon the next day. I so do not think so............

The answer to my quandary was Dollar General. And, it just so happens that one of my favorite thrifts is thisclose to the Dollar General. But, surely it wouldn't be open today - the day before Thanksgiving. The whole place is run by a bunch of Grandma's that surely must have turkeys to roast, pies to make and cranberries to sauce. No, I knew it wouldn't be open. But that didn't stop me from doing a drive-by. And, yippee, it was OPEN!

Straight to the Christmas I went. My eyes surveying the table looking for sparkle. And, what did I spy with my little eye?

S-P-A-R-K-L-E!

A big old box of SPARKLE! Actually, two boxes and a baggie full, but here it is all in it's glory. And, only $2.25 for it all. There are a lot of the smaller ones that I dearly love in there, but they have sunk to the bottom.

Hey! What's that over there? More sparkle?

A vintage Christmas corsage. My very first one! In perfect condition. It's almost like it had never been out of the box.

Oh, that's because it hasn't! Still in it's awesome vintage box. It was marked $2.00 and I was more than happy to pay that for it. But, when I paid, one of the aforementioned Grandma's said, "Oh, that's only worth 50¢." Okey Dokey Hokey Pokey.

What? Moooooooore sparkle?

Full spools of lurvely green velvet ribbon, red velvet ribbon and sparkley silver glitter tape - $1.00 for it all. I think Glitter tape is one of the loveliest inventions ever.

I've never smoked, or drank or done drugs. I thrift! I swear it's the best high. You all understand, don't you? Well, don't you?

*It's 10:00 Wednesday night and there are already people waiting outside Best Buy for Black Friday. Crazeeeeeeeeeee.

**I found an unscratched Lottery ticket in the trash at the car wash today. I scratched it off and won $10.00.

***No, I do not dig in the trash - it was on top!

****Don't forget to go to the next post down for a treat.

*****Happy Thanksgiving!

******Did you know that Okey and Dokey and Pokey aren't in spellcheck? But Hokey is?

*******That's it. I'm done! Gobble Gobble!

Thank you to YOU!

We have a WINNER!

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 13
Result: 1

(I didn't count the stupid SPAM comment or my own snarky comment!)

And Sarah thought she wouldn't win since she was the first commenter. But, she DID!

Congrats, Sarah.

On this Thanksgiving Week - I am thankful to all of my wonderful Blog Friends. I appreciate your friendships and your thoughtfulness.

As a small THANK YOU - I have a giftie for one lucky person. Leave a comment with some way to get in contact with you - your profile, your blog or your email address.

What can you get? An Countdown to Christmas Calendar.

Each day is a small box for holding a goodie. And, I already filled each one of them up with some little surprises.

You can also turn the boxes into puzzles. Santa decorating the tree.

Santa taking a nap by the fireplace.

Santa off on his journey.

A lovely winter scene.

For the record, there are pictures of each puzzle on the top of the box. I wish I had realized that because it took me for-ever to figure them out. What a goof!

Leave a comment. No hoops to jump through - just make sure I can contact you. I will draw a name out of my favorite Santa hat on Thanksgiving Night and mail it out on Friday. You might miss a couple of days on the countdown - but you will be able to open a couple boxes right away!

Happy Camper

I am one happy camper. The vintage Christmas items are trickling out into the thrifts. Yippee! I hit two thrifts this week and went directly to the Christmas items.
Even though my true love in all things vintage, I do have a few other items that will leap into my shopping bag. I collect Santa's made from other things. Huh? Case in point - a Santa made from a wee gourd and a very sweet Santa hand carved from a twig. A big bag of vintage tinsel garland for 50¢, a red metal star for 50¢ and two spun cotton birds for 10¢ each.

A lovely triple indented ornament, a dainty beaded ornament and a non vintage Flag ornament all for 10¢ each.

An army of wee tiny vintage angels for 50¢. I am seriously in love with these girls.

The six vintage reindeer picks, the bottle brush tree and the gaudy gold sparkly poinsettia all came in a misc. bag. The glass candleholders full of holly and glittery tree topper are Etsy Bound. I couldn't believe I found another ticky tacky plastic Santa in his sleigh. Two this year so far!

Sometimes, I am amazed at what I find when I go thrifting. For instance, I found these reindeer picks on Wednesday at one thrift.

And the Santa's sleigh today at a different thrift in a completely different town. But, they are almost exactly alike. It must be thrifting karma, right?

My only non Christmas find - a very, very old and very fragile beaded bag. This was in the Christmas stuff, and I almost tossed it to the side, but I gave it another look. It has tons of teeny glass beads and it is all hand sewn. It is really sweet and I am glad that I found so it can be appreciated.

So, what have you found lately?

It's Turkey Time...For Now

I decorated for Fall and Thanksgiving this year. Well, I always decorate some, but this year, I dug in my stash and brought it all in. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I am contemplating taking it all down this weekend. Before the big day. I am really, really anxious to see all my Christmas things this year. I really don't know why. Well, really I do. Money is tighter this year, so we have decided to have a more laid back Christmas. We're not going to worry so much about lots of gifts and spending money. I am going to decorate to the hilt. We are going to make cookies. We are going to every parade that we can find. We are going to the Mall to hear Middle School Choirs sing "Hallelujah." We are just going to have fun and not stress. (After the decorating is done - I stress over that a lot. But, I love it too!)

So, before it is all gone....a quick house tour:

Top of my bookshelves. I've never found too much vintage fall stuff, so I still have my scarecrows and crows. (The Bean's Cherokee name is Crow Walker, so I have a lot of Crows in his honor.)

A whole lotta stuff crammed on the bookshelves. I have had those "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" blocks since we got married. You can turn them all different ways to make them say "MERRY CHRISTMAS, BE MY VALENTINE, HAPPY EASTER, HAPPY HALLOWEEN and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY." I considered getting rid of them this year since they are getting older and are a bit more cutesy than I like now. But, The Bean got sad. "We've had those my whole life!" he said. They won't be going anywhere anytime soon.....

The corner of the living room. I love my big old enamel Turkey Platter, the vintage turkey planter and my latest find - four Gurley Pilgrim candles for 10¢ each. I had not memories of that big tall turkey in the corner. He must have been an after Thanksgiving find last year. It's always fun to find "new" things each year.

I left up my paper lanterns. I like the glow they add to the living room. I have an entire General Store Village that will be put out at Christmas. In the center of the shelf, I have my one single Thanksgiving General Store. It gets harder and harder to find a new General Store each year.

The Mayflower made from a milk carton, construction paper and a drinking straw. Loooooove those Kindergarten craft projects!

These silly Pilgrim squirrel salt and pepper shakers always make me smile.

So, now you've seen it.

I'm off to go cram it all in a box and bring on the Christmas decor!

If you don't hear from me for awhile....that's why!

Pottery and Potties. How's that for a Title?

Saturday I went to a few sales, but I think I only bought two things total. I did manage to run by the Super Cheap Thrift (in hopes that the Christmas items were starting to make an appearance) and I found a few goodies. I knew yard sale season was coming to a halt, so that's okay.

Before I post these photos - I have to say that today was a dark, dark rainy day without a smidgen of sunshine. So, photos were snapped in and around the house until I managed to take some halfway decent ones.

At the one sale I did buy something - this pretty piece of pottery. It isn't marked, but it has the look and feel of the old pottery that I love. I like pink, but honestly this one is a bit more in the mauve area which so reminds me of the early 1990's and my "country blue and mauve" themed Wedding (no country ducks with blue bows, I am happy to report). Needless to say, I'm not in love with it, so it will mostly likely make an appearance on Etsy. *How do you like all that clutter in the background? See why I always take photos my out in that old green cabinet?

This pretty blue relish tray was at the sale where I got the mauve vase. I thought it was pretty - and it is huge - so I picked it up to see if it had a mark on the bottom. It wasn't marked, so I didn't figure I could sell it, so I set it down. When I paid for the vase the lady said, "I saw you look at that aqua dish. Would you please take it home with you?" She said that she really thought someone would snap it up, but all day, I had been the first one to look at it, so she wanted me to have it. I promised her that I would use it at Thanksgiving. It really is pretty and now it has a nice story to go with it. And, a bonus feature - I always make the Relish Tray for Thanksgiving! It was only $1.00 - I'm really surprised that no one had bought it.

Silly vintage "Round TUIT" potholders. These were probably a giveaway at a hardware store or grocery store. You know what a Round TUIT is don't you? I'll do it, when I get a ROUND TU IT.

This was at the Super Cheap Thrift - 50¢ for both pieces. I bought them together like this, but once I got them home, I realized that they are two separate things - a lidded jar and the cute wall hook doll. I really don't know what I will do with them, but I love Nesting Dolls, so I picked it up. Hmmmmm......have I ever shown my collection of Matryoshka?

Proof that the vintage Christmas is starting to trickle in the thrifts - a few vintage plastic ornaments, a vintage snowflake tree topper and a sequined ornament - all 10¢ each. The big Mercury Glass ornaments were 25¢ - they are new, but I like them.

I bought the vintage tree stand solely for the great old packaging. I love my old Dime Store box collection! The Christmas Card box was actually found at my Grandmothers house yesterday. She never saves anything including family mementos. I was really surprised to find this box in a cabinet with some Florida vacation photos in it. I might have added those photos to another box and I might have taken the Christmas Card box without Grandma's authorization. Maybe.

And now, my favorite find of the day. I actually had one of these a few years ago and I gifted it to someone in the "Tacky Gift Exchange" (Hi Austinite, if you still check in...) and I have really been sick ever since I gave it away. It is seriously tacky. Are you ready? Are you sitting down?

Well, get UP! You are siting on my toilet seat cover! A bedazzled, sequined SANTA toilet seat cover! Can it get any better than that?

Why, yes, yes it can. Lift the lid and Santa covers his eyes. This thing absolutely cracks me UP! The fact that someone actually handmade it makes me even happier. "Whatcha making Martha?" "Why I'm making a sequined Santa toilet seat cover, of course." "Okaaaaaaaaaaay..." Will this actually appear on our toilet this Christmas? Probably not. But, it will make an appearance somewhere.

Tomorrow it is finally going to get cold. And a chance of snow flurries on Tuesday. I've really loved the warm weather, but I don't see how people in warm climates ever get used to decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas in 80 degree weather. I'm ready for cooler temperatures. Bring on the jackets and the turkey and the Christmas lights. I'm ready! (Sorry Mumsie, I know you aren't).

Sparkle

Today, when I was checking out at the grocery store, the checker told me I "Sparkled."

Thinking my personality must be at an all time high or worrying that perhaps there is a bit too much New Moon excitement at our house, I remembered what I had done that morning.

Ah, yes Glitter Sparkle.

Not Vampire Sparkle.

Whew.

It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Thrifts Are Overflowing

I keep waiting for the thrifting dry spell to hit, but so far, it's raining finds. I'm not complaining, although The Breadman should. The house is getting full. But, as long as I continue to find sweet deals that I can either work into the house or sell, they will be coming home with me.

Yesterday I went to the Salvation Army for the first time in about two months. when I walked in, it was a completely different store. Entirely rearranged and different. They now have a vintage corner, but it is reasonably priced. I expected things to be double what they used to be, but some were actually less. I even found a vintage item, which is completely unheard of at the Salvation Army.

I spotted this sweet little toy tin litho high chair across the room, but I almost didn't even look at the price. In the past, this would have been $25.00. But, it was only $5.00! I got a lot of comments on it as I schleped it around the store. It wound up being my only purchase, but it was a good one. Lovin' that sweet puppy!

Today I went to another thrift that has recently undergone some drastic changes. This is the thrift that I always referred to as the $8.00 Store". Everything was always eight dollars. Jeans? Eight dollars. Vase? Eight dollars. Cheap figurine from Dollar General? Eight dollars. *Sigh. I rarely ever went there because of the crazy eight dollar pricing structure. But, the old manger is GONE and everything is different. Cheaper by far and cool stuff everywhere.

Case in point - This great old jar with handpainted cherries for $1.00. The jar is vintage, but the cherries are most likely a Donna Dewberry inspired project. Normally, I would scrub off any paint, but I am loving the cherries. I think a bunch of my old tin cookie cutters will be perfect in it.

This sweet Japan jewelry box is also a music box. It is wound too tightly to work, but I have had good luck repairing those in the past. If I get it working (and even if I don't) I will put it on Etsy. It is really sweet.A 50¢ Goodie Bag netted a bunch of junk to be re-donated. But, it also netted a wee teeny knitted doiley, a Washington DC Souvenir tray and a wee souvenir replica of the Washington Capitol. I like kitchy Washington DC souvenirs in my 4th of July decorations.
I spotted these teeny little crocheted watermelon slice earrings for 50¢ on the way to check out. I won't be wearing them, but for the owner of almost 60 different crocheted watermelon potholders, don't you think I just had to buy them?!?

And now...THE FIND OF THE DAY. A quilt. And not just any quilt. A baby quilt. A cute baby quilt for $5.00. Here you see it unwashed as I found it.

It's pretty darned cute with it's minty green and white squares. Yes, it's a cutie. It couldn't be any cuter.

Oooooooor could it? Ker-pow! Look at the back! Embroidered animals is all sorts of cute ways.

May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny. All dressed up and no where to go.

Baby Bunny off to fish.
A Scottie dog girl with a flower for Mama.

Cute Mr. Elephant (although I just took a second look at this, and he looks a bit lewd....)


And a cute little hat wearin' bear.

I am in an absolute state of euphoria waiting for the thrifts to roll out the Christmas items. I can dig through fifteen thousand ornaments, but if I am lucky to find one indented ornament or one precious spun cotton head Santa, then it was completely worth it.

*Leilani of Thriftaholic guessed that I paid 50¢ for all those glorious cupcake pics. Leilani lives in Chicago, but she's from right here where I live and visits the very same thrifts that I do when she is home at the holidays. Small world, right?