Vintage Christmas Finds

 Try as might, I just couldn't keep from buying a couple things for my collection this season. But I do have to say, that overall I have been great about staying out of the thrifts and antique stores this Holiday Season. The other night though I just had to get out of the house. So...this little gang of elves became mine!

 

 And this fireplace is really fun. It's about the size of a large Putz House. It plugs in and has a little red light in the chimney. I'm very tempted to give it a little make-over though.

 

 The dealer that gave me 50% off a couple weeks ago was at Annie's again! This time she said 75% off! She said "I want it all GONE"! I didn't feel too bad because I know these things had been there for a long time.

 

 Fifty cent ornaments.

 

 I scared the heck out of my sister by placing this Santa on her bed! Haaa! She of course thinks he's the creepiest thing ever. But he was in a 50% off booth! So I don't care what she thinks. lol

The deer were in that same booth. And the putz house was $1.00 because the chimney is coming off. Don't care about that either.

 

This was my favorite find. It's just part of a box! The bottom wasn't included so it was marked $2.00!

Do I care if it has a bottom?? Nope! It will be so great in my Santa display!

 

And last but not least, this is Tammy, Harriette, Me, and Deb! The girls came over last week to do some crafting and eating...and laughing! We had so much fun!

Harriette did a post about it today, so I'm just going to link to hers. I've got more baking, shopping, and wrapping to do! Better get going.

 

Happy Holidays to all of you, my friends!

Erica :)

 



My Vintage Goose Feather Tree!

It was especially fun decorating this old feather tree because this is it's first Christmas with me! You might recall that I found it in the basement of an estate sale last summer, and I think I paid like $10 for it. It came in it's original Montgomery Wards box too!

 As I was pulling out my decorations I realized that I didn't have any ornaments that were traditionally used on this type of tree. Like the Victorian scrap kind and the ones with old tinsel and glass, etc. I'm going to have to make myself some.

 

 So I chose my smallest and oldest ornaments. I didn't use any regular sized Shiny Brites. I didn't think that the Mod/Retro look of the Shiny Brites would go well with the old feathers.

 

I don't think I'll put the tree in this spot next year. I don't like it in front of the big mirror!

 

 I found this Harold Gale Santa a few weeks ago at Annie's. He was marked 50% off so I got him for $12.50! A very good price! Click the link to learn a little about them. There are lots on EBay and Etsy too!

 

Little boxes of ornaments and a Lefton reindeer candy dish.

 

This huge sign is perched up on top of the mirror (above the tree), so the red happened to work well!

 

So that's that! I love this tree so much. I feel really lucky to have found it. :)

 

In other news:

 

 Wellie and I would like to give a little warning to all of our bloggy friends and their doggies!

We were looking for an alternative to rawhide so we tried RAW BONES. These come in several forms but are (usually) uncooked, and found in a freezer in your specialty pet food shop. We bought frozen beef knuckles. Wellie and Ernie LOVED them!

 

 But the next morning (after chewing on her bone), this is what Wellie looked like!!! The whole side of her face totally swollen. Her Mama about had a heart attack!

 

On Tuesday Wellie had to have a major tooth on each side of her upper jaw removed! Two teeth!

They had both cracked way down to the pulp. She looked like the saddest most pathetic little thing after her surgery! And of course you can about imagine how guilty I feel.

Oh, the cost??? $631.50

So, beware my friends! No raw (or really hard) bones for your pups!!!

 

Happy Holidays!

Erica :)

 

 

My Green Cupboard at Christmastime

Hi Friends! Thank you so much for your kind comments on my Hoosier and snowman collection! Tonight I thought I'd show you the other side of the room where my green cupboard is.

I'll let the pics do the talking again. Pretty self explanatory anyway! LOL

This Santa blow mold was $2.99 at Goodwill a few weeks ago! One of only a couple things I've added this year. And let me tell you...it's been sooo hard to stay away from the stores! But my finances and health just aren't allowing for it this year. As you can see though, I'm not hurting for vintage Christmas and I'm very thankful for what I've found in the past.

Speaking of finances, Wellie and I are heading to the vet tomorrow. A couple weeks ago I tried giving her a different kind of bone and it BROKE two of her teeth! Now she has to have one of them pulled because it cracked all the way down to the pulp. A fun way to spend $450!

 

Happy Holidays!

Love Wellie & Ernie

 

 



My Hoosier At Christmastime

Hi Friends! How are you? It's been a couple busy days around here. Today we had a little blogger get  together and it was so much fun! Just a few of us, but I'll share about it real soon. And then tomorrow my niece and nephew are coming over to do some baking and crafting! So that should be lots of fun! And a big mess! lol

I'm behind on emails (as always) so please accept my apologies if you are on that list!

OK- I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking this time. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Erica  :)

 

*click for a closer view

 



Happy Holidays!



A Few Finds and A Market Update!

 Hi Pals! :)

Well, I haven't been going to the thrift stores every other day like I did last year, so I consider that progress in my "vintage x-mas addiction". But here are a few things I've added to my collection.

These Santa mugs were at an estate sale. They were the only thing I bought there.

 

 This banner was at one of my favorite antique stores! And it happened to be in Garage Sale Gal, Deb's booth! Thank you Deb! I just love it!

 

 I think it will go across my mantel.

 

 I also bought this vintage corsage for $2.00 that day!

 

 And a bunch of small crafty things.

 

Some of you might think these snowmen are scary. I can understand that. lol

But I love them! They're made of composition, covered in mica, and are very old!

 

 These Starbrite Ornaments are really cool. They open and you can create a little scene in them.

Love these mod, funny clip-on birds too!

 

 This guy and the ornaments and birds came from the cute little thrift in my home town.

 

And so did these great stocking kits! LOL Look, apparently they're "Fascinating To Complete"!

 

 This musical scene was at Goodwill last night!

 

It still works, and was made in Japan. The ultimate kitschy x-mas thing isn't it?

 

OK- Just an FYI that I'll be having a MARKET MONDAY on 11/11

at 5:00 PM central time! It will be a mix of handmade things and some vintage x-mas things too! Hope you can make it.

 

Have a great weekend my friends!

Erica :)

 



An Estate Sale Early Bird!

 This past Saturday there was an estate sale titled "A Collector's Dream".  The address was just a couple blocks from my house. Darn it! I tried so hard to stay home. But I kept picturing those annoying guys from the last sale I went to, the ones that sold the numbers. And something made me really want to get there before they did! lol

 

 I got there at 1:30 AM and I was number 5! The sale started at 9:00! I know, totally crazy and wrong for so many reasons. It was the coldest night so far this fall in MN, and I was curled up in the back seat for hour after hour just trying to keep warm, hoping that time would go by fast. It did not! lol

I read two magazines on the Kindle and painted my nails when the sun came up.

Finally it was time!!!

 I bolted to the basement and the first thing I found was three boxes of these angel lights!

 

Pretty darn sweet aren't they?

 I had the x-mas area in the basement to myself for the first 3-4 minutes. So I got everything that I wanted.

 

 Terrible pic. Sorry!

 I got 3 really cute Gurley candles. They have their Woolworth's .10 price stickers on the bottom. A Holt Howard Santa candle stick holder, a big vintage stocking, and two Santa's also from Woolworth's.

 

 Do you think there are support groups for people who are addicted to Shiny Brites?

 

 I love when I find bags full of x-mas crafty/corsage bits like this!

 

 I try to avoid buying solid colored ornaments, but these I bought for their boxes!

 

 I think I'm going to cover our chair cushions in this vintage fabric. Rather, I think I'll have my Mom cover our chair cushions. :)

 

 There were lots of really old and rare Little Golden Books (like the ones with decals and puzzles) but they were all in poor shape. The only one that was in great condition was a x-mas one that I didn't have, so I lucked out! And I grabbed this sweet little coloring book too. Oh! the x-mas table cloth in the background was also something that I found at the sale! I was so happy to find it!

So that's that! It was a looooong night! But it was pretty fun to be number 5 and know that there were about 100 people behind me! And yes, I did beat out those mean guys! lol

 

Wellie wants to tell you something,

 

  Yesterday was my Birthday and I turned 5 years old! This is what I look like when I see something that I think I might want to have.

 

And this is what I do when I know that I want to have something that smells really good. I offer my paw to Mama to shake. Mama usually laughs at me when I do this. She tells me that I'm doing it backwards. People are supposed to ask me to shake before I give them my paw.

 

And this is what I look like when I eat my "Happy Birthday Toast"! Mama made me toast (it's my favorite) with butter and honey for my special day. She said I could have it because I have lost 2 pounds on my diet! I love Mama!

Love Wellie