It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas..........

Or not.

But I would like it to look like Christmas, which is strange. I was just lamenting to one of my more decorator inspired pals that I hate how we go from Halloween decorations (in early September) to Christmas taking over before we are even allowed to Trick or Treat.

Then last week, I went in to Michael's. They had row after row of Christmas decorations, ribbons, garlands, ornaments. Don't even get me started on the craft supplies. To push me over the edge once and for all, they threw in a huge container of those cinnamon and orange soaked pine cones.

Screw Thanksgiving. I'm already fat and don't need to eat and entire left over pie as a consolation for staying out of the mall on Black Friday. Besides, I think I am ready to switch out my current fall tablescape.........



Yes, it really does look like that.

I have a confession to make. Last Christmas, I was a bit of a grinch or bitch or some other four letter word, depending on who you ask. I didn't decorate.

Not a bit.

I didn't even get a tree.

I was having one of those....."Christmas is so much work and I have to do everything and none of you ever help because you are all jerks incapable of appreciating me or anything that I do for you which is everything by the way and none of you care any ways because if you cared you would say the house looks lovely and thank you and I end up working so hard for nothing and so we will have no Christmas and that will show you because that is all you deserve because you all suck so there."

About 3 days before Christmas, Austin said "I can't believe you really didn't get a Christmas tree." So, of course, the only person that really sucked was me. I tried to turn it around and say that we are going for that whole minimalist thing. We will still be all together as a family and that is all that matters, which IS true, but I missed the spirit of the season. Missed it by about 1,000,000 miles.

I adore Christmas. My favorite childhood memories are of my mom going all out in every room in the house. Unpacking the Christmas boxes, unwrapping the decorations. It was almost as good as Christmas morning, oohing and ahhing over the beloved treasures only seen a couple of weeks out of the year.

So, this year, I am going all out. Day after Thanksgiving.

I will still eat a whole pie, but it will be for the energy and sugar rush needed to deck this house out. I will put Buddy's spin at Gimbel's to shame.

It should be fun as it will give me a chance to put to use all the vintage goodies I have acquired over the past year of estate sale-ing to use.

Following is the equivalent of the scrapbooking sticker sneeze......the blogger's picture sneeze.

Here are some of my favorite finds that are helping me to get in the mood...................

Vintage Chenille covered ornaments with mercury glass centers.
Can I just tell you how much I adore the 70's colors....avocado, orange and harvest gold.

Snowman ornament. I am not sure of it's origins, but it looks very Made in Japan to me. Since he has a Styrofoam head instead of spun cotton, I am thinking he may be a reproduction.

1950's Holt Howard winking Santa mug.

Two cute Made in Japan ornaments. They have all the best features, don't they? Velveteen paper, rhinestones, perfectly tarnished bells and Dresden golden paper trim.

I nabbed over a dozen of these vintage pins at a very recent estate sale. They were .50 each. Yes, all that chenille pissed off snow man face goodness for .5o!
I adore them. Adore them. Seriously. Adore them.
They are new "old stock" and even though they are completely the Made in Japan style, they are tagged Marshall Fields & Company and even cost $2.50 back in the day!!

These two cuties are a bit worse for the wear, but for $1 each, I could not resist their faces. I really need to figure out a way to clean them up without ruining their flocking or vintage appeal. For now, though, I am happy with their holiday sweetness.

Vintage elf Christmas paper scrap.
I really want to frame this somehow, but not sure how to make it work.

The colors on this one lands this in my top 10 favorite angel finds. Because at this point, I have bought so much shit that I need to break it in to top 10's by categories.

Finally, this is one of my favorite "vignettes."
Yes, I said vignettes.
So there.
This one has some of my best treasures. I adore bottle brush trees and have tons of them everywhere. Add in a sculpture of, well, I don't know what it is, but I adore him. I have his brother (who is done up in shiny eggplant and gold) in my bedroom. I should do some research so that I know what I have, but I do know that they were from an artist in San Fransisco. They are tagged '04 and with the initials HL. Blizz is the amazing snowman done by an incredible folk artist, PineStreetJunction. Finish it up with my childhood favorite Hagen-Renaker minatures...this one is a deer.....and a Made in Japan golden flocked velvet angel.

Are you in the mood yet? I am. Check back in on me on Black Friday. Hopefully all that pie won't change things.

Estate Sale of the Century

Last Friday, I hit my personal estate sale lottery. It was just the most amazing sale. A break out in cold sweat, oh my word I must have everything in this house, heart pounding, frenzy of an estate sale.

I know, I need help.

I know I do.

But really, you had to be there.

I walked out with about 5 bags stuffed full of all of my favorite vintage finds and more. I just have to share with someone, so its going to have to be here. It will take numerous posts and I hope you stick with me and share my excitement. If not, I hope you realize I *know* that I have issues and this is one of them. Besides, my only other option is to share with Jon and I fear that will lead to an episode of "Hoarders" in my near future.

On to the good stuff!!

This was in the garage. On the floor. Tossed aside. I picked it up because I am nosy and pick up everything not nailed down. Then I started a little bit of hyperventilating. That is not an exaggeration. It was about 110 degrees in the garage, so can I blame it on that?

I saw a glimpse of something special in the bag, but didn't want to let on and perhaps jack up the price. See how I am slick like that? So all nonchalant, I asked for the price. He said, "Is a dollar too much?" I said I had a dollar handy and I was good to go! When I got home, look at the treasure I found..............

This was the $1 bag as I found it.

This is a peek in the bag, a glimpse of what I first saw.

Once I sorted it all out, this is what I found.....*sigh*

There were about 3 dozen of these pink, sugary, glittery bells. I have never seen them this small before, just about about 1/4 inch tall. Made in Japan and with perfectly tarnished mercury glass beads in the center of each.

There were some small spun cotton birds, dainty and covered with clear glass glitter.

The majority of the bag were these vintage flowers. They are perfectly aged in a way that tea dying just can not achieve and so delicately made out of amazing crepe paper.

Look at the subtle hint of the original pale pink in each of the buds.

A handful of aged mercury glass beads.

Aren't these just the most adorable acorn tops?

Okay, this one is just weird. Strange angel face. I don't know if he would bless me or not and that is the most un-fluffy cloud I have ever seen, plastic or not.

An orchestra of pink angels. Look at the way the gold on the wings has achieved the perfect patina. The worn gold with a tinge of aqua and green. These normally wouldn't be my style, but I admit, I don't see myself giving these up any time soon.

Here are the lovely angels in chartreuse.

And again in baby blue.

The complete Heavenly band.

I can't tell you how happy these kinds of finds make me. It is such a silly thing, but it just seems like such a score. I know its not important in the grand scheme of things. Its just stuff. Stuff. Stuff that will probably end up in a bag in my garage 20+ years down the road from now. Stuff that will make my son wonder why did she keep all this crap? Make him say "I knew she was crazy for craft supplies and Christmas decorations but damn, this is kind of just ridiculous." "Let's just put a $1 price tag on all of it and hope it sells."

I know that stuff won't make you truly happy in the end.

But for now, it does.

And I am okay with that for the most part.

Besides, its officially my stuff now. Mine. While I have it, I am going to love it, enjoy it and maybe even eventually share it.