Here they come...weird Santas

When I was at the post office on Friday the postman - who, after sending 500 mailings over the last 15-months, I've gotten to know pretty well -- was teasing me about Christmas coming in only 60-s0me more days. Ahhh!

But he was a little late in freaking me out about how close we are getting to the holidays, the thrift stores are way ahead of him. Everywhere I look now there's snowmen, reindeer and, of course, so many, many incarnations of old Saint Nick.

Some are cute. Some are kitschy. Some are even regal.

And some are just weird, or even a little gross. This rubbery santa in the bathtub caught my eye first because it looked like Santa was an amputee - and you don't see that everyday. Then I realized his arm was just bent behind him holding a towel stretched between his two arms, which moved back and forth if you hit a button on the bottom.

Plus, he's naked. I don't need to think about the big guy naked.
The actual gross part comes when you take a closer look to find rolls in his belly made of dirty-rubber that move too when its turned on. Eww.

And its not just Kris Kringle who lands on the shelves. His wife is there too.
In all the Christmas stories Mrs. Claus is portrayed as super-nice and friendly. Baking cookies for the elves and feeding Santa a big Christmas Eve meal because "Nobody likes a skinny Santa." So what's with the angry, librarian-looking-over-her-glasses incarnation of Mrs. Kringle here? She needs some gingerbread and cider, I think. Right away.

But not all the old Christmas decorations are bad. I picked up these cute, vintage, Homco angels and I'm happy to put them in my etsy.com shop.
They remind me of my father-in-law. Every year I ask him what he wants for Christmas, and every year he answers, "A blond, a brunette and a red-head."

I should give him these. Probably not what he meant, though.

Vintage Jingle

Jingle bells,
Jingle bells,
Jingle all the way,
Should I get my cousin Pam
some perfume or a tray
hey!



Jingle bells,
Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg
A coffee pot for Bobby,
And maybe one for Meg
Hey!


A day or two ago,
I thought I'd take a ride,
To the local thrift shop,
to find something for Clide.

I thought a new bread box,
or maybe a pair of socks,
But would he rather have a towel,
or maybe a ceramic owl?
Hey


jingle bells
jingle bells...

A Pause...for Clause

Since opening my shop on etsy.com in July, it is rare for me to go more than a day or two without poking my head in a thrift store or tracking down a garage sale, but I have found myself thoroughly distracted lately by the holidays.

Plus, there are no more yard sales listed in the paper (too cold) and the Thrift stores are filled mostly with Christmas decorations (see the pictures of the strange 50% off Santa doing a split and the weird, scrunchy-faced one - they are hitting the bottom of the barrel at this point), so I have had my first moment to pause since starting my search for vintage things to sell online. Up until now, I've been so focused on hunting down stuff for the shop - it's rare that my kids don't come home from school to find me surrounded by vintage bedspreads, Pyrex bowls, old blenders -- so it feels weird not to be adding to my inventory.

But what I have discovered lately, to my surprise, is that all this hunting and picking over the last four months has allowed me to stock up the etsy shop enough that I can take a moment and still have a decent amount of sales, even if its been awhile since I added anything new.

Of course, that said, my plan is to get the house decorated, finish the shopping and bake the cookies so I can get back out there in the world to find the things people don't want anymore to sell it to the people that do...and you know there's going to be a lot of attics and closets cleaned out after the holidays to get rid of the old and make room for the new. Yay!

A Perfect Saturday Morning

I feel a little bad...and strange...about saying this morning was about as perfect a Saturday morning as I could imagine. Bad, because I wasn't with my family - which would have made it more perfect -- and strange because I didn't picture the perfect morning as lying on a tropical beach or being served breakfast in bed.

But it was near perfect to me because it was an absolutely gorgeous fall morning and the other blond and I drove over hill-n-dale, the countryside spread out all around us, to find a little country church that was chock full of fantastic old stuff. Heaven.

After two trips to the car, Linda and I closed the doors on the van and went back in one more time, this time for the homemade pancake breakfast being served to raise money for the church. The conversations around us as neighbor met neighbor and teased each other about the things they bought and the things they donated for sale, was worth the trip in itself.Above is a picture of the things I found in this steepled treasured trove.

My favorite was this really big Santa head pitcher made in 1973 (it was etched on the bottom), such a cute vintage decoration for the holidays...and to pour your neighbor an eggnog.

Santas, Santas everywhere

Just like the retail stores, the thrift stores are gearing up for the holidays and putting out all their Christmas paraphernalia. I was struck today by the sheer volume of Santas on the shelves, I swear there were almost a hundred old St. Nicks staring back at me.

One even looked like he was getting goosed by one of the other elves.

I think my favorite grouping, though, must have been done by someone who'd never heard of King Arthur and Merlin the Wizard...he got shelved among the Kris Kringles...how embarrassing for such a famous wizard.

I was able to make my way through all the Santas to find a wonderful travel trunk, complete with drawers and a hanging rod on the other side and brass fittings, all for a little over $20...it was like Christmas had come early!