Squeezing It In

It's holiday time.  It's a busy time of year.  I'm not going to pretend that I'm the only one running around like a lunatic, with lists and bags and calendars whilst talking to myself out loud through entire stores.  You know what it's like.  If you get invited to one more party, have to go to one more store, or have to make one more batch of goodies, you're liable to lose your...Christmassy spirit.

So, it really was my fault, perusing the estate sale ads for the weekend.  A weekend that already involved lots of baking, 3 parties, and a movie night.  I did not have time for one more thing.  But this sale, these pictures, it was just not to be missed.  You'd have to be crazy to miss it.  And I think I proved my level of sanity.  Especially because this last minute, full tilt, lists in hand trip involved bringing a newborn along.

The good news is that Baby Charlie did great (Slept the whole time!) and I got some amazing things. It felt good to get back out there, in my element, rubbing shoulders with mean grabby vendors and sweet old ladies.  Plus, everything was 30% off!

$2 for this gorgeous green on green box painted with bamboo.  This is perfect for the tropic bedroom of my dreams.  I love that the paper lining is printed to look like wood.

$10 - Hand made black velvet plush cat.  She was skulking around up in the attic of the house.  I found her peering through the deep shadows.  She is going to be a smashing addition to my black cat collection for fall.

$5 - Jesus Los Vegas pin and $5 - Green double shell dish.  The pin is for my grandma.  My mom said she'd love it, so I took a chance.  The dish is for my bedroom.  I'm going to put jewels in it.

$6 - Vintage Honeycomb snowmen ornaments and .50 cents - vintage Santa head ornament.  I saw these snowmen on (my boyfriend) Pinterest recently and I can't even believe I have them in real life now!  I'm obsessed with paper honeycomb things right now.  I couldn't even say why.  We can probably safely blame vintage Hallmark though.

$6 - Vintage Sarah Coventry necklace.  My grandma had this exact necklace and I spent a lot of time playing with it as a kid.  I'm very glad to have one to wear!  I plan on pairing it with my tiki earrings.

Some of us aren't great at "taking one for the team" yet.

Now I want to share with you something very special:

Yeah. No, I don't know what it is, either.  This was on the same street as the estate sale.  In someone's front yard.  I have two theories.  Theory #1- It could be a reference to "A Christmas Story", wherein the leg lamp breaks and then the dad buries it in the back yard.  There are a few problems with this theory though.  It's just a leg (no fishnet stocking, no black high heel shoe) and it's all in one piece.  In the movie the leg gets pretty smashed up.  Theory #2- The person who lives in this house lost a leg.  And this is their tongue in cheek tribute to their lost appendage.  The problems with this theory are: Dude, nobody is going to get that.  And also, eeeew.  One thing I do know about this...piece...of art...is that it lights up.  The green near the base of the leg is a strand of lights, all wadded up.  So.  Thoughts?

So, In Summary:

Sometimes You Can Fit A Little More In

(That's What She Said)

The One With The Christmas Decorations

Before I get started showing you all the gory aftermath of the annual and epic war of Christmas against my house wherein Christmas always wins, I'd like to give a huge shout-out to the husband.  He saved Christmas!  (Actually, he saved this blog and all the hours I put into it, and my sanity as well.  You see, I'm a dummy who can't properly use/understand Google Plus and had no idea where/how my blog photos were being stored...blah..blah...blah, deleted the whole thing.  But then husband came along with his internet powers and helped me restore everything to rights.)  Thank you mister, you officially win the title of Internet Master.

Onward.

The tour begins in the bedroom:

Close up of the Jadeite Scottie dog sitting next to the ceramic light-up tree that my mom made for me.  The Scottie is a new addition!  I just acquired him on my first trip to Virginia!  Pink and green always look smashing together!

Then down the hall...

...to the kitchen.

I made the Seussical pompom flowers in the middle.  So easy and fun!  Their "stems" are paper straws.

Vintage Christmas extravaganza.

And then to the (slightly blurry) living room.

And there you have it.  Christmas.

Ronald McDonald Sale 2014

Before I jump into the RMD sale, I'd like to show you what I got at the Monroe Ave. church sale.  It was a hum dinger this year!  Last year I got that gorgeous green glitter mirror and jadeite plates so I felt like I'd kind of blown my chances for a repeat of goodness.  Not so!

Check out this vintage Hallmark goodness!  I have the red calico mouse ornament, but was not aware that this red calico mouse stocking hanger and red calico mouse Merry Miniature even existed!!  Imagine my delight!  Now I have a whole family!  The little "Roller Skating Rabbit" ornament was a pleasant bonus.  He's zooming towards Christmas!  The mice are from the 70s and the rabbit is from the 80s.  I think they cost me nearly $2 all together.

We had a nice crowd again for the RMD sale.  This time my pals came with lists of things they wanted.  They weren't disappointed.  Me, I just come with a plan.  What will I hit first?  Toys.  What is next?  Christmas/holiday.  It's very hard for me to actually walk past the Christmas section to get to the toys.  My natural instincts tell me to go there first.  They pull me like Magneto pulls Wolverine's adamantium skeleton.  But I resist, somehow, and march hurriedly toward Muppets.  I mean, toys.  And there weren't even any there this year.  No Muppets, that is.  None that I didn't already have and not many of those.  As soon as I realize this is all some ploy to get me away from Christmas I pull out of there like a horny teen.

This year The Christmas section treated me right. Even though I scored big, I cannot keep myself from imagining "what if?"  What if I had gone there first?!  But, I'd probably feel that way if I spurned the toy area to do Christmas first.  But...and here's the best part...sometimes Muppets can be found IN the Christmas area!  When two of my favorite things come together like that, things heat up quick.  Any passing stranger may get accosted with please of "DO YOU SEE THIS!?!?  CAN YOU EVEN!?" if a friend is not within reach.

Admittedly, the photo is not great.  But check it out!  A Miss Piggy ornament!  It's from the 90s and I don't already have it!  It's like a miracle!  She's even holding her tiny white dog, Foo-Foo! $4.  A vintage tree and a pretty, etched, metal bracelet (which I got in the jewelry section, not in Christmas) for $1 each.  Then one of my favorite finds!  The Peanuts Halloween Merry Miniature set which I had only just found out existed from my boyfriend, Pinterest.  $5!  Yes ma'am!

I found a lot of gifts in the holiday section as well so it took me quite a while to get it all wrapped up and be able to move onward.  When I finally did I scooted over to jewelry.  Now, I don't often stop in the jewelry area.  They don't have a ton of stuff and there are a lot of people crowding around the tables.  It is set up pretty nicely, very organized, I'll give them that.  And the stuff is CHEAP as all get out.  But you have to be willing to devote some time to digging and have to have some patience to wait for people to move out of your friggin' way.  But, this year I was all hopped up from my finds in the holiday section, so I was in a good enough mood to wait it out.  And I was duly and justly rewarded:

Behold!  New pink additions to my 80s earring collection and the vintage avon holly earrings I've been coveting for over a year!  I found them in a bag with Halloween stuff.  Must be some poor soul with a sight problem mistook them for bats??  Weird green bats?  I'm convinced it's the only reason they were still there by the time I made it over.  The whole bag was $1 and I nearly cried.  The other two pairs of earrings were $2 each.

I also found a mug with an original Milton Glaser I Heart NY logo on it, which was dirty at the time of the photo shoot for this blog post.

So, In Summary:

It's Christmas time and I've got reason to celebrate!