A Rose By Any Other Name

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's the Craft Antique Co-op and no amount of rebranding, fresh coats of paint, new color schemes or stupid new signs is going to change that. Harumph.

So last weekend some of us went on a shopping trip to the Craft Antique Co-op. I got quite a few things. Little things. Like, $80 worth of tiny $2 items. (Ok, ok, slight exaggeration, but wait till you see!) You know how I love my plastic. And my glitter.

It was Sarah Mae's first trip and she seemed to think we were overestimating when we said we'd be there four and a half hours. By the end of the first row (Where we stopped for a snack, no lie!) she was starting to get a handle on the situation. By the time we left she had a crazed look in her eye, was sweating and hauling two baskets to the check out counter. She got tons of great stuff (as did we all) aside from all the nightmarish rabbit/baby, lamb/fox and elf/babies. Girl has a terrifying sense of adorable.

Here is all the stuff that I'm adding to my already garish jumble of odds and ends:

With glitter.


I like the house to smell like fall.

A tiny clutch (ok, wallet if you must) and earrings. I couldn't decide if I liked these earrings because they remind me of corn or because they are sort of art deco or because they remind me of native American art. Why choose? Plus, when I wear them they make the most gorgeous tinkling noise. Like my own personal wind chimes.


And all the little bits. I love vintage Hallmark. Almost as much as I love vintage Avon. Let's not talk about it. I know that you are busy and don't have that much time on your hands.

I also got quite a few Christmas presents but I'm not going to show them. Some people should be forgetting that they exist.

Now. I've been telling you all about a certain room that I've got hidden away in my house. I wish I could say that it's concealed behind a secret bookcase/door that will only open if you move a certain book the title of which I'd never share or make public. (Though, seriously if I had one of these, I'd almost always go Catcher in the Rye. Is there anyone more fun to quote than Holden? "It gives me a real pain in the ass, if you really want to know the truth.") Alas, it's not hidden behind a secret door, gotten to through a secret passageway or revealed only with a magic word. It's just in my basement. There is one finished off room in our basement and the Muppets have been relegated to it. Some days I feel pretty bad about it. But, this being the 75th anniversary of Jim Henson's birth and all, (I think we might have talked before about how I can't get on the train where people say it's so-and-so's 75th birthday when so-and-so is no longer with us. It's the anniversary of his birth, but it is NOT his 75th birthday.) I think you deserve a peek.


Keep in mind you can't see three walls of this Cave of Wonders. I'm in the process of databasing the collection. I know, right?

Back to Basics

The day after we returned from our vacation we went to a church sale. It happens every year as part of a church festival and it's usually pretty good. It's right in our neighborhood and the have night hours. Have you heard of this? Some of the larger church sales in my town have night hours. On Friday. So you can go after work! Someone was really thinking.

A vintage frame, a paisley pouch, corn...holders that cradle your corn ever so gently and allow it to steep in butter and a very heavy metal icon. If you know me you might believe that the corn cradles were my idea. I do have a very real and abiding love of corn. But, alas. It was the husband who found these gizmos and he who purchased them. We've used them already and they were very much worth the quarter. Everything we got totalled $4.50, including the following...


Here we have one of a set of eight glasses featuring a black horse and metallic gold designs. These are for a friend of ours who loves horses and barware. The thing on the right is a plastic floral pic. It's kind of hard to see all that's going on with it. And, there is a lot going on. So, I'll itemize the pieces and let the dramatic scene unfold. Now, please hold your applause until the end. (Just so you know up front, all the items are plastic and ... covered in iridescent glitter. )1-Three pieces of peppermint candy, wrapped. 2-One white apple. 3-White holly sprigs. 4- Two tufts of pink hearts on stems. 5- One large ice cream cone with pink ice cream. Now, the best part is that I know someone who will love this thing. To death. I actually took a picture of it before I bought it and sent it to her via text (I can do that now) just to be 100% sure. Turns out it wasn't necessary because she was more than excited about it.

Turns out happiness can be bought. And the price is a quarter.

Easter Decorating 2011

Last year, I felt like I maybe had too many Easter decorations. This year I don't have enough. Let me tell you how I worked that magic. One word: expansion. New areas, new frontiers. An no, I'm not talking about the bathroom or garage. Yet.

This year I put decorations in the cabinet. I did it with Christmas, why not Easter? The real beauty part of this is that I don't even have enough to fill said cupboard. Room to grow baby, room to grow! So let's jump right in, shall we? Vintage candy containers. Vintage Strawberry Shortcake minis, a little chick sitting on a bunny (the chick is covered in....glitter!) and a felt crafted egg.


Middle cupboard: What is it with plastic? God, I love plastic. Plastic chicks in plastic baskets with plastic flowers. Oh mama. I made the chick and the bunny in the metal wire basket out of eggs. Real eggs. Then there's the box of mini chicks.


Last cupboard: More plastic. Chick head easter basket. For an actual easter basket it's a bit...much. But as a decoration, pretty cute!


Look at how skimpy the green cabinet looks! Oh so much room to fill!


This is the top of the cabinet. Would anyone care for a darling amuse bouche?

Cake plate and sundry trinkets.

I just love the things in this pre-made Easter basket. I bought this from a thrift store. What we have here is a card, a hat on a stick, a plastic rabbit, two plastic chicks in plastic eggs and a knit easter egg. Then there is a bracelet like thing covered in yarn. I have no idea what that is. I can imagine some kid in the 60's getting this on Easter morning and being like...., "What the shit is this? No chocolate?"

Red shelf. Middle top bunny made by me!

This garland always reminds me of a picture from the Little Golden Book, "Baby Dear". The baby has a chew toy that looks a lot like this garland. Which I'm sure you all find very fascinating.


I have a string of Peep lights. They are covered in the sugar-like glitter that I love so well.


Turns out I had a ton of tiny little things that fit nicely into my shadow box. The rule is, if it's tiny and plastic, I'm probably going to love it.

The Easter Mantle.

Happy Spring, everyone!

Finale

Well, that's it. Christmas has come and gone. Time to get excited for Christmas next year. Don't think I won't do it, either. I love me some Christmas.

Here you will find all the lose ends that I have been meaning to tie up, with regards to Christmas.

The bedroom decorations:

A small shelf with tiny pastel hued trees.

My mom made this ceramic light up tree for me. It's white and pink with iridescent sparkles on it. It's blindingly beautiful. It's holding court on top of a vintage lucite purse that the husband bought for me one birthday.

This shelf sits high on the wall, near the ceiling. I bought a mini string of led battery powered lights for it this year. I'm not unhappy with the final outcome. The angel is a vintage tree topper. I don't use a tree topper on my tree. I always like the leave the slightly Seussian natural top. One long finger extending up.

Details of the bedroom tree village.

This tree was given to me by my grandmother. I think it may have been painted by my great grandmother back in the late 60's when this type of ceramic craft was all the rage. It's pretty large and sits atop the husband's dresser at Christmas time. He loves it.

I'm a great one for databasing and enumerating and listing. I have an ornament book. A book that I keep track of all the Christmas tree ornaments I get each year and who gave them to me. This is the kind of thing I do. The kind of thing I have to keep in check or it will become a real problem.

So, my first instinct is to, of course, list out all of my Christmas presents, the time and date I opened them, the type of wrapping paper that kept them secret, the gift giver, their date of birth and address, along with their blood type and social security number. I'm not going to do that. Know why? Because I'm strong. Oh, yes. I have will power.

I'm only going to show you a few. A very few. Because I'm strong. Even if it gives me the shakes and the sweats, I can do it.


These are my new pillow covers. I asked for some for my stocking. The husband and I exchange stockings as well as a gift. These are gorgeous and most definitely the nicest I have ever owned. They are organic as well! If you know anything about me, you know that organic is big. Green is good. I washed them up today and plan to pop those suckers on the pillows any minute now.

Muppet ornament! Of which I received two to add to my collection, this year! I have long coveted this particular ornament. The husband got him for me. He tried to win him on Ebay last year and was not successful. This year he was determined. It payed off. Gonzo is gorgeous. He was made the same year I was born! Not a scratch on him.


This little mouse sits on a match box. I think I have another accidental collection. If I'm counting correctly I have six Christmas matchboxes. Dear, oh dear. But, give this little guy a once over and you'll know why. You'll understand and won't judge. Right? I mean, because, if you were in my situation, you'd do the same thing for sure.

What's this? A busy Christmas elf! What is that he's making?

A beautiful pouch with fabric you might remember from here. You might wonder what was in the pouch.

Peek-A-Boo! There you are, you silly Kindle! What a lovely felt-lined protective pouch you came in!

And that genius boy even incorporated a holder on the back for comfortable reading. How thoughtful! He's the best!

I was a busy Christmas elf, too. The latest creation is the octopus with the beret. For my nephew Walter.

There is still one more gift to make and I'll be working on it all week!

Living Room

Yep. That's how it's going to be. I just wanted to let you know up front. Plus, if I get it over with right away, it's less apt to give you nightmares. I hope. I'm sure you'll feel better when you find out that I didn't pay for this particular gem. I'm not even real sure how or when I got it. But the important thing is, that I did. And, in case you are wondering..it's plastic, not porcelain or ceramic. I'm not the queen of England, over here! That's 100% unadulterated, painted plastic. With glitter. I feel like I could end most sentences that way. With glitter.

Next we move to the snowman vignette. These guys sort of developed into a collection without my knowledge or participation. One day I didn't have any, the next I had a whole family. They just sort of showed up. *shrug* The little angel is a candle. My grandmother had one just like it when I was little. She had another which was composed mostly of brown wax, where this one is yellow. I was convinced that they were, in fact, treats. I cannot tell you how many times I held them, smelled them and placed a tentative tongue to their surfaces. They never tasted like treats, but I tested them every year, just in case. I think they reminded me of pudding.


The mantle. More trees, lights and little houses. This is where the more subdued trees reside. No flashy red and white trees here.

Exhibit A.

Lots of vintage stuff.

The little truck is the husband's. It delivers trees to little paper houses every year, without fail.


The tree. This year we tried to rein it in a little. Ever since we moved in we've been getting progressively larger trees. Our house is small. But, on the other hand, our ornaments are many. This is our favorite type of tree to get. A Frasier fir. They are very skinny, fit well in small spaces and the needles are not sharp, they are rounded. The branches tend to be sturdy, too. For heavy ornaments. Of which, I have a few. I won't even bother to tell you about the very nearly avoided Christmas Tree Crisis. Suffice it to say it involved creating a large, tree sized flower frog. That's what we get for dialing it back.


This is one of my favorite ornaments. The husband got it for me, early in our relationship. I'm not sure if we were even married yet. I think it came from Pier 1. It's pretty big, but light as a feather. It reminds me of the claymation Christmas special: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. You know? It's not perfectly round. I don't think it was made in a factory. Probably some little Chinese kid made 2,000 of them for 12 cents. Nicely done, kid. Nicely done. Probably someone from Pier 1 is going to come and have me arrested for saying that.


This is another favorite. My brother and I both have one. It's from Avon. I can't tell you how much I love Avon products. Just look at this guy! LOOK! It's ridiculously cute. Firstly, I love things that look like cookies and aren't. (I mean, I love things that look like cookies and are, too. Especially if I get to eat them.) Plus, the colors cause me joy that is close to physical pain. "Sea Green" as I call it, thanks to Crayola, was my favorite color when I was little. And it is again, now that I'm all growed up.


I ganked this guy from my mom. A teacher gave it to her when she was little. He's Humpty Dumpty. I believe he's Italian. He's actually listed in one of my Christmas collecting books. (Yes, one of them. As in, I have more than one.) Look at him. Little cutie. Over there flirting it up with Strawberry Shortcake. She's a strumpet.


This is our tree skirt. It's Martha Stewart. I think it was only like $20 or something. I had looked everywhere for a fun tree skirt. It took me forever to find one that I liked which was not $100. I nearly choked on tears of joy when I found this. It's got these trees all the way around, too! Come on people! Felt? Ric-rack? Mini pom-poms? The only way it could be made better? Come on, say it with me: With Glitter!!

Too true.

Bathroom

You know you've stepped across some sort of line when you begin decorating the bathroom for each holiday. You've turned your heart away from the familiar, the rational, the norm. Instead you look with greedy eyes on the only uncharted decorational territory in the house: the crapper.

You'll remember these from before. The silver tree is from Avon (How is it that I've never written a post on my love for all things Avon?!) a few years back and it lights up. We use it as a night light during the holiday season. Sometimes I stop to wonder if it's uncouth or even derogatory to decorate the back of one's toilet. Then I think of all of the other areas in my life that are uncouth and derogatory and I shrug and say "meh".

This is the scene above the toilet. Slightly less garish than the fall set up, surprisingly. The green glass tree on top is a vintage Avon perfume bottle. I used to have a giant collection of vintage Christmas Avon bottles. That collection had to go. It got the boot in one of my yearly purges. Only the trees remain to tell the tale.

This is my snowball garland. It was given to me by a friend's mother on one of our yearly holiday shopping trips to the Craft Antique Co-Op. It's very long and is draped above our medicine cabinet.


Lastly, we have Gene Frost. I drew him. I also made a little character guy out of clay and stuff. I gave him to Heather, so he doesn't live with me any more, but he looks just like this:

I did the drawing first, and was going to call him Jack Frost, of course. But then, I looked at him more closely. He reminded me of Gene Kelly for some reason. Maybe it's the eyebrows. And, you can bet your bottom dollar that Gene Frost can tap dance like nobody's business.