Oh, There You Are!

Let me just get my apologies out right away. It's been over a month since I've spoken to you, dear friends, and I want to say here and now that I'm sorry. The time has just slipped away from me. My Etsy shop has been keeping me hopping and while that is a good thing financially, it's a bad thing for my spare (blogging) time.

I can't even believe it's already post Christmas. I have so many things I want to show you!

But, first I'd like to address this winter. Yesterday (December 28th) was the first "real" snowfall we've had all year. And it was about an inch. Usually that stuff starts around Halloween. By Thanksgiving we've usually dug ourselves out of 20 inches or so. I'm aghast and agog and I don't even know what to say about it except that we've clearly broken the planet and we're going to have to pay for it. Probably we'll end up losing California to the sea. That and Coke will have one of the saddest ad campaigns of all time because the polar bears are all dying. Not even a cold Coke can refresh them, poor dears. One of my Facebook friends posted a picture of a dandelion. Growing in her yard. In December. Not good, people. Not good. We had a green Christmas, alright. The kind where you have to put on your shorts and go mow the yard after you open presents. I keep thinking how the mosquitoes probably haven't even died yet. We'll have a bobilliondy of them this summer. I think I'm going to start keeping bats. So just, you know: Beware the wrath of Mother Earth.

Onward. The drunken ballerina was finally able to pull herself together and finish the decorations. I bet you want to see them, right? Or maybe since we haven't spoken in so long you are pretending not to care if I ever show you another blessed felt bauble or glittered angel again. In any case. I'm going to show them. So if you'd rather not see them, just leave now. I'm not going to give you every single thing, like last year. Because most of the stuff is exactly the same. I'm going to break it down into two bits: 1-The New Stuff and 2-A Collection Of Sorts.

The New Stuff

I got it from the Craft Antique Co-op. I'd put a link to their website in there, but it's a hideous and obnoxious site and you can Goog that crap yourself if you feel the need. This thing is gorgeous. Two tones of green. I love me some tone on tone. I'm going to keep it out all the time, not just at Christmas. I'm also going to put it in my dream master suite. You know, when I get one of those, the second of never.

The Bathroom

OK, not new stuff, but I arranged it in a new way and liked it enough to share with you. Be grateful. There aren't a lot of people who decorate their bathrooms for the holidays.

The Little People House

See what I've done, there? Decked it out for Christmas. Also of note is the thick layer of dust. I want you to know that the layer of dust is there on purpose. Not because this is the top of a cabinet that is eight feet in the air and not even my tallest friend can see the top of it so I never bother dusting it....no, no. It's because I think it's artistic. I think the layer of dust subtly imitates a layer of newly fallen snow and contributes to the overall reality of the piece. Obviously.

The White Wreath

This is new. Also gotten at the Craft Antique Co-op. The Martha Stewart stand in our kitchen got a bit full this year so I took some of the other vintage wreaths into the hallway. (another new frontier!!) See below.

The Green Cupboard

Nothing new exactly. But a new set up. Note that Kermit has invited the dead dolly from Halloween over. She gets a lot more lively at Christmas time. The dapper little chick is one of my all time favorite decorations. Top hat dusted with green mica. Yes, please!

Red Shelf

New natural colored tree from HB on the top left. Nothing else new, but a new set up. The angel has migrated from my bedroom and taken roost in the kitchen.

Piggy

I bought this ornament for myself on Etsy. It's vintage. I allow myself to purchase myself one vintage Muppet ornament per year. Myself thanks myself.

Paper Bike Ornaments

This is one of a set given to the husband by HB. It's made from cut paper. He's obviously in love with them.

Picket Fence Gate

This little gate is supposed to be an ornament. But I got rid of the string and stuck it in with my picket fence. Perfection. I'd like to have a real picket fence. I know, how June Cleaver of me. If I get one I promise to always put on pearls before I vacuum.

Bedroom Trees

A lot like Bedroom Eyes, but with more Christmas and less lust. Well, maybe not that much less lust. Because these babies are beautiful! Sorry that my camera is crap and doesn't take great pictures in my dark house, forcing me to use the flash which ends up making everything look washed out and blah. Use your imagination and warm it up a bit, folks.

Check it out! That little house I bought for five cents! Remember?

A Collection of Sorts: A Peppermint Stick For Old Saint Nick

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.