2016 Family Photos with Vintage Sled & Ugly Sweaters

Some families take goofy Christmas photos.  We have never been of that persuasion, so it is funny that we ended up with a couple of silly Christmas photos this year.

While my son and his wife were visiting over Thanksgiving,

I finished "enhancing" some Christmas sweaters.

Having live models was way better than throwing them on the floor for photos.

(I won't call them ugly, because it depends on the eye of the beholder.)

I sell the sweaters at my vintage booth, and all proceeds on the Christmas

sweaters go toward "The Grace House", click here  for more info on the Grace House.

 

All three of my siblings came to my house the weekend before Thanksgiving.

We are very scattered, and in the 25 years we have lived here -- they have only

all landed altogether at my house one other time.  My 91 year old father even caught a ride.

His wife had sent a sled which she claimed belonged to our family -- and we

unanimously agreed it did not -- so the comedy part of this photo was that we

decided to have our photo taken with it anyway.

Stenciled Snow Shovels 2016 Edition

This year I accumulated eight metal snow shovels for resale.  I made a deal with myself not to pay more than $1 each.  Most of them I picked up at auctions. You can view last years collection here.
I love the variety of colors that I inadvertently picked up.

The one on the left I actually used a Dollar Tree Wall Sticker --

but most were not smooth enough to use that type of sticker.

So most I just stenciled.

(I should have taken photos of the old handles,

they are all so great.)

I will be selling them for $15 each.

Ready for the snow to fall!

Christmas Under Glass

This past Saturday morning I told myself that in my one hour of discretionary time before leaving for the day, I would pick up the house.  All went according to plan for about 10 minutes.

Then I came across a stash of vintage Italian crèche figurines that had not sold last year.  Reprice? or ..... What about all of those great shaped peanut butter jars I had found last spring?  (Click here to see the Halloween Still Life (s) with the same peanut butter jars.)

I decided to do little groupings of crèche figures under glass -- and a few with cheesy Santa scenes as well.  Because once you stop picking up the house, you may as well totally lose focus.

I made thin cardboard circles that fit in the bottom (or lid if upside down) and secured the figures with a bit of hot glue.  Then carefully set the figures on cardboard in place.  Next I added the snow (or Spanish moss -- which I snipped into tiny bits) to cover the cardboard. 

Lastly I attached the vintage postcard to the inside of the glass with Loc-Tite superglue.  TAADAA --
"Christmas Under Glass" x 8 (plus an enormous mess to worry about.... later.)

Victorian Bay Window With Indian Flair

I know, I know.  Again with the bay window? (Click here to read the beginnings of my decorating dilemma). After all the "window work" was done on that area, it was evident we needed to highlight the bay window area instead of hiding it behind a huge cabinet. Once the seating thing got figured out (click here to read about seating choice)....I asked myself -- what kind of dressing do those windows need?  The room is dark, so I didn't want to block out much natural light.  But the view is cement blocks on the side of a church.  And we need a little privacy. 

 

I am absolutely terrible with curtains.  Maybe because I am not really keen on curtains. 
And the more I thought about:
 -- spending a lot of money
-- NEW curtains (isn't there enough new manufacturing in the world already?   Yes, I often am forced to buy new, but let me at least consider recycling first.)
-- and hating the look and thought of all that fabric bunched up over my gorgeous windows.  Hmm.

What about silk?  I thought about it for a few days.  I like silk.  It is breezy.  It is elegant.  I looked at silk curtains -- are you kidding me?  Super expensive, and not that different looking than other curtains.  But one of the choices on the "silk curtains" ebay search caught my eye.

A vintage sari that someone advertised as having curtain potential. Thin, gorgeous, breezy.  Not white, or neutral (please -- aren't we all secretly tired of decorating with all whites?)  I measured:  one sari = two long curtains for my sidewindows.

Now, what for the center section of windows under the stained glass?  I found a vintage Indian silk "stole" or wrap with rhinestones on ebay (take THAT boring, neutral farmhouse whites!) 
I purchased vintage metal flower "curtain pins" on ebay to hang it.

From there it was a no brainer to look for Indian silk throw pillows for the bench. I bought them from three different sources (in India) and we had to laugh at the fact that I only ended up with two basic colors.

And I found a gorgeous vintage throw rug TWO BLOCKS from my house at a garage sale.  Am I concerned about the Indian vibe in my Victorian house?  No, not at all.  The Victorians were crazy about bringing imports from Asia and India into their homes for a bit of interest. 

Vintage Ornament Boxes Upcycled Into Gift Tags

I sell almost every Christmas ornament that I purchase.

If I were keeping the ornaments for myself, 

I would definitely want to have the entire original box for them.

But for resale, the lid kind of hides the inside ornaments.

So many of the lids can be turned into awesome

gift tags (or price tags in my case).

 

Here are some that I cut from dilapidated boxes. 

 

I love the LOOK.

Christmas Ornaments From Local On-Line Auction

Last night I picked up the items I won from a local on-line auction.  I only won eight "lots" and only spent about $60 -- pretty lightweight for me.  I was tickled to find the lot of "Christmas Décor" that I won was bigger and better than in the auction photo.  I wondered when I bid if the two boxes shown were all that there was.  HO HO -- NO!

I can't remember if these were from Austria or Poland --

but they are all hand painted and look to be part of an original set.

These were smaller, and had some simple designs.

Three toned Shiny-Brites -- lovely.

This is one of the two boxes of ornaments that I could see in the

original photo.

The four "super oldies" in the box.

Simple solids, with beautiful packaging.

Twelve red torpedo or icicle ornaments.

Giant hand-painted ornaments.

Sigh.

Time stands still when I am sorting,

packaging and pricing my vintage ornaments.

Road Trip To College Of The Ozarks

My son and his wife are both alums of College Of The Ozarks.  They still live in the Branson area, so it is easy for us to slip over to the college every time we visit.

You may have heard of the school --
you work your way through college and graduate debt free.  WHOO HOO!  You may not have heard how great the college is for tourists to visit.

The Keeter Center is an awesome restaurant and hotel situated at

the entrance of the college.  The food is exceptional, and is

prepared and served by students.

Each meal is served with homemade biscuits and rolls...

with apple butter made on campus...

and butter made on campus from the DAIRY COWS on campus.

I actually had a pork dish (yeah, you guessed it) from pork raised on campus.

These were a few of the yummy pastry offerings.

Yes, made on campus.

There is a mill that you can tour on campus.

They grind and bag various grains.

(photo of mill on top.)

There is a jelly and fruitcake kitchen,

which can be toured on weekdays.

There is also a great museum on campus,

and a greenhouse which is open to the public.

This is perhaps my favorite area -- the ice cream shoppe.

Yes, milk from campus cows goes into each campus-made flavor.

Here is the area in front of the Keeter Center.

The entire campus is pristine and well-maintained --

thanks to the army of campus-employed students.

Best destination in the Branson area.

Steampunk Junk Vintage Finds

Saturday was the perfect fall day.  Breezy, warm -- great auction weather.  I travelled to a little nearby town and stayed from the first moment of the sale to the last. Sigh, it was probably the last outdoor auction of 2016 for me.

Here is what I wished that I took home.  I have seen a few

Rainbo screen doors in my time -- but none in as good of

condition as this beauty.  WOW.

 

And the following is some of what I did manage to take home.

The common denominator is that taken as a whole,

they kind of had a steampunk vibe.

 

These are some interesting double wheel rollers.

Love the patina.

No idea what this is.

The heavy base is perhaps an enamel over metal.

Various types of jingle bells.

The dime helps you get a perspective.

Pair of antique ornate door knob plates.

Porcelain Rollers.