Sparkling Winter White swap--sent

I always manage to forget to photograph my swap package before I send it off (you'd think after doing this repeatedly I'd learn--nope!) so I only have photos of two of the items I made for Kelly, but I thought I'd share anyways:

I had fun making this tulle wreath, an idea I saw on a blog and have had tucked away in my brain for a while. I used a 10" white foam wreath form and three rolls of white tulle from the Dollar Tree (each roll contains 8 yds, so 24 yds total). I simply decided on a length, cut all my tulle into pieces and knotted each one around the wreath form. I purchased my wreath at JoAnn's, but my Dollar Tree sells 10" green wreath forms, though you'd need to cover them with ribbon first so the green doesn't show through the tulle.

To embellish the wreath I created a vintage-style corsage, using some of my actual vintage Christmas corsages for inspiration. I used some vintage silver foil leaves, vintage silver glass ornaments (these were meant for floral arrangements and already wired), and some giant silver jingle bells from my stash. I used white pipe cleaners to create stems for the jingle bells and an additional white pipe cleaner to make a pair of spirals to add interest. I wrapped the whole thing in white floral tape and tied with a piece of white velvet ribbon, then used hot glue to attach it to the wreath. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and I think my 'corsage' is a pretty good recreation of a vintage one!I also made Kelly a bouquet of button flowers using white, silver, glass and rhinestone buttons. I've made quite a few button bouquets this past year and I have loved them all! They're so easy and fun and maybe even a bit addictive.

To see more of the goodies sent and received in this swap, check out the Flickr group!

Sparkling Winter White swap--received

I don't know what my problem is, but every year it seems like I finally get my best Christmas decoration inspiration and gift ideas on about the 21st, when it's far too late to actually do anything about it. Never fails, I tell you--and this year was no exception.

My decor inspiration actually arrived a bit earlier in the form of my swap package from Kelly, but in between house guests and last minute shopping, I didn't have the time to do anything about it. Maybe next year, and Kelly's fabulous package gives me a good head start!

The theme for our swap this time was "Sparkling Winter White" with theme colors of white and silver. My swap came packaged in this awesome vintage aluminum cake carrier:Isn't that THE most clever idea for a gift container? I LOVE it! I actually have a small collection of cake carriers, so this one will fit right in! Love gift wrap that is a gift in itself!

When I pulled up the lid of the carrier, my treats were all wrapped in old sewing pattern tissue that Kelly had cut into scallops with pinking shears. So cute! Kelly had used the vintage foil flowers with the turquoise centers as decoration on the handle of the cake carrier. She also sent yummy chocolate sweets, a trio of vintage angel ornaments and some yummy vintage rhinestone *bling*.
Kelly made me this darling garland and the creamy neutral colors and bits of sparkle are what really inspired me. She used stacks of neutral-colored fabrics and sewed them together; each one is perfectly shabby and ruffly.

She embellished each letter with hand-sewn beads, sequins, pearls and teeny tiny jingle bells:
Oh, I just love it! The shabbiness of the letters combined with the sparkle of the beads & sequins is just perfect.

Kelly also made me a sweet tussy musy cone using more creamy neutrals, vintage ornaments and pattern tissue, and her cousin Gretchen made this amazing snowman for me:
His body is an old bottle filled with silver sequins and glitter and still sporting the original foil label. The snowman has the sweetest glittery face and can you see what she used for his hat? An icing piping tip! Neither Kelly nor Gretchen have blogs, which is a shame because I want to see MORE of what those girls create!

I was so inspired by the beautiful neutral palette that Kelly used. I wish I'd had more free time before Christmas because it made my fingers itch to create! Maybe I can remember them and start earlier next year--like in about August, perhaps!

Christmas leftovers

Just a few leftover photos I haven't blogged. Although I didn't do much decorating this year, I did manage to make a few new displays.

This one was inspired by Jane, who also used thrifted ice skates on her front door. Those are my skates and I poked in some greenery and junk that I pulled out of a old floral arrangement. I've wanted to do something similar for several years, ever since I saw a photo of blue vintage skates in an old Matthew Mead holiday publication. I've never been able to find a pair of those blue skates, but the white ones work too. Cute, and I can just pull the stuff out of the top when I want to use them to go skating!

One of my favorite vintage Christmas collections are my beaded mercury glass picks. I haven't thrifted many--most have been purchased from antique shops, though I did manage to find a few really neat ones this past summer at a garage sale. I happened to have polished my silver champagne bucket for the Christmas dinner I decorated earlier in this month, so I combined the two and came up with this:
There are some lumps of floral foam wedged in the bucket and I simply poked the picks into the foam. I love how it looks, and I was surprised at how many picks I've amassed!

Back tomorrow to share the goodies I received in the Sweet Goodness Sparkling Winter White swap!

From amidst the wrapping paper carnage...

"The closest thing to heaven on this planet anywhere,
Is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow."
-Tennessee Ernie Ford


Merriest of Christmas from

Yes Heidi, there is a Santa Claus...

...I know this because who else would have left all these treasures at the thrift for me to find on Tuesday evening, and at 50% no less?

The biggest, fluffiest bottle-brush wreath I've EVER seen...A kitschy-cool plastic wreath in non-traditional colors...
Two unused linen tea towels, still sporting their labels...
A length of vintage patterned yardage...
Felt + beads + sequin goodness...
Vintage plastic ornaments, perfect for next Christmas when I'll have a 15-month-old little boy on the loose...
A bag full of the type of vintage ornaments that make you literally catch your breath and sprint to get the bag in your cart before anybody else spots the treasures therein...

Ornaments that will make it hard to decide whether to keep or sell...
The most perfect shade of aqua... (speaking of which, did you see this? WORD.)

And tarnished silver for which the cashier gave me 50% off, even though it isn't strictly Christmas decor...

The Fat Man came through for me this week in a big way, and I hope he pays a visit to you tonight!

Vintage Christmas Monday (on a Tuesday)

If my life right now was to be represented by me swimming, I'd barely have my nose above the surface of the water. I feel like I've been operating on a stress level of 13 (on a scale of 1 to 10) for more than a month now, and it's definitely taking its toll on my mental state. My memory is like Swiss cheese lately and I feel like I'm constantly moving in slow motion--no matter how much I run around, I hardly get anything done. I'm most definitely overloaded--some of which is my own fault, and some that I can't help. I caught myself this morning thinking, "If I can just get Christmas over with, I'll be fine and I can rest." Over with? What? I need an attitude adjustment, stat! So even though I still have a To Do list that's a mile long, I'm going to try hard over the next few days to let go of perfection and enjoy the moment (thanks for the much-needed reminder, Jane!)

So, then. Onto Joan's final Vintage Christmas Monday party, to which I am a day late. For this last installment, I thought I'd show my very favorite vintage Christmas decoration, my tree!I know that I'm not supposed to love material things and all that jazz, but I think my beloved aluminum pom-pom tree and my collection of beautiful vintage ornaments may rank up there in my Top 5 Material Possessions. I love my tree so, SO much. I say it every year, but when the afternoon sun comes in through that window and hits the tree, the *SPARKLE* just blows my mind!

My crazy stressed-out end of November and most of December meant that I only put out about 25% of my Christmas decorations this year. A bummer because I love my vintage Christmas pretties that are packed away most of the year, but maybe a blessing because now I don't have to put so much away, right? However, the first thing I put up and the only thing I really care about was my gorgeous tree and all of the hard-won ornaments that I've found by searching through the crap at garage sales and thrift stores. You can see some of my favorites in this Flickr set (I'd post some of the original photos for you to look at, but I can't find where I filed them on my computer!)

And my thanks to our lovely hostess Joan for making Vintage Christmas Mondays possible! I hope she does it again next year!

It's Rednesday and Vintage Christmas Monday (two days late)

I've been out of town so I'm a bit behind at blogging. Actually, I'm a bit behind in life in general right now, but I'm doing my best to get out of the weeds...

For Sue's Rednesday party, I have this to share:a vintage Rudolph story book that I bought on Monday at an antique store. It's not in great shape (taped spine, ick) but it was el cheapo and it's cute and I can read it to Maren. It's flanked by two vintage flocked red reindeer, both found this year in my thrifting.

I'm two days late but I'm going to join Joan's Vintage Christmas Monday for this week anyway. These photos are of some of the vintage Christmas lovelies at my parents' house. It's fun to share an addiction, although I suffer a far more severe case than they have!

I believe this neat Santa candy container came from a garage sale, lovingly stored in its original box:

Another set of St. Nick and his coursers, this one I found at a thrift and gave to my dad:
This snowman ornament belonged to my great-grandpa and my dad found it in his shed. It has a hole in one side (about 1.5" diameter) and was found with red cellophane sticking out of the hole. We can't figure out what it is--does anyone have any ideas? My first thought was a candy container but it seems a bit impractical for that because the hole is so small. We're stumped!

I bought this tree topper from an antique store. Love the graphics and bright red and green!
And some favorite ornaments from the tree:

It's Rednesday--vintage apron, pin bead Mrs. Claus and gratuitous cute baby photos

Yippee, it's Rednesday! I'm joining Sue's Rednesday party today.


I love this pin and bead Mrs. Claus! She's a Walco craft from the early 1970s and is reminiscent of the pin bead fruit that I collect as well.
I found her at a thrift a few weeks ago, but sadly there was no Mr. Claus to be found. I now have a mission: locate a pin bead Santa and reunite him with the lovely Mrs.!

Found at a rare weekday garage sale when I was out visiting my mom in Utah, I think these are actually from 2008 but I never blogged about them. The crocheted apron is a child's size and somebody turned the vintage tablecloth into cute red-hemmed cloth napkins.

And a favorite red (and blue) thing around here:
Would you just LOOK at that hair? Hee! It's like Muppet hair.This one's blurry but Porter is just the happiest, most smiley baby! He'll be 12 weeks tomorrow (HOW?) and is an absolute delight!

Vintage Christmas Monday

This has been the state of my front room table for about a week now:
I'm going to call this, "A Beautiful Mess"It may be a disaster but somehow it bothers me far less than the other messes around my house at the moment. :)

After a poor showing at the thrifts so far this season, I scored on Friday afternoon. Yay!Lots of goodies to keep and lots more to put in my etsy shop!

I'm joining in on Joan's Vintage Christmas Monday!

Goody Goody Gumdrops!

I love gumdrops. I love the way they look and I love the way they taste. I love them at any time of the year, but most especially at Christmas! A jadeite bowl full of gumdrops is just a happy sight, isn't it?
I saw a gumdrop wreath in a Martha mag years ago and have always wanted to make one, but never got around to it.
Until this year, that is! I decided that it would be the perfect festive activity for Maren to help with, so even though the Thanksgiving decorations still sat in a pile on my table, I set out to make a gumdrop wreath. After looking at two stores with no luck, I happened upon big bags of gumdrops at JoAnn's, of all places! I didn't even think to look there but as I was buying my wreath form, I found bags of candy near the cash registers. Not only did I save myself a trip to another store, I was able to use my 40% off coupons for them as well! It worked out perfectly.

Although the construction seems pretty self-explanatory, I did use the instructions found here, via One Pretty Thing. I used a 12-inch white foam wreath form from the craft store, but I did see 10-inch green forms at the Dollar Tree this morning as well. I used nearly three 20-ounce bags of gumdrops (the small size) and that allowed for plenty of 'sampling' opportunities as well. I took Cheryl's advice and used my hot glue gun rather than toothpicks to attach the candy. I went through several glue sticks, more than I had anticipated, so make sure you have plenty on hand. From there, it's easy.
I applied mine in a CPR fashion--CPR in this case standing for Carefully Placed Random. I didn't want to think about it too hard but I also wanted a fairly even distribution of colors. I just fit my gumdrops together like bricks. If you look at Cheryl's photos, it looks like she did one wreath that way and one where they are placed in more orderly rings. I still need to spray my wreath and add a little bit of glitter, and once I decide where to hang it I'll add a nice wide RED grosgrain ribbon to the top.

I wish gumdrops came in pink--I think a pink gumdrop wreath might make me feel faint from the super-high cuteness quotient. I do remember that Martha showed all-white wreaths made of champagne-flavored white gumdrops in one of her wedding publications, and they were quite pretty. I know that Walgreen's has bags of red and green gumdrops on sale this week for 99¢, so if you purchased a dollar store wreath form and a couple of bags of candy, you could have yourself a very cute little holiday decoration for around $5!

It's Rednesday--vintage spaghetti ware Santa

My favorite color is RED (has been for years) so it's only fitting that I join in Sue's Rednesday party!Today's RED item would also fit for Vintage Christmas Monday. Oh heck, most of what I post this month would probably fall under that category! I found this guy a few weeks ago at the thrift. I bought him to sell, but as it seems to happen all too often, I think I like him too much to let him go.I'm not usually one for figurines (aka dust collectors), but come on--isn't he darling? I love the spaghetti 'fur' trim.
It's so rare to find something like this at the thrift and have it be intact, but he's perfect--not even any chipping on the spaghetti trim! I think I need to find some candy canes or barber poles to fill his sack.

We had a self-imposed snow day today. It was snowing and the wind chill was 4 degrees this morning when I got up, and I just couldn't face going out in that to take Maren to preschool. I haven't yet figured out a good solution for keeping the baby warm and wrapped up while I take Maren to school. The stroller is a pain (especially in the snow) and carrying him in the bucket carrier is unwieldy and heavy, but just holding him in my arms wrapped up in blankies doesn't seem warm enough, and I sometimes worry that I'll slip and fall with disastrous results. I've got to get something figured out though, because we have about 5 more months of cold mornings to look forward to here in Colorado! Right now the wind chill is a whopping 10 degrees, and tomorrow morning won't be much of an improvement from today. It has been a good day to stay inside and work on crafts and decorations--hope to have some to share tomorrow!