Here comes Santa Claus

 

Polk Brother's Santa, back right.



It started years ago with a single, "Polk Brother's" Santa (Above, back left side).  He's as tall as I am and was a promotion from 1960 through 1966 at an appliance store in Chicago during the holidays.  Many people who grew up in Chicago and the surrounding towns remember him.  He's fragile now, he's made of hard plastic called "celluloid" through a process called "vacucell" which predates the blow molds that are still manufactured today.  He has lost his base and has hot glue seams holding his feet together but  to me, he's lovely. He's got "history", like most of the things that I love. He tells a story.... about the time when I grew up. 

He stood, for one Christmas season, alone, in my dining room window. Beautiful, but sad.  Then, at some point, I told my brother, Tom, about him. 

I'm thankful that I have a brother who shares not only my parents, my sister and my last name but also my passion for all things "vintage" and for collecting "stuff".  Over the last few years, my brother has helped me to build (actually, he probably found more of them than I did) a "collection" of vintage Santa's that now numbers more than 30. 

They are all "vintage" (predating the 1970's). They adorn every window in the front (and most of the side) of my house. Several stand in the vestibule to my front door.  This year, my friend, Ann, gifted me a 5 foot tall vintage Santa to add to the collection.  Here are a few photos of some of my favorites:



The inside of my home is still not decorated. Maybe this weekend?!  This is the ONE Santa is in place in the foyer.

I'm off to work!

xo,

S

Behind the scenes - Thanksgiving Tablescape.

As promised, here are the details of the table scape posted yesterday:

Table Cloth: two 9x12 PAINTER's DROP CLOTHS (yep, that's right, folded them in half, put them on the table) - they came from our local paint store and cost $9 each.

Table Runner: Men's suiting fabric, hounds tooth wool. Closeout at Joann's $3.99 used my Merry Moolah coupon for $5 off my purchase of $25.00 so the table runner and a ball of jute were FREE
Had enough left over to make a runner for the sideboard and wrap 14 votive cups for individual centerpieces at each place.

Wood Chargers: These were a challenge at first but I found out that anyone with a steady hand and a chainsaw can make them.  Traci at Whimsy in Morris has a guy who will do it. I found a really nice man named Tim who owns a mill in Yorkville that will do it and I found out that I can actually do it as well. 

Vintage Brown and White Transfer ware Dinner Plates: Borrowed from my friend, Ann at Nellie's. They were PERFECT...and although priceless, they were FREE to borrow.

Small Bread Plates: Purchased at the Goodwill on a Tuesday during customer appreciation and got a 20% off scratch off. They cost 35 cents each. Total $4.90

Candlesticks, teapot, candles, silverware, glassware, votive holders, napkins:  From my collection.

Centerpiece: Old, wooden shipping crate gifted to me by the same friend (Ann) who loaned me the dishes.  She waxed it brown, I added 4 men's belts from Goodwill ($0.99 each), dried hydrangea and dried flowers from my yard, a couple of nests that I had on hand, some lotus pods, pine cones and dried artichokes (also on hand)  I purchased greens, tallow berries, 3 "quails" and 5 magnificent turquoise hydrangea. Total investment for an incredible centerpiece that I'm going to redo slightly for Christmas as well as the 14 individual place setting pieces: about $40.
Jute Tied Napkins with Leaves:  Punched out the leaves at Archivers. Bought 3 sheets of card stock, used their die cut machine at no charge: Cost $1.50.

Total investment? $68.50 and while that is a significant amount of money, the dropcloths, plates and table runner are all reusable and I was able to set a table that made an impression that will last a lifetime for my family and friends. 

I spent today cutting down the last of the garden and raking the last of the leaves (16 barrels and bags full...it took me all day!) Tomorrow, I'm planting tulips for next spring. Then, it's on to Christmas Decorating!

P.S. Yes, we removed the centerpiece during dinner. It's probably taller than the "ideal" would be but it is PERFECT for me!

Have a wonderful weekend.

xo,

S

Giving Thanks

It starts when we're young.  Older adults shape our lives. They teach us about love...and gratitude. In some of my very earliest memories, I was taught to say "please" and "thank-you". It's a basic concept for most of us.  Human decency, kindness, thoughtfulness. I like to think that I do a pretty good job, most of the time, remembering, to express my thanks.

It's beginning to look alot like HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

Sorry I've been "absent". I've been in "full on decorating" mode and have to work through end of day Wednesday this week. 

I'm picking up the wood "cookies" (slices of tree trunk to be used for chargers on my Thanksgiving table) today so I should have photos of the table to share tomorrow. If not, I'm in serious trouble because Thanksgiving is 48 hours away. In the meantime, here are pix of my family room mantel and the materials and first part of the staircase.

Base lighted garland from Costco 10 years ago. Hhomemade pine cone wreath, reused burlap bows from front door autumn wreaths. Black Metal lanterns close-out from TJ Maxx 8 years ago. Added "frosted garland.

Same base, Costco garland as is in the family room (10 years old, still works!). Added a few larger pine cones: some painted and some "flocked".

Plaid ribbon 50% off at Joann's. Styrofoam balls wrapped with men's plaid shirts (Salvation Army/Goodwill) or fabric. Dollar Store bells. burlap, plastic ornaments 90% off at Kmart last year, Red "velvet" ribbon (you can find it at Hobby Lobby or Joann's but mine came from a hardware store called Wannemakers).

Happy Tuesday!

xo,

S

Deck the Halls with Homemade Ornaments. Simple instructions.

In keeping with last week's theme of Christmas, I thought that I'd share a few of the ornaments that I've made so far this holiday season:



The heart and mitten ornaments were cut from ivory and beige flannel that was leftover from a prior project and hand stitched along the edge with a simple blanket stitch using embroidery thread. I added a little tulle and some pearls for sparkle and stuffed them with leftover quilt batting.  The ice skate is a die cut ornament that I made at Archivers. They allow you to use their die cuts at no charge so long as you purchase the card stock from them. Which I did, using their "buy 3 sheets, get 3 free" coupon. After it was punched out, I glittered, "sewed" the laces, and glued on a pompom. Any of these look great on the tree and also make really cute package tags or add-ins.

Clear glass balls from the craft store filled with 1 tablespoon Epsom salts and about 1/2 teaspoon of glitter to make "sparkly snow", vintage sheet music that was cut cut into 3/8 inch strips using the Martha Stewart scoring board (you could also cut by hand, using scissors or a straight cut shredder) and then curled around a pencil. I still wasn't satisfied with how they looked (yes, it's true, I can't leave well enough alone), so I printed the titles of some of my favorite Christmas carols, cut them into banners and added them to the inside as well.  Once that was complete, I topped them off with a snippet of organdy ribbon and a pearl or jingle bell.

Bird's nests to which I added reindeer moss, eggs frosted with clear glitter and mushroom birds (also frosted with a little glitter).

I've got others in the works including 3 dozen "gingerbread ornaments" (made from apple sauce, Elmer's glue, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves and Allspice and decorated with puff paint) for a customer who intends to use them as favors for her cookie exchange as well as some clay tags that are a special order for another customer  but I need to spend a day or two finishing up the centerpiece and place card holders for Thanksgiving!  

xo,

S