Christmas Reds

With all the treasures I have found this past year, all destined for my shop, my most precious treasures remain safe at home. Nestled amongst the tissue wrapped Shiny Brites in a box marked "Special Ornaments" is a rag tag assortment of elves, angels and sleighs. More of sentimental value rather than monetary value: it truly isn't Christmas until these smiling faces appear on my library shelves.

They are all time-worn if not down right chippy vintage goodness. The red elf sitting behind the angel is at least 65 years old, a family treasure. The angel is from a friend and is from her own childhood. I received it as a gift last year (Click here for story and other vintage Christmas pieces.)

This sleigh is my most recent piece, last year at Goodwill, for $.99 cents. The reindeer is still wearing its bell.

This sweet little elf still wears its rope hanger and has all its sparkling jewels intact....an elf with a little bling. I acquired this piece years ago and just love it. It wasn't a part of my childhood, but certainly is a part of my daughter's. It was rescued from the bottom of a box of mostly broken ornaments and other misc. decorations. This find, as I always say, made me down right giddy.

I found this piece a few years ago, at Goodwill, the tag is still on the back for $.99 cents. It is a shadowbox design and constructed from fabric. Beautiful green ric -rac edges the frame.

But of course, you have to have a proper Santa for Christmas. This trio has seen a lot of Christmases. The tall one is another childhood piece, a good 55 years old. The shorter Santa again was from another family's decorations and I was happy to bring it home from a lawn sale. The Santa sitting on top of the books was a gift over 30 years ago, oh dear, that makes both it and I vintage.

I recently found this vintage red flocked ornament at a Grange sale. It is sitting on a holly berry bell plate, both of which will be up at the shop.

Here is a close-up of the ornament. Now that it is December, I will be hauling out all my Christmas goodies. Wait until next week when I share more with Sue @ Its a Very Cherry World for Wednesday is Rednesday. Please click here or on the party button on my sidebar for your invite.

Got it at Goodwill
Sherrie

Tour of Christmas Trees

Welcome to a tour of my home as promised. Today is the dining room ......all pretty in pink. Of course it had to have a Victorian Tree. Every ornament has the color pink. I have feathers, fruit, flowers, all fancy and fun. I even found pink lights for just the right sparkle.

The mantle is covered in lots of gilded fruit, in a burgundy/pink theme. The mantle decoration grew over the past few years as I found more fruit and other embellishments to add. Honestly, if they weren't 75-90% off clearance at Michaels, A.C. Moore, Christmas Tree Shop or Jo-Anne Fabrics, than I wouldn't buy them. I made the ribbons from a spool I picked up at a lawn sale for pennies.

Looking at these pictures I think two words, "NO FLASH!" I have to get better at using natural light, sorry.

This collection of Santas stand guard along the side buffet. The little one that started my collection was from my Mom when she first discovered The Christmas Tree Shop, before they came to Maine.

My harvester table is set with a vase of fresh greenery, candles and plates and pitcher ready for a Christmas party. This small tree is the "Rose and Cherub" tree. It is covered with little golden angels and silk roses.

In the past, I would have a heavy swag of greenery and poinsettias surrounding my built-in china cabinet. This year I went for a cleaner look and added little bunches of fresh greenery, pink ornaments and flowers. I'm pleased with the look.



The stockings were hung with care ...... and too much flash for the photo.
What a simple decoration, a jar of vintage pink ornaments on the corner table.



The tree and a few close-ups.









































































One of my favorite ornaments, the vintage pink wreath. It is actually a pin.
























Yards of pink tulle encircle the tree.






I love coming into the room at night, when just the mantle lights and the Christmas Tree are lit. I think back to 1853 when my house was built, and to that first family and their Christmas. There was sure to have been lots of candles, fruit and fresh greenery. Thanks for letting me share. Tomorrow is the music room.

Vintage Christmas Monday Thoughts

It is Vintage Christmas Monday and once again we say thank you and Merry Christmas to Joan at ANYTHING GOES HERE. Good Job Joan for putting this all together.

Hope you like my poem.





















The countdown to Christmas
has begun,
The piano is tuned,
Carols are ready to be sung.











Cookies are baking,












Stockings are hung.













The trees are festooned, with ornaments
in all their glory,

Books are ready to be read,
"Twas the night before Christmas"
and the "Nativity Story".

Mom is dressed with things that glitter,

Candy canes are ready to be shared,

The candles are lit, their light a soft flicker.

For all the memories we
cherish and hold dear,
Amidst all the ornaments, vintage and new,
That a child born in a manger makes clear,
Why we wish
"A God Bless You!"





















Thank you to all the wonderful folks who took the time to write such nice comments on my post last week. Each was like a little gift that brought a big smile.

I hope you will join me in the next week as I will be posting pictures of all my trees, maybe not all vintage, but certainly fun.

Vintage Christmas Monday - Makes you look forward to Monday

We finally had snow up here in Maine. Several inches fell on Saturday. Certainly put me in the mood to set up a few trees and to take some pictures for Vintage Christmas Monday. It has been fun setting up my ornaments for their photo opportunity .... it has given me a chance to record these treasures for my daughter. So thanks to Joan at anythinggoeshere.

Last week I shared my 1960's tree but forgot a couple of the pictures. So here they are:


Hanging as ornaments on the tree, are photos from my family Christmases in the 1960's. This photo shows me with my Barbie Doll that Santa brought me in 1964. Yes I am the adorable blond on the far right holding my naked Barbie Doll (side view). I remember that I was trying to quickly dress her for the picture; however, mom was giving me that look that says "Now". It wasn't until sometime in July when she had had the roll of film finally developed that she saw how the photo came out. Dad and I couldn't understand why she was so upset .... needless to say, we didn't have a family photo Christmas card that year. Underneath the tree sits childhood games and stories, Frosty and Rudolph, along with my Barbie ..... dressed this time.

The MUSIC is ready to play on the record player: Firestone presents Favorite Christmas Music with Julie Andrews (1965).
















The ORNAMENTS are hung.The Peanuts ornaments are from 1965 and the Raggedy Ann is 1973.






Now it is time for FOOD. I found this cookbook this weekend at a Church fair. It is titled "The Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking" 1953. I purchased it because the color of the book matches my set of dishes and looks great sitting on the shelf with the plates. Added bonus ...... the recipes are delightful!!! There is a large chapter on game that goes beyond venison, duck or even rabbit. This book includes recipes for Raccoon Pie, Squirrel Fricassee, Woodchuck Pot Pie and Turtle Soup made with real Turtle. Apparently, as the book states, "The main reason for the non-use of turtles for food is lack of knowledge of how to dress them." A diagram is included on how to dress a turtle ....... not the same way to dress a Barbie I might add. Sorry for the blurry photo of the book. I did check out its recipe for a Christmas Luncheon, and thankfully, no Raccoon or Squirrel on the menu.

As promised last Monday, here are some of my special ornaments. Many have paint worn away by time. I wouldn't trade these for any new ornaments. The fact that they exist today, after decades of use, by my family (see earlier post of tree + little oh so cute kitten = smashed ornaments) and my Dad's family and even his Dad's family, makes them priceless!! Thank you for visiting. Please be sure to see all the other participants' treasures for Vintage Christmas Monday. I already have something special for you planned for next week. See you then.

That was fun

Vintage Christmas Monday was so much fun. I loved visiting everyone's posts and feel very honored to have received some nice comments on my post. I enjoyed each one. It made coming back to work on a Monday after a holiday just a little nicer. So again thank you to our host Joan at Anything Goes Here for making it possible for strangers to meet and greet and perhaps become friends. Sometimes it only takes a comment, a kind word, act or deed from a stranger to make a day a little better ....... a little brighter. So thank you all for visiting.

A few years ago, I just didn't feel in the mood for Christmas. I have a big home and always loved decorating it ..... to an extreme as my family would say. I had 12 full size trees throughout the house, each with a different theme along with the main family tree. The local paper had even done a full page article the previous year on my home, trees and the yearly open house party that we hosted for up to 100 people. But that year, things were different. My daughter was away for her first year of college, dear friends had suffered sickness and tragedies and my business was in a slump so money was tight. I had set up only a few trees (5) and was planning on just a smaller scaled party for just the closest of friends and family. The last tree decorated was the family tree. It stands 9 feet high and easily has over 500 ornaments. Along with the green face Santa and the gold spray painted macaroni wreathes that my daughter made were the collection of beautiful ornaments from Germany that had been passed down in Dad's family for generations. I must add that this was also the first Christmas for our new kitten.

I came home from work one afternoon and found my 9 foot tree TOPPLED! It was precariously perched on the fireplace screen. Fortunately, the tree came down at an angle and was saved from completely smashing to the floor by the wrought iron screen. I was in tears. Precious ornaments were lost but thankfully not as many as there could have been. I began the task of undecorating the tree so that we could carefully right it back into position .... this time tethered in place by strong wire. The kitten was conveniently in hiding. My daughter had called home that night to say hi and was told by her father about the tree mishap. First she protested that one little cute kitten could not have toppled a tree. (That would be a later discussion.) What happened next I call the "Miracle of Strangers Christmas".

My daughter hosts an online writing group comprised of hundreds of writers from around the world. To this site she posted a request. She told her friends how important these lost ornaments were to her mother, not for any monetary value but rather the memories they represented. She asked for them to drop me a line to say hello and Merry Christmas, unbeknown to me, giving them my e-mail address. The next day when I opened my e-mail, there were hundreds of well wishes. There were cartoons, oh so cute pictures of snuggling kittens, puppies and even hamsters, poems and just simple statements of good tidings. They came from all over .... Japan, England, Australia and all over the states, to name a few. I didn't understand why I was receiving them until I read one that said "Your daughter explained what happened. I thought that this was so nice of her to do for her mother. She is a good person and a good daughter so you must be a good mom. Merry Christmas to Elizabeth's Mom." I was in tears again, tears of joy. I printed a dozen of these Christmas wishes and made them into ornaments . Years later, they still make me teary-eyed when I place them on the tree.

As Linus could have said to Charlie Brown ..... "Taking time to share a simple thought or kind word, that is the true meaning of the season." Again thank you all for stopping by to visit and share your thoughts. Thank you for allowing me to share. I look forward to next week.

Merry Christmas
Sherrie

The Tree:

White Wednesday

Good Morning Friends. I know it is the day before Thanksgiving and I should be concentrating on brining my turkey and all that, but I am taking a moment to participate in White Wednesday. No I haven't got any of my trees up, yet. That starts tomorrow night, but I did pull out some photos of one of my favorite trees, my "Wedding Tree". The tree started off years ago as a way to use all my white/silver ornaments. I had simply referred to it as the Ivory Tree. When a friend's daughter first saw the tree she exclaimed "Oh how pretty....a Wedding Tree" So the name stayed.
I have ivory silk roses, babies breath, vintage strands of light silver tinsel, a pair of vintage ivory gloves and my daughter's very first pair of shoes (white of course) amongst all the vintage ornaments from my youth. I especially love the German pieces with their mellowed patina only achieved by age.

The tree also showcases my collection of wedding cake toppers. Unfortunately these pictures do not do that collection justice. I promise to have new photos to share for next Wednesday. One of my favorite ornaments, again like my daughter's shoes, isn't really an ornament. It is a small silver frame holding a picture of my mom as a 1950's bride. As I share with you my other trees this holiday season, you will see that most of my ornaments are simply cherished items that hold a memory and not a store bought bauble. That is what Christmas should represent.

A big thank you to our hostess, Kathleen at http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/ for hosting White Wednesday.