Abra-candelabra! It's A Magical Vintage Christmas 2015

'Tis the season to haul out the holly, put up the tree(s) and revel in the many opportunities to redecorate.

My yearly vintage Christmas update is finally complete, and there are a few new treasures I'd like to share. In keeping with tradition, my living room live tree is imported from South Windsor, CT.

This year's is about 7.5' tall with a more classic shape than last year's. This year's also felt heavier as I dragged it up three flights of stairs.

    

New for this year is the tri-tone glass tree topper I found in Providence, RI back in November:

  

The original box says "COBY" and "American Made." The back of the box has a Woonsocket, RI address – pretty cool. I already have a collection of tri-tone ornaments on the tree, including balls, bells and even one that's egg-shaped, so this was a great find.

I also found a couple of 1970s satin ornaments (from CT) made from one of the do-it-yourself ornament kits that were popular at the time.

Bell, not a ball.

In some places, Santa arrives by flying saucer.

  

One of the best things about these is they're unbreakable, so no worries if you accidentally drop them onto a hardwood floor.

This year I also put a mini artificial tree on my fireplace mantel with C-6 lights and a 1940s/1950s plastic star at the top. The twisty red candles are new this year – from Home Goods. Also new is the plastic blow-mold Santa inside the fireplace. He looks vintage but he's actually from Lowe's. The plastic blow-mold Noel candles are vintage 1970s, purchased a few years back on eBay.

 

Also in the living room: the black iron floor candelabra I found at Brimfield in September, now with sparkly Christmas candles to fill it.

  

Every room in my house has holiday touches, including the kitchen. On a recent CT antiquing trip, I found a hanging wire mesh basket, which was originally intended for fruit, I imagine. I decided to pile vintage ornaments inside. The two metallic foil flowers I also found this year in Providence. They probably date from the late 1950s/early 1960s.



Also in my kitchen: the plastic pink flamingo I found in Provincetown this year, now wearing a festive wreath. Serendipitously, I already had the flamingo tray.




Finally, new in my home office is yet another vintage TV lamp. This one I found in CT, and it's also a planter. It's green ceramic with a brass scrolled base with black rubber feet. The bottom says "California" "1953."

I placed plastic holly branches and two of my pixie elves inside the planter.

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS!

P-Town Summer Getaway... in October

For the first time ever, I visited Provincetown in October (yes, this post is a bit belated). My good friend invited me down Columbus Day Weekend, and it was a blast!

Though not as thick as the summer crowds, there were more people visiting than I expected. The beautiful weather certainly helped to bring everyone out.

I played the tourist and took some fun photos...

Dock of The Bay.

P-Town Kayaks

Provincetown Theatre on the rocks

Fishnet wall with iron gate (fishnets aren't just for drag queens, ya know)

In addition to seaside splendor, I saw a few signs of the season...

Scarecrow and Raven

Happy Scarecrow

Two Happy Scarecrows

I can't get through a day without a doll – or a swimming hole-full:

Strolling through the shops is always a pleasure, and I rarely come home empty handed. This time I found a plastic pink flamingo to add to my burgeoning collection of things that light up.

It's tough to see in this photo, but at the base it says "F L A M I N G O" – in case there was any doubt. She's now on my kitchen counter in front of a pink flamingo melamine tray I already happened to own.

Looking forward to the upcoming holidays.

I'll most likely post about new vintage Christmas treasures in December.

Hasta luego, chicos y chicas fabulosas!

There's a Raven in My Halloween Haven

And he's perched on one of my new Halloween pillar candles...

This is the second year in a row that I've gone a bit mad for Halloween decor, and it's almost as much fun as decorating for Christmas but far less time-consuming and far less costly.

Here is the black iron floor candelabra I found at the Brimfield Antiques Show last month, complete with pillar candles and a Dia de Los Muertos ornament I found at a shop in Provincetown over the summer.
(I have a close-up photo of the Dia de Los Muertos ornament but it must be possessed because it won't upload).

I didn't post it on last month's Brimfield entry, but now my secret's out: I visited my favorite awesome hardware dealer to buy some skeleton keys. These were $2 to $3 apiece so I was able to purchase a bunch. I intentionally chose some with rust, and tried to find different shapes and sizes.

Keys are so symbolic – evocative, hopeful and mysterious.
What doors did they once unlock? Perhaps secret rooms filled with many treasures.

I decided to use them as ornaments on my Halloween tree.

I also found a bunch on a keychain from another dealer. Could they have belonged to a creepy butler or superintendent from decades gone by?

Yes, I've gone batty for skeleton keys.

The vintage Kron owl TV lamp is from last year.
Who's guarding the skeleton keys? He is.

The living room is a warm room and gets used more in the cooler months so I put most of the decorations here.

In the coming weeks I'll probably buy a couple of pumpkins, which I can place atop the two round coffee tables in this photo's foreground.

Here's proof that you can really decorate on the cheap. I found the jointed paper skeleton at the Dollar Tree store, which, you guessed it, was $1.

Arrrrrr... ya ain't never gonna leave this house.

And here's something I found for free in nature on one of my evening walks: fallen bare tree branches from an overly blustery day. They make an easy centerpiece, and I especially like their curvy shapes. I left a few of the dry leaves intact, just as I found them.

Finally, moving down to my long, funky hallway, I splurged a little on black silk Halloween chandelier shades from Ballard Designs. They add just the right spooky touch when combined with dusty magical crystals.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope it's frightfully fun.

Fields of Fortune (& Furniture): Brimfield, September 2015

Yes, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are coming to an end, and there's that yearly feeling of time whizzing by and "if only I could make it slow down."

The last Brimfield Antiques Show of 2015 was this past week, and it seemed like one of the most fruitful for me. This time I went on a Friday, despite gloomy weather reports, and the choice of merchandise seemed especially abundant.

The first treasure I discovered was this perfect small wrought iron console for my newly redecorated hallway (see previous post).

Italian console with beveled glass top - measures approx. 28" long x 25.25" tall x 13.5" wide.

The inside of the planter? at the bottom says "Made in Italy." I really love its curvy, airy, understated elegance, and it fits the space perfectly.

This is how the hallway setup looks now:

The other substantial piece I found was this black wrought iron floor candelabra that was 50% off from $120 down to $60.

I'm not sure how old it is – maybe 1960s? – but to me it has a cool Gothic look, especially the ornate rounded candle holders. This will be really great next month when I decorate for Halloween. The holders fit standard size pillar candles. I currently have it placed next to my living room fireplace, but I might move it into the hallway.

The next item I purchased falls into the "You bought that?!" category, and my reply is "Yes!" Half the fun of going to Brimfield is that you often don't know what you'll end up hauling home. This groovy, swinging 60s, hot pink vinyl wig case is a great example.

Is it Liza? Twiggy? An actress from Andy Warhol's Factory?

I love the "Carousel" logo and the repeated black silhouette, which appears on the back and both sides.

There's also a second mini box inside with a black plastic handle. It's kind of ratty so I didn't photograph it.
The woman who sold it to me had it marked at $25 but really wanted to sell it so she let me buy it for $15. I must have made an excellent purchase because when I continued browsing at other dealer booths, almost every person who saw it commented on how cool it was!

Next up, something for my kitchen. Brimfield always has an abundance of vintage kitchenware, and this Glasbake Greek themed casserole called to me. After doing a bit of online research, I discovered this pattern is called Blue Hellenic, and I think it's somewhat rare. The most popular Glasbake pattern I saw online was Green Daisy.

This piece is in great shape, with no chips or scratches, and I really like the gold painted Greek key design on the lid and the Greek mythology hieroglyphics design on the sides. It's perfect for my blue and white kitchen.

The bottom stamp says "Made in USA, Glasbake."

Finally, no Brimfield visit is complete without the requisite vintage Christmas item, this time a mini striped pixie elf.

There's a diamond-shaped sticker on his back that says, NOEL Japan.

Here are a few additional photos I took while browsing the Brim fields – I'm seeing lots of red!

I'm already looking forward to next May.

Happy Treasure Hunting!