Sunday, December 13, 2020

2020 Visions of Christmas

Hallelujah! 2020 is nearly over, and it can't be soon enough for me. I'm sure most people around the world feel the same way. Despite all the mayhem (largely political), anxiety, horror and tragedy, there is always room for hope...and more Christmas decorations.

In a year with three cancelled Brimfield Antiques Shows, and few other antique shopping opportunities, I managed to score a small handful of new vintage holiday items, either online or during one of four brief CT visits. Hopefully, as 2021 progresses, there will be more events available to attend safely.

Living Room

As usual, my living room features the main Christmas event, including my full-size artificial tree decorated with mostly vintage ornaments. This year I used all C-7 white lights with a couple of figural bulbs – one snowman and one clown – two bubble lights near the top, a lighted plastic angel with blue wings at the very top, and three lighted ice bulbs.

In keeping with the all white lights theme, I used C7 lighted ice bulbs, new this year, for the fireplace mantel. I also added three lighted white snowy owls, all purchased online specifically for this year's display. The frosted white icicle ornaments and two tiered silver bottle brush trees are also new from a discount department store.

Peace be with you...and no tweets, only treats allowed.

Who's a pretty snowy owl?

This center owl is actually much brighter than the other two,
so she's more difficult to photograph.

The cutout white paper doves are new from an online shop. I played with several layouts and finally decided on this vertical oval design. If I put them up again next year, maybe I'll try a different layout. The Peace sign is from a discount department store.

Hallway

This past fall, I found these poinsettia sconce shades at an antiques shop in CT for a bargain price. There are six of them, but I only used four. These sconces are not wired, so they're purely wall decorations.

Bathroom

I only decorate the bathroom with a few holiday touches. This year I saw this flamingo shower curtain online, and for about $12, I thought it would be fun to go along with the bath's Hawaiian decor theme.

Home Office

During one summer visit to CT, I found a new antiques shop on Rte. 1 that had some fun treasures. I picked up this 1950s aluminum wall tree for $30. I've seen similar ones on online auction sites that are listed at $125 or thereabouts. It's missing a few branches, but came with its original cardboard box. I think someone may have spray painted the branches green (except for the center top one), but I can't be sure. I added the green vintage ornaments, which I already had.

Part of my pixie elf corner.
They're either trying to spread cheer
or mischief.

The center pixie elf is really mad,
and boy, did he have a LOT to be mad about this year.

Papa Pixie Elf is new this year from the same
antiques shop as the aluminum wall tree.
He's thinking about the good old days,
which was pre-2016 – at least.

New tinsel tree ornament
(set of 3) from a holiday
gift shop in Granby, CT.

And finally, my "Erase 2020" tree, which I hope I won't have to put up again for many years to come. The last time I put it up was in 2009, another crappy year for different reasons.

Santa is happily waving goodbye to 2020.

If you look closely at his eyes,
they're slightly rabid, as if he's thinking,
"WTF happened?!"

🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅

Sunday, October 18, 2020

The Real World? Scary. Halloween? Not So Scary.

Truthfully, the real world is so scary right now, Halloween decorations seem quaint and comforting in comparison.

My spooky displays have been updated this year with a few new items, so my Halloween haven is slightly more elaborate. Let's get acQUAINTed with all things spooky...

The Parlor


The black crows are new, purchased from a popular discount department store.

Naturally, the arrangement of the crows
is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

One interesting fact I recently discovered about this movie:
There is no music soundtrack, just bird noises and dialog,
which just adds to the tension and creepiness.

The birds are made of lightweight paper, and attach to the wall with double-stick tape so you can arrange them in endless ways. There are three different silhouettes.

The jack-o-lantern bubble lights are new,
courtesy of an online New England catalog shop.

The bubble lights arrived in this cute box.
The bubble nightlight with black cat is also new.


Spooky corner: The new black taper candles are courtesy of an online shop.


The vintage candelabra was a gift from a friend from either earlier this year or last year.

The Bath

The new spooky bat shower curtain and bath mat are from an online home store.
I like the somewhat subtle silhouette design, and the black grass at the bottom is a nice detail.

Close-up of spooky bath mat.
I like its Gothic wallpaper-like pattern.

Hallway

WHO am I? A newly purchased 1970s owl lamp
perched on a stack of old books.

Who's a cutie? I was discovered on an online shop.
I have perforations on my back, too.

This is what I look like when I'm turned off.
I look pretty good for my age, don't you think?

My base twists off, and there's a white C-7 nightlight bulb in the center.
The bottom of my base says, CROWELL HOME.

The Office/Guest Room

New metal spider from a fun gift shop in CT.

Now that wasn't so scary, was it?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all, and to all a dark night.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Provincetown Summer 2020 | Art Still Matters, Masks & All

As 2020 continued to slide, crash and burn this summer, I managed to complete a short escape to Provincetown at the start of August. I had booked the getaway back in February, and fortunately I'm an in-state resident so I didn't have to deal with any quarantine issues. I expected the experience to be different and a bit depressing compared to the "normal" – and it was, masks and all.

But despite the underlying anxiety and uncertainty, it was rejuvenating to have a change of scenery, get a taste of the ocean, and rediscover the unique character of this sometimes edgy edge on the East coast of America. Best of all, the quirky artwork was intact with a few new discoveries at the local galleries.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I'm no garden expert, but these pink hydrangeas are pink instead of blue because their soil is more alkaline (had to look this up). In any event, the Cape is filled with mostly blue hydrangeas (in more acidic soil) so I think the pink is delightfully less common, and just as beautiful.

Think Pink Hydrangeas

😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷

Among the signs for social distancing and mask wearing, there were signs of hope...

These are a few custom-designed masks I brought with me along with some plain blue ones...

Other interesting mask sightings...

Masked Cat AtTIRE

So much for Pilgrim's Progress.

🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨

Now for the art...

Though I had toured Bob Gasoi's hippie outdoor art museum before – P-Town visitors have been admiring his artwork originally on the outside of Shop Therapy for decades – I was able to take more detailed pictures because there weren't throngs of people to get through.