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!