Frosty In Boston: A Very Vintage Christmas 2017

On this last day of 2017, we're in the midst of an extended deep freeze here in New England, which can feel endless and uncomfortable, but can also add to the festive look of the season, both outdoors and inside. This is the current view from my kitchen window...

The frigid weather – 10 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny with wind chill of -2 – means more time spent indoors with my Christmas decorations, which, sadly, will have to be dismantled by the end of the week.

This year's displays feature a number of new vintage items purchased during the course of the year, starting with the light-up Alpine Village on my fireplace mantel, purchased at Brimfield for $15.

This is the box it came in (the white store price sticker says "Barkers" and the date is 1978). I had to replace the bulbs to get the lights to work.

I printed out online images of the Swiss Alps and glued them to foamcore to create the backdrop. I probably should have made it a bit higher, but I was in a time crunch and didn't want to spend too much time on it. The electrical plug is hidden by the mountain of cotton snow behind the church.

I created two ponds with tinfoil, and the monster-sized deer are from an antiques shop in CT. The bottle brush green trees are from Target and the white ones are from Michael's.

I also found Santa and his reindeer at an antiques shop in CT.

The fun thing about these villages is being able to add to them or completely change them around from year to year. One of my friends gave me two different village house ornaments for Christmas that happen to fit in really well so I added them to the scene.

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Due to a snowstorm, I purchased this year's living room Christmas tree at the local Home Depot, instead of cutting it down myself at a tree farm in CT as I usually do. Overall, I was pleased with how it looks, and the convenience. It's a 7-ft. Elite Silver Blue Balsam Fir imported from Canada.

For the first time, I used all C-6 white lights, including a couple of Reliance Krystal Stars, a pink rosette light, a few bubble lights, and a plastic angel light at the top, which I believe is from the 1950s.

I originally planned on draping gold tinsel garland onto the tree, but had already placed some ornaments on, so I decided to just add silver tinsel at the end to give it added sparkle. I like the cohesive look of all white lights, which also complement the frosty village on the mantel. Next year, I may do all C-7 white lights on the tree to change it up.

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Another cool vintage Christmas discovery this year: a black metal Christmas card holder with its original box.

This hangs on a wall in my bedroom with the box on the floor underneath. I found it at an antiques shop in CT for $15.

Cool box – it says "Brooklyn, N.Y." at bottom right.

Holder with cards. I'm old-school and still like to send and receive these every year.

From the same antiques shop in CT, I found this unusual bell cookie jar with metallic painted accents.

For my home office/guest room, I found this cool painted wood shelf with oval cutouts on the sides, perfect for my growing pixie elf family. This, I believe, is one-of-a-kind, from Cambridge Antiques Market.

The angry elf is new this year, and a natural reflection of so much that has happened around the world in 2017.

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna stand for it!"

Also in the same room near this shelf, hangs the lighted poinsettia star my brother gave me for Christmas last year.

This is the cool box it came in, which I have displayed on a table...

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No holiday season is complete without treats. Every year I make a pumpkin pie for Christmas. This time I decorated the top with a tree using mini vintage cookie cutters.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I visited the Boston Public Library, which has a lovely tea room. One of the treats served was a gingerbread man. I think this one sums up the year pretty accurately...

Oh no!!!

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Happy New Year!

Peace.