Magpie Ethel

Wreath Parade

Every year I do wreaths to bring to my shows.  This year I made some really fun ones.

I have been making ornament wreaths for at least 15 years now. (hence the crazy amount of ornaments I have in storage)

The wreath above has two tiny vintage glass birds hidden in amongst the ornaments. I also made an assortment of crazy holiday wreaths.

What a holiday parade.  Many of them will be marching to my next sale at Crafty Wonderland this weekend.  Crunch time here and some insane crafting going on.

Tis the season.

Collection Challenge #184 - Vintage Holiday Tins

Patti challenged me to show my collection of holiday tins.  I have a small collection of them. I have done a collection challenge on tins before (#65,#68 and #39) but today I am just showcasing holiday tins.

I have no idea that this tin held originally, but like the poinsettia design.

This blue eyed cutie is adorable...Miss Sunbeam. She is from the Sunbeam Bread Company.

I am partial to Santa of course.

This tin is from Mrs.Stevens candies of Chicago. That company seems to make the cutest candy tins. This next tin is made by the same company.

One last Santa tin.
A fun little collection. Thanks for the suggestion Patti. (by the way Patti, I love the comments you leave, but can never reply back since you have a no reply email. Thanks for chiming in tho.)  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ___."  Another week, another collection!

One More Show Down - Laurelhurst

Exhausted after a great holiday show today.  I was up and out the door at 6:30 a.m.  The temperature on my car thermometer read 16 which made for a very chilly load in.

I never know exactly where my spot will be or how large of a space I will end up with.  I have to do some quick thinking to get everything put together in a two hour window before the crowds come in the door.

Pictures are doing the talking for his post.

 

It might seem a bit redundant to do a post on each of my holiday shows.  I view my blog as a diary of sorts and it helps me to go back from year to year and show to show to look at layout and props. I also enjoy looking at what I have made in the past and what has sold.

A very good day.  I am dead tired and going to go sit and watch television and craft some more candy canes for my next show.  The biggest show of them all next weekend and a busy week for me.

 

 

Estate Sale Saturday

I really did not have much extra time for an estate sale today, but there was one on my route to the grocery store.  It was the second day of the sale, but there was still tons to pick through.

I did well in the goofy holiday department. The inflatable Santa will join my collection.  He is one I do not have.

A halloween witch hat and a October issue of Pack-O-Fun.

I always enjoy digging through boxes of misc. junk.  Some assorted Christmas doo-dads, vintage measuring tapes, birthday candle holders, plastic letters, plastic balls and a great fish.  Basically all crafting stuff.

The fish is a whistle or something, but it will be great to accompany a spun head mermaid at some point.

I bought this huge old jug because of the label. I could not pass up the cute little bear with the striped scarf. The jug will be fun in the summer as a vase.

I bought one childs's record. It is sitting on a old chenille spread that I bought. I need to dye it before my show next weekend since I want to use it as a tablecloth.  How could I pass up a smiling phonograph?

Flip side.

I bought this styrofoam candy cane to be re-purposed. Extra points that it was in the original box from a local department store.

And last but not least a tin fife for my Fourth of July display.

I spent over an hour poking around at the estate sale.  I think I needed some mindless vintage wandering.  Off to pack up the car for my sale tomorrow. They have now changed the overnight forecast to 10 degrees!  Yikes, that is going to make one frigid load in at 7 a.m.!

Happy Day!

Holiday Show - Laurelhurst

If you are local I will be participating in the Laurelhurst show this weekend.  This is a great show with a good mix and variety of vendors.

Please also send warm thoughts my way as I load into this show on Sunday at 7 a.m.  Predicted temperatures in the 20s...brrrr.  Post coming on my space.  Happy day and happy weekend.

Nighttime Peeping

I love to take evening walks and look in the neighborhood houses when their curtains are open and their lights are on.  When the kids were little I used to like to go Trick or Treating with them so I could stand nearby when they rang the bell and peer in the house to see how people decorated. Nosy, nosy, nosy.

If you were to walk by my house tonight...you would get lots of holiday  peeping.

I got most of my decorations up over the past few days. Today I spent time pulling the blow mold Santas from the attic and getting them into place on the front porch.

If you look beyond the Santas you can see some white garland hanging in the arch between the living and dining room that is thickly hung with assorted Shiny Brites.

Beyond my giant light up Santa in the front window you can see the giant Snowman head that I brought back from Round Top this year.  He lives in snowman land (post coming). Fun glimpses into what looks like a crazy holiday land.

In the front window you can peek in past the THREE vintage aluminum trees that decorate my front window.  (Thank you Aunt Tillie)
It was fun to use a huge amount of my stash of vintate ornaments to decorate the trees.

In the kitchen you get a glimpse of Santa land and my much loved vintage style refrigerator.
Just a few holiday peeks in the window tonight.  Promise to share a few more posts on some crazy holiday decorating.

Ho, ho, ho and happy day!

 

 

Collection Challenge #183 - Vintage Holiday Foil Candy Containers

I am in the midst of crazy holiday decorating right now.  As I pulled my vintage foil candy cones from the holiday bin, I realized how many I had and thought it would be a good collection to share.

These little foil cones were used as candy containers and hung from the tree filled with treats.

They come in a variety of styles. Stripes are super popular like those above. These are embossed with an ornament/tree design.

Sometimes they are just plain shiny colored foil.
I really like when they have the original price on them. The cone on the left has the original price sticker from Olds and King for one dime. The other two have the nickle price written in grease pencil.

The containers come in assorted sizes. Here we have big, bigger, biggest.

Darling Santa graphics.

Cones embossed with Merry Christmas greeetings.

The adorable reindeer is a different shoe shape, but still opens up to insert a treat.

When I pulled them from my holiday bins, I realized I have collected quite a few over the years.

If you were wondering how I display the candy cones, I hang them from my banister with some white garland and some holiday ornaments.

Some fun holiday bling.  A bannister is often an overlooked place to decorate and this spot is perfect for this collection.

If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence, "Show me your collection of ____". The collections just keep on coming, don't they?

 

 

One More Round of Holiday Etsy

A few more holiday tidbits fresh from the studio.

Goodies..sure to bring a holiday smile.
Etsy. Monday, December 2nd at 5:00 p.m. (pacific time).