Thrift Finds: Ho-Ho-Ho Edition

Hi everyone!

I hope the holiday season is finding you well!

I'm one of those (semi-annoying?) people who love to put

the Christmas tree up practically before 

the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers can even be put away. 

And who puts the Christmas radio station on the computer

while I proceed to bake lots and lots

and lots

 of cookies :)

These are some of my favorite vintage Christmas finds as of late!

Since I mentioned cookies (mmm...cookies),

I'll start with this vintage Christmas baking book.

Although I of course love a good Christmas treat recipe,

I was also charmed by the cute cover.

This is the first recipe I would try out.

In fact, I may have to soon.

There's a Christmas thrift store in our area that opens up every year.

It is purely Christmas stuff--they always have some really cool vintage Christmas.

This year it wasn't nearly as big or awesome as last year, 

but I did come away with some things,

and these two ornaments were among them.

 Oh, the excitement I felt when I found this sweet girl!

...and the letdown I felt when my kids broke her pretty little head ;(

Perhaps they thought Humpty Dumpty needed a girlfriend?

This is after I already glued most of it together.

I couldn't quite get that last piece...

so I'm thinking it's time she got a little hair accessory. 

If I could have a tree with only one ornament, 

these snow-topped Shiny Brites would be it.

 This is a really cute Santa puppet.

I love the little jingle bells he holds...

this would be a good way to get a baby to look 

at the camera for Christmas pictures. 

Too bad it won't work on my kids, lol.

I really, really love Santa mugs!

I scare my husband by telling him I will have shelves full some day.

My rule with buying them is I have to come across them myself,

or else that actually might come true.

I think it's funny how their facial expressions are so different--

going from super-jolly to indifferent, and everything in between.

"The Night Before Christmas", a must have,

this one illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa.

Her art is so adorable!

I have a few of her books, and they're all so darling.

This little guy stole my heart immediately.

He was in the the teeny Christmas section of a thrift store,

where it was fill-a-bag for $2.

There were some women looking in that area, 

but I guess they didn't see this fine example ;)

Hmmm...is it the slightly cross-eyed look that got me,

or that little ear that lies askew?

I dunno, but he's a keeper.

Question: what exactly is this little creature 

that sits atop this cute vintage pink wreath?

He has a top hat, which points me toward human...

but then there's that long tail thrown into the mix.

Whatever you are, dear little man,

that is your home now.

Linking up with A Living Space

Sadness.

Like everyone else, I am horrified. I can't wrap my mind around it.

I am heartbroken.

I wish we lived in a world where there was a sense of some things being so precious,

nothing would dare sully or harm them.

And what could possibly qualify as that more than our children--our babies?

One of the things that has impacted me most in becoming a mother

is the sense of camaraderie I feel with my fellow mamas,

known and unknown. 

There are some things we will always understand, without a word being spoken.

Like deep, boundless love.

And loving someone so much it almost hurts.

In sharing this beautiful gift,

we inherit a protectiveness not only for our own kids,

but those of the world.

My daughter is not unlike any other 5 year old little girl.
And only a year younger than the youngest child killed.

                                                    She loves the colors pink and purple,

dolls, dressing up, and princesses.

The only difference is she is mine;

I know her love and her face, her giggles and songs, but--

how could I not equally love any little girl or boy,

had I merely known them?

Because of so many things, I feel a connection to these families.

Because I'm a fellow human.

Because I'm a parent.

Because my kids are close in age to those that were killed. 

(I want to say those that were lost--or died--but no, they were killed.)

Because I know what it's like to move somewhere in hopes of it being safer,

away from the known crime that was showing up closer and closer

to the areas we called home.

For many years it seemed like so many things were getting closer

to our area, national crimes touching our home in big or little ways--

The Chandra Levy case; the Laci Peterson murder; 

Juliani Cardenas, the little boy kidnapped from his grandmother's arms;

the Yosemite murders of a mother, daughter, and her friend.

When I was visiting my tiny hometown of Hughson a few months ago,

there was a man who drove up to a neighbor's house (with whom he'd had a longstanding fued)

and killed him, and then himself.

It was only one street over from where my parents still live, my childhood home.

I remember thinking, "This isn't the town I grew up in!

This isn't my childhood town."

Yet I'm straying too far.

Regardless of evil, unpredictable, unconscionable acts like the Sandy Hook shooting, 

I refuse to believe the world is a bad place. 

We cannot predict the moments our world will change,

but we can live in the safety of the love that lives between parent and child,

which no one can ever, ever take away.

I feel almost guilty in a sense to have my children

to love, to hold, healthy and free from sickness.

Yet the biggest way to honor those children killed and their parents,

in my mind, is to never forget what a gift that is.

To love them as best I can, with all I have, and teach them 

that despite the pain of the world, it is still a beautiful place.

To teach them right from wrong, to be sympathetic,

kind, and loving, so they can be like the majority of the individuals

in this world: good people.

Sending all my prayers, love, and blessings
to the parents and children touched by the Sandy Hook shootings--
to those who, through the common bond of love and loving, ache with them--
to the world
where things like this happen
but will not destroy us.

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts,
there can be no more hurt, only more love."
--Mother Teresa

Thrift Finds: Multiplying Rabbits

One rabbit......

two...

uh-oh. ;)

This was one of those items that I pretty much threw in my cart

immediately. An old and lovingly handmade blanket?! Rabbits?!

Yes, I'll take that, thank you.

Hmmm...did I ever mention that vintage children's items are my weakness?

I loved these kid's books not only for the stories themselves,

but the covers are darling!

They are illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

Love the colors.

How cute is this library check out card,

with the little-kid scrawl?

I found a few of these religious posters recently.

They are about 20 inches tall.

I'm guessing they were in a Sunday school once,

each portraying one of the ten commandments.

This one would be cute in a child's bedroom...
although it makes me wonder how some of those commandments
were portrayed while remaining "preschool friendly?" ;)

For awhile now, I've wanted to add some vintage cowboy finds

to my boys' bedroom--the brighter, the better.

These books were perfect.

I LOVE Danielle Thompson's vintage style,

and want to use her boy's awesome bedroom as a loose source of inspiration.

It's so playful and deliciously quirky.

(image source: thompsonfamily.typepad.com)

This table was my very favorite find while in California last month!

I had looked all around the particular thrift store where I purchased it,

and was about to leave when one of the employees cleared some things off of it. 

And that's when I heard the trumpets sound.

I love the graphics, and the color!

I wasn't even certain it folded! Though I knew it probably had to.

I asked the employee, but she didn't know how to fold it or if it did.

And of course, I bought it anyway, event though 

I had to bring it back to Oregon--

and trust me, even if the legs didn't fold, 

I was gonna bring it back to Oregon.

Luckily it folded.

These vintage Schilling Fancy Decors bottles are fun.

And this old First Aid Kit was too neat to leave behind.

It dates to the 1930's, and everything is still sealed and complete.

I wonder how it made it through the years so long, and unopened/unused at that?

I found two of these wooden letters,

one of which I'm keeping because of a certain Miss.

The other I will list in my shop...

and hopefully said shop can be up and running soon :)

I just liked this tin for some reason,

even though the "P" was rusted over.

I guess it was the pen nib that sold me.

Lastly, to end on a pretty note, some rosy needlepoint. 

I liked the frame, and that the color of the rose

was more of an untraditional hot pink.

Thanks for taking a look!

What's the latest thing you've found?

Linking up with:
 Apron Thrift Girl
Blackbird Has Spoken
A Living Space