Last week I attempted to take a few Christmas pictures of my kids, which can be difficult with two toddlers and 9 year old who is being stubborn about how to wear her hair. But I’m pretty happy with a results.
This has to be my favorite picture though
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year
~Kristen
Today I am introducing Cynthia of Gypsum Moon, another one of my favorite shops to follow on Etsy and Facebook. ~Kristen
I really enjoy vintage Christmas items – I’m not one of those people who has a cow if a Santa or a Rudolph or maybe even a snowman or three shows up before Thanksgiving’s over. We have a quickly growing Christmas/holiday section in our vintage shop on etsy, and it gives me the perfect opportunity to enjoy Christmas ornaments and décor all year long with no guilt at all!
One of my current favorite Christmas items in our shop is this adorable Russ Berrie mug from the 1970s with two goofy mice in Christmas stockings – wouldn’t it make a great gift for a couple celebrating their first Christmas together? Or for a couple who had their first Christmas together in the 1970s, and are still ho-ho-ho-ing together all these years later?
I love this 1960s chalkware music box wall hanging that has Christmas carolers singing on it, and plays “Silent Night” when you pull the knob – it’s pretty groovy. Okay, that word was a little before my time, but not much!
Another favorite of mine is this limited edition collector’s plate from Gorham Silver from 1980, featuring a 1957 Norman Rockwell painting in the center. How cute are the moths flying out of the man’s red longjohns that had been stored away in a trunk during the summer, and the look on his wife’s face? The heavy silverplate frame is lovely, too, with repousse Christmas and winter designs around the edge making it look almost like a holiday wreath.
I also adore this cut glass bowl from Mikasa Crystal from the early 1990s, with Christmas trees topped with stars cut into the glass, rimmed with lush 22 karat gold – this would be so gorgeous filled with red and green apples and nuts, or brightly colored wrapped Christmas candies, or ornaments and tiny lights …
Remember that we’re always scouring estate sales, auctions, thrift shops and yard sales here in the southeast for vintage Christmas items and other great stuff to share with you – keep an eye on the Christmas/Holiday section of our shop, because you never know what treasures you might find, and by all means, if there’s something special you’re looking for, let us know.
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Link to our vintage shop
Many times I hear “I don’t have anywhere vintage clothing or how to wear it.” Guess what they are just clothes exactly like the ones sitting in your dresser and closet at home.
Winter Outerwear consists of a beautiful gray coat with real fur collar and cuffs, I added a hat and a red flower brooch for a pop of color.
Coat Link Here
Hat Link Here
Brooch Link Here
Holiday party outfit is elegant yet simple, a lovely brown dress paired with red shoes and a poinsettia apron. The perfect hostess ensemble
Dress Link Here
Apron Link Here
Shoes haven’t been added to my shop yet, but check the many other pairs of shoes I do have listed.
Christmas party, I know you ladies love to be the Belle of the Ball at parties and this outfit has all the right pieces to do so. To be honest if my shoulders weren’t as wide as they are I would have kept this dress, it is probably my favorite dress in my shop.
Coat Link Here
Dress Link Here
Headband Link Here
Today I am introducing Eve of European Vintage Emporium, her shops and blog are beautiful so enjoy. ~Kristen
I realized the other day that I haven’t updated you on my renovations in a while.
Since I last wrote about it I have sanded all the patch work in the whole apartment, which isn’t fun at all. I wear a mask and safety glass to protect my eyes from the flying debris.
The last couple of weeks I have been working hard in finishing the living room turned photo studio as it is the biggest room and needed the least amount of work. Plus it can hold all of my inventory for a while so I can finish the rest of the studio.
My husband and I decided we are going to wait till next summer to finish the floors because we are pressed for time and it has been very cold, so that took one thing off my must get done list.
When I got to the living room I had already removed wallpaper from 3 walls because of holes and tears, the 4th wall was in relatively good shape it just needs a good washing. After a discussion with a interior designer friend about it, I decided to remove it.
One reason I wasn’t sure about removing the wallpaper because it was pretty as you can see in this photo.
Also the doorway concern me, however I used a razor blade and was able to cut the at the corner of the arched doorway without any problems.
The wall had 5 layers of wallpaper on it and of all the walls in this whole apartment this one was the hardest. As you can see a little bit of the floor is covered with wallpaper bits. I have a 3 step process for removing wallpaper.
Step 1: Scrap the wallpaper off with a wide blade scraper.
Step 2: Dampen the the remaining wallpaper and scrap off with a razor blade scraper, it removes it quite nicely from plaster and sheet rock walls.
Step 3: Wipe the wall down to remove the glue and dirt from the walls.
Yes it was 3 step process and it took a lot of time but once you get it down it goes but pretty quick. Plus I listen to Insight for Living by Chuck Swindoll while I work which helps pass the time quickly.
Please do not mind the big screen tv, the computer guy downstairs set it up for his kids to watch tv in the living room before I tore it apart and he hadn’t had a change to remove yet when I took these pictures.
Aren’t those corner cabinets fabulous?
Sheet rock is the gray walls.
I had to prime the walls twice with a flat white then I put a Satin Egg Shell Paint as the colors, since this will be my photo studio I wanted to keep it white for great light.
Once the walls were pained I pulled the carpet up off the floor and the beautiful hardwood floor underneath were revealed. The above pictures were taken right after I pulled the carpet and padding up, the carpet tacks were still down and I hadn’t swept or washed the baseboards yet.
The un-glamours side of renovating is the pile of carpet sitting in part of the hallway awaiting it’s day to be hauled away.
Once the carpet and padding was rolled up and out of the way I had to deal with staples in the floor where they stapled the padding down in different sections. It took me over an hour to pull all of the staples out after I pulled the carpet tacks up and out of the way.
Floors have been swept and all the wood work has been washed down makes a huge difference in this room.
I finally mopped this room on Monday the 1st and didn’t get any pictures from that. Once the carpet is removed from the hallway I will be moving my clothing racks into the living room and start taking my inventory up there. I am pretty excited about that and can’t wait to do so in the next couple of weeks…hopefully before Christmas.
The pine trees, the Christmas carols, the snow and cold. Yep, it’s that time of the year. Christmas! Or the holiday
season if you started on November 1st (or October in some cases…). I am a holiday person. I love preparing
food and candies for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Since getting married, it’s been a joyous ride for
Big C and I to create our own traditions, and now incorporating Little C into them.
Some of my favorite memories are those of spending time with family and friends. Hosting or participating in
candy making parties. Ugly Sweater Contests, Stingy Santa, Office parites, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, and
decorating the tree. I love all of it, and love creating those memories with the family I have made.
Starting on Black Friday Big C and I break out the Christmas tree to put up and decorate. Then comes my favorite part….
CANDY MAKING!!!
Over the next six weeks, I will make enough candy to build a bridge to the Mississippi River. But, I love it! I
love coming up with new recipes, putting my own twists on old favorites, and honoring the legacy that my great-grandmother passed onto us.
My list this year includes:
Truffles
Fudge
Cookies
Pie
Hard Candy/Tack
Potato Candy
After all the baking and cooking, I still want to incorporate Little C. This is where crafts come in. As much as
we are able to do with a semi-cooperating 13 month old. I am a crafty type person, and enjoy giving, and
receiving handmade gifts. I feel that it shows you care about the reciever. Our goal is year involves paint, and A
LOT of it. Little C still doesn’t like to cooperate, so we do the best that can in that situation. I want my son to
look back as he’s growing up and see that the ornaments on the Christmas tree are the ones that him and his
siblings made.
As Christmas gets closer, so do other activities.My favorite is the reading of The Birth of Christ. It reaffirms
that Christmas isn’t about who got the biggest gift, or had the prettiest paper, or best decorations. It’s about
loving and caring so much that you can give anything, and Christmas represents the best gift anyone can ever
receive.
How do you and yours celebrate the holidays?
XO
–Mama C
*thank you to Kristen at Kris’s Vintage Clothing for allowing me to guest blog!
Over the month of December I have asked several of my blogging friends to contribute a post about Christmas. Today I have the honor of introducing Ivy of Angsana Seeds Photography. ~Kristen
As I am writing this, it is less than a month to Christmas. I’ve yet to pick up the gifts, decorate the tree (ok… we don’t do tree, but I do have a mini table-top predecorated tree), baked the cookies etc…. As far as I can remember, the only time we have a big Christmas tree was probably more than ten years ago. One year, my best friend and I decided to do something special for Christmas, so we got some colored straws and proceeded to string them up to look like a tree. She did most of the work, while I was the one messing it up for her. And I remembered my mum baked Christmas cookies and Brandy cake. This year, I decide to bake a Christmas cake using my mum’s recipe. Well, the cake is done, I’m feeding it weekly with Brandy, hopefully it will taste as good as mum’s. Speaking of Christmas, here are some gift ideas to help you pick out your gifts:
Personal Aromatherapy consultation from Kindred Earth Botanicals
Hand-drawn equestrian art and Christmas cards from North Highlands Art
Fine art photography prints from my store AngsanaSeeds Photography
Shoulder bag from My Little French Shop
Gorgeous handmade jewelry from Naked Planet Jewelry
Embroidered handmade whale from Anthem & Object
And to finish up your gift wrapping with wide collection of ribbons from Cottage Crafts Online.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
XX Ivy
Kris's Vintage Clothing 