Pages

Friday, December 2, 2011

A Very Vintage Christmas

A few months ago we bought a lovely little house.  The house was built in 1951, had the same owners since around 1960, and not been updated since about 1975.  The previous owners lived here until they died, Dorothy in 2005 and Paul in 2009 (Amazing what you can learn from Google).  Paul was quite the fix-it guy, and Dorothy added many lovely touches as well, so there are new surprises around every corner (two nights ago I dreamed I found a new closet with a full-sized refrigerator/freezer in it).
The attic, in particular, is full of excitement.  (We told Paul and Dorothy's son that there was still stuff up there, and he said we could keep it.)  I knew there were some Christmas decorations up there, so for Family Night I asked Andrew to bring down their Christmas stuff with our box.
He brought down 20 boxes.  Nineteen of which were not ours.  It was getting late, so we opened one or two boxes, looked cautiously inside and went to bed.
The next day, I went through most of the boxes, sorting them into, "Maybe keep," "Donate," and "Trash."  After I had gone through everything, I called up my wise friend Camilla I knew could give me honest feedback, and also knew the difference between "vintage," and "ugly."
In the end, I took a whole carload of tinsel, plastic santas and homemade decorations to the thrift store, and I am happy to have a home more festive than ever before.  Some of the decorations are on trial.  We'll see if I feel like boxing them up for next year after I spend a month looking at them.  Here are a few of my finds.  Sorry for the photography.
There were two artificial trees in the attic, and I thought they looked pretty good!
There were enough of these beautiful glass balls to fill two big trees.
We got about seven of these little friends.  They don't stay on the tree very long,
I find them all over the place.  They must be very mischievous.
One of the best finds was a village worth of these little cottages.
The baby Jesus is one of the few evidences of their Christian faith,
and the only thing left over from a nativity set.
The sleigh is a music box, but I think I may have broken it already.
There was a whole box of these miniatures.
They don't seem to fit anything else, but I'm sure we'll find a use for them.
And now back to my current home project!

15 comments:

  1. I haven't even seen the miniatures! Those are awesome. And you missed the giant plastic candles for outside. Way to make it beautiful, beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love love love love love Christmas decorations!!! We used to have a lot of those random little people, as in the second to last photo. My mom had a tray that was decorated like a pond with snow and tiny trees and reindeer all over it. Some of the people were ice skating, and others were caroling. They don't really make Christmas lights or decorations the way they used to. *sigh* longing for yesteryear -- although, it is nice to have a husband and child now :) Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the things you chose to keep: evocative of another time and place, a kind tribute to Paul and Dorothy and a bygone wonderland. Thanks for sharing. The photos are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love those tree ornaments, you luckies! Better add a photo of the giant plastic candles, Ariel. ;)

    What a fun discovery to make. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This was a delight. I loved sharing your Christmas, even with you so far away. I love you all; and have missed you this Christmas season, but I think happily of you there in your sweet little home on Forest Glen Road.

    ReplyDelete
  6. If you wish to complete the activation process in the Roku device that you use, then the best place to visit is Roku.com/link. The Roku technical support team based here always lend a helping hand. For the entertainment you have vouched, you must choose the best Roku device. For viewers who wish to have a more enthralling experience, they must try Roku for sure
    My blog:
    Roku.com/link
    www.Roku.com/link
    Roku.com/link create account
    Roku.com/link activate account
    Roku.com/link account
    Roku.com/link activate
    Roku.com/link activation
    Roku.com/link setup
    Roku.com/link code
    Roku com link
    Roku com link create account
    Roku com link activate account
    Roku com link create
    Roku com link activate
    Roku com link activation
    Roku com link code
    Roku com link setup
    Roku com link enter code

    ReplyDelete
  7. We are going to discuss the procedure to install psvue activate Roku. As we know, PlayStation Vue activate Roku is a kind of subscription-based service that streams stuff such as live TV, movies, and sports to your Roku. You can select channels such as AMC, Animal Planet, BET, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Family, Disney Channels.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If you want advanced knowledge on HP Power Assistant, It is a power management driver application for HP machines that allows an individual to change the operating system.The application will help you in identifying the actual battery drainage depending upon the length of your computer resides in a particular mode.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Garmin Express is a free application. In order to do a Garmin Express with the Garmin Express download web page, click on the download for windows and then run gamin.exe file. Garmin Express offers features like updating maps and software, registering your drive etc.

    ReplyDelete