I Also Have A Santa Sister!

Hi Everyone!  I think that this is definitely the longest that I have been away from the blog since we started our adventure.  As I mentioned before, once Christmas is over, I am done.  I spent the whole day and a half after taking down and carefully packaging away all of my beautiful vintage Christmas goodies. Normally I could get all of this done in one day but as you all know, I acquired quite a bit of new stuff this year.  Plus, I had a little bit of a distraction but more on that later.

As Sister mentioned before, I tend to spoil her a lot during the holidays.  This is really the only time of year that our 10 year age difference is apparent to me.  I tend to go a little overboard as if she were one of my kids.  You will definitely hear no complaints from her!  When it came time to open gifts this year, I actually felt a little guilty as to all of the things that I had bought for her but then I remembered that 90% of it was either thrifted or things from around my own house that she had been admiring (orange Fire King vase).  I only bought her 3 brand new things! 

I love my Sister dearly but that love multiplied by about a gazillion when I opened the gifts that she had so carefully selected for me.

Ready?

This pink tin is actually a set of four but I was in a hurry to get the photos taken before the clouds snuck it and I lost all of my natural light.  Some of you may remember that when I visited Sister over Memorial Day weekend, the matching tray to this set somehow ended up coming home with me.  How strange:-)

As you all know, I mostly collect pink & turquoise Pyrex.  This Garland casserole dish with lid was one that I have only ever seen online.  It's perfect for my collection!

In the past, the Pink Scroll Space Saver has been somewhat elusive for me.  I have never seen it in person and have almost bought it online several times but just couldn't fathom the shipping prices.  Evidently my Best Sister In The World didn't care about paying those prices!  The Pink Scroll is no longer elusive!

I know that all of my fellow Pyrex maniacs didn't miss this beauty in the background photo of the Pink Scroll. Can you believe that my amazing Sisterita managed to find me a Pink Butterprint piece?  We all know how hard these are to come by and how super expensive they can be.  This is definitely going to be a strictly display piece.  I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!  Thanks, Sister!!

The last Saturday before Christmas, Brian took off with Alex & Maddie along with Alex's best friend and girlfriend to find me some Christmas gifts.  Smart people that they are, they headed to Glory Days Antiques and bought me this

Yay!  I finally have a grease jar to match my Fire King Red Dot mixing bowls.

I also got a Santa in a sleigh with reindeer blow mold and the matching pitcher to those little elf mugs that I have been picking up lately.  Those got packed away before I could take any pictures so you will all have to wait until next year!

Now, I was perfectly happy with these thoughtful gifts from my family.  But they weren't.  They know how hard I work to make their Christmas memorable so they felt like they needed to get me just one more thing.

Everybody, meet Bullet.  He is a 6 week old German Shepherd and the newest member of our family. 

I would have probably named him Pyrex if I had the chance but Alex actually named him two years ago after we got our last German Shepherd, Brewski.  All of our dogs have B names so what could I do?

Pretty dang cute, don't you think?

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  Also, have a safe & happy New Year! 

I'm linking up over at Sir Thrift-A-Lot's, Pink Saturday, Apron Thrift Girl, & The Nifty Thrifty.  I'm also going to head over to the Pyrex Collective 2.  It has been FOREVER since I have posted over there.

Until next time...

Erica

Santa Sister Came to Town

Don't worry, Sister and I are fine and all is well.  We just had some major recovering to do from the holidays.  I'm finally home in rainy Astoria, missing my Sister so much.  I spent the entire day yesterday cleaning, unpacking, and making room for my prizes from Sister Santa.  I have to brag, because I have the best gift giving Sister.  She is always picking me up presents and Christmas is always extravagant.  I'm spoiled, period.  This year was no exception.  I received my usual new pair of boots and handbag, but you don't want to see that (although they are beautiful!)  You are here for the vintage treats, so here we go!

I will share my most favorite gift first, and yes I know it isn't vintage, but it helps me play my vintage things!  I pick up records whenever I can, but I didn't have a functioning record player until now!  Maddie, Sister, and I had a great time playing X-mas albums while I was down and it's great because it's portable, so I can bring it for each visit.  It was the first thing I unpacked when I finally got home and it was used all day yesterday while cleaning.  I absolutely love it.  And it is orange!  Now for some Pyrex goodness.

My first space saver, and it's Rooster Black, can you believe it?  I can't decide what color I'm going to spray paint the holder, any ideas?

A complete set of Pyrex bread pans thanks to the edition of the blue beauty!  If you look closely, you will see I'm cheating and the pink and yellow are actually desert dawn, but you wont tell anyone, right?

 I'm one away from having the complete set of yellow gooseberry, I just need the 442.  Until then, my new yellow 444 is gonna hang out with one of his partners and some butterprint.

And another completed set!  I now have my first full set of refrigerator dishes!  I actually really love Early American when it's brown and white, the gold, not so much.  Sister also thought this little, lone owl shaker needed to join my household.

 Sister also gave me the orange Fireking vase because it is my color.  Pretty pretty!

Last but not least, these sweet little Amanita muscaria mushrooms (oh no, my nature geekiness is coming out) that are Swedish stamped to join my window menagerie.  

Did I mention that I have the BEST Sister ever?  I will save Matt's vintage gifts from Sister for another day.  I can't wait until Sister shares here X-mas gifts!

I'm linking up over at the Thrifty Groove!

Until next time!

Sister Hanna

The Last Of It (For Now)

I have a little bit of downtime before everybody else gets up and the happy chaos begins.  It's the perfect time to sit in front of the fire with a cup of coffee and show you all the last of my vintage holiday finds.  And just to clarify......I did not actually build a fire.  I simply pointed the remote control at the gas insert in my bedroom.  Instant ambiance!  Don't you love technology?

I found all of this ribbon at SVDP.  At this particular store, there is tons of Christmas decor and the shelves are packed. There are lots of random boxes in the middle of the aisle that have no rhyme or reason. Needless to say, I had to do a lot of digging to find these.  I plan on using them for crafting bases a la Magpie Ethel.

More digging presented me with some Shiny Brites as well as a piece of glass stuck in my hand.  Oh the sacrifices we make for vintage Christmas!

More Santas from the SVDP closest to my house.  The little boot is my first with a tiny mouse on the toe. Pretty cute!

I have a few of these honeycomb bells but I didn't use them this year in any of my displays.  Next year I think I will hang them in the doorway to my office.  Look at how cute the graphics are on the Santa coasters. What should I do with them?

I really like how the SVDP keeps a separate display of all of their Christmas books.  At Goodwill you have to hunt through all of the regular books and who has time for that? 

I bought this box of ornaments at Goodwill simply for display.  I am not a big fan of the actual ornaments even if they are unbreakable.

I searched high and low throughout Goodwill for the mate to this little Japan marked NOEL girl.  No luck but I still couldn't leave her behind.  The Santa is a music box that plays Here Comes Santa Clause.  The little package of trinkets is for something, I just don't know what yet.

I suppose since I have found two more of the elf boot mugs, I should head to Glory Days and buy the matching pitcher.  Maybe I will put a little bug in Miss Maddie's ear and she will con her dad into heading down there and buying it for me for Christmas.  And just when I thought I was done finding Santa boots, I found another tiny one at SVDP.

Speaking of Glory Days, how cute is this little aluminum tabletop tree that I found the last time I was there?  I let Maddie decorate it with the ornaments that she got from her Christmas party. 

Once again, my Best Sister in the World came through and brought me these prizes from a Goodwill that she stopped at on her way down to see me.  The snowman is about 6" tall.  The tiny boot is the first one for my collection with a buckle on the front.  She also picked up the cookie cutter for Miss Maddie.  I was really cranky all day yesterday but this made me feel so much better!  Thanks, Sister!

Uh oh, I hear a creature stirring.  Could it be Santa?  Oh no, it's just Sister. Gotta go everybody.  She always requires my undivided attention. 

 

Oh, and one more thing!  We have reached 100 wonderful followers.  After the chaos of the holidays, Sister and I will be putting together a giveaway.  Be sure and watch for it!

 

I am heading over to How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.  See you there!

Lots To Do!

The next few days are going to be super busy for me (as I am sure they will be for all of you).  Sister gets here today, Alex has a chiropractic appointment this morning and a game tonight, and we are supposed to be baking some more tomorrow but someone (ahem, Sister) wants to do a little thrifting.  Now normally this wouldn't be an issue.  But on Sunday we are hosting our annual Christmas brunch for about 20+ people and I have a lot to do to get prepared!  I always get so distracted when my Sisterita is here!  Plus, I have to get caught up with all of my finds! 

 

 

I managed to grab this blow mold out of a cart that was being wheeled out of the back at Goodwill.  The worker didn't even stop as I grabbed it.  She must have thought I was a complete idiot!  I also picked up this Santa candle holder for Sister (it's a duplicate find for me this year).  The salt and pepper shakers are a little rough for wear but they are old dangit!  I can't pass up anything old and marked Japan.

 

 

I also found the matching candlestick holders for the Lefton Holly set I blogged about the other day.

 

 

 

 

I got a Ziploc bag filled with tiny little Christmas crafting things at SVDP.

 

 

I also picked up this amazing picture book

 

 

 

 

Check out those photos!

 

 

During our most recent trip to Glory Days, Maddie picked out these plastic Santa candy holders and these little Santa figurines for crafting.  They aren't old but sure are cute!

 

 

And of course she also picked out another blow mold and some more Putz houses.  Sadly, with the chaos of the season, we didn't get a chance to decorated them.  Oh well, there is always next year!

 

Can you believe that I still have more to show you? 

 

On a much more somber note, as you all know, today marks one week since the tragedy at Sandy Hook.  If you can, wear a little bit of green to honor the victims.

 

I'm linking up over at The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday.  See you there!

 

Happy Holidays, Friends!

 

Erica

 

 

It's Getting Closer!

I know that I just posted yesterday but I feel like I am running out of time before Christmas and I want to show you all of what I have been finding at the thrifts lately.  Our holiday chaos starts Friday when Sister gets here. Alex has a game that night and then we are baking all day Saturday.  On Sunday we are doing our annual holiday brunch which is how we like to celebrate the season with all of our friends.  Monday is Christmas Eve and we will be at my MIL's house and then you know what Tuesday is!  I am frantically trying to get caught up on all of my Christmas finds because once next Wednesday rolls around, I am DONE with Christmas!  My tree comes down and all of my precious holiday decorations are carefully packed away until next year.  I am definitely not one of those people who keeps their decorations up until after New Years.

 

 

I finally gave in and bought this Tom and Jerry eggnog set and Goodwill this morning.  There is a never ending supply of these at all of the antique malls around the holidays and I always pass them up.  I gave in because this set was only $3 and it's marked Hazel Atlas.  I can't ever walk away from Hazel!  I also found another Inarco Santa mug.  Next year I am going to have to move them somewhere else. The top of my Pyrex cabinet is running out of space for them!

 



 

I have no idea what in the world I am going to do with this Shiny Brite plastic wreath.  But I couldn't leave it behind.  The Lefton Holly sugar and creamer set was all marked separately but the checker at Goodwill gave it all to me for one price.  One of the Japan marked choir boys was marked $2.99 and one was marked 49 cents so she gave them both to me for a dollar. I sold a set of Fire King stackable mugs at our garage sale last Summer but I picked these up because of the holiday colors. 

 

 

I got this little elf shoe mug at Goodwill.  I saw the matching pitcher at an antique mall recently for waaaaaaaaaaay too much money.  Maybe after the holidays the prices will drop before the dealers pack away everything until next year.

 

 

Another blow mold! I got this one from the same Goodwill as the twins that I picked up for Sister and I last week. He is as tall as the Santa one that I showed you all in my holiday decorations post. He is about waist high on me.

 

 

I need to get some candles for all of the old candle holders I have been finding.  This Santa boot is the last one that I have found in a while.  I think I am done finding these for the rest of this season.

 

 

OK so I will admit that I don't remember where I picked these up at.  I even had to go and look at my decorations to see where I put them! I told you I had a problem!

 

 

 

I just got these two books in the mail today and I am chomping at the bit to read them! I may sneak them into Alex's game tonight and check them out during halftime.

 

So tomorrow is my first round of Christmas baking.  Hopefully I'm not too exhausted tomorrow evening to show you more thrifty holiday treasures!

 

Linking up over at A Very Cherry Christmas for Rednesday

 

Happy Holidays!

 

Erica



 

 

More & More

Remember a few weeks ago when Maddie & I headed up to Portland for the  Plucky Maidens Holiday Event?  Well, I just realized that while I showed you the fabulous Magpie Ethel Christmas creations that we picked out in my holiday decorations post, I didn't show you the rest of what we got that day. Time to get caught up!

 

 

Maddie was absolutely thrilled when she found this beautiful vintage jewelry box done up with some Magpie Ethel Magic.  It is so perfectly pink and glittery how could a little girl not love it?  Plus, the vintage ballerina images only add to the girliness.

 

 

How about some magnificent pink Shiny Brites and glitter bottle brush trees?  She had plenty of both along with the reflector flowers.  Maddie & I were like kids in a candy store.

 

 

See that mercury glass candy cane?  Yep, another Magpie Ethel creation.  We also found more Shiny Brites and this cute little knee hugger in some of the other booths.  This is the first knee hugger that we have found that is wearing white.

 

 

Being that this Plucky Maidens show was being held during the holidays, you can only imagine the abundance of holiday tablecloths.  The top one is a runner and the bottom one is so big that it can fit my giant farmhouse table.  I don't come across tablecloths that large very often.

 

 

 

Maddie & I each picked out an apron to wear during our holiday baking this year.  Now I just have to find one for Sister to wear when we bake this weekend!

 

The next day, we headed to the flea market to check out what kind of vintage holiday treats we could find.

 

 

Shiny Brites in the original boxes, Japan hugger salt & pepper shaker set, and an old spool of ribbon for crafting.  You knew I wouldn't be able to pass these things up, right?

 

 

There was an abundance of ornaments and I evidently thought I needed to buy them all!

 

 

I found a couple more Archie glasses for my collection and these super cute donkey shakers.  The Jadite mug is the first one that I have found.  I only paid $2 for it.  I love the flea market!

 

Like all of you, my heart is heavy with grief for what the people of Newtown, CT are dealing with.  In 1998, a 15-year old boy opened fire in the cafeteria of our local high school.  This is the school that my son Alex is now a Junior at. The shooter killed two innocent students.  This was after he had already killed his parents in their home.  I remember this tragedy like it was yesterday.  But our community came together and helped each other through the unthinkable pain, loss and anger that we all felt.  The residents of Newtown have a long road ahead but with the support and love from their community as well as all of us around the country and even the world, maybe it will make it just a little bit easier.

 

Until next time...

 

Erica

 

Linking up with:

 

Sir Thrift-A-Lot for Thriftasaurus Thrift Haul & A Living Space for The Nifty Thrifty