It's a Retro Christmas

Don't fall over from shock, but this IS an actual Christmas post. I know it's a little early, but lately I've been doing some planning in my head for my "new" Retro Tree. (You may remember that I purchased a tree after Christmas last year that I'm now designating as my Retro Tree).

Today I found some items for the tree at a local thrift store. Not as many as I hoped for, but I do like them & think they'll fit with my theme. I'm also not sure that they are truly retro but that's okay too. My personal criteria to define retro is something that comes in a package that does NOT list a website. I figure the item must be at least 20 years old without a website on it somewhere!

Here are a couple bead strands I found...I'm not sure how well they will show up on the tree, but I thought it was neat, and the price was right!

These glass ball ornaments are just the right size - my tree isn't very big, so some of the larger balls are just too much for it. I think the colors will also go well with the painted ornaments my great-grandmother made (now those really ARE retro!)

The last item I got (and probably my favorite) was this brass candle holder. I think it is made for one of those huge pillar candles (which I don't have), but what I'll probably do is look around for some other way to use this, maybe with a vase or some other Christmas item I already have. Also its not really retro (and it definitely isn't for the tree), but I thought it was very cute, and with a little clean-up & brass polish it should look fantastic!

Total cost for all three things was $1.42!! I love paying "retro" prices for my Retro decorating! I hope to put the tree up this weekend to see how everything looks, and then I can work on it throughout the Christmas season. It will definitely be a work in progress :)

What Cheer!

Last weekend, I was so excited to make my second trip to the What Cheer Flea Market! I went a long time ago (my now Jr. High son was with me in a stroller! This time he was plugged into the iPod!) It's this huge flea market/craft/junk sale. And when I say "junk" I don't mean it in the new trendy sense of the word, I mean real JUNK. The sale is at the county fairgrounds, and I'm pretty sure everyone in a 50 mile radius just cleared out their basement, attic, etc. and hauled it over to the fairgrounds to sell to the city folk who don't know any better. We did see some cool stuff, but really a lot of crap. I was a little disappointed. We went home with two antique license plates (my son HAD to have them); two Coca-Cola trays for my mom; a "yard art" firefly made from a lightbulb & wire; and two ceramic Herkys which I will re-paint and add to my husband's and brother-in-law's already overgrown collections of Hawkeye stuff. Oh, and a jar of homemade salsa. I think the salsa was the best deal we got.

What Cheer!!

Pretty Pink Firefly

Two Soon-to-be-Herkys (Ignore the ugly red & yellow.  We are NOT in Cyclone country!)

Vintage Flower Stand With A Fall Twist

I have these things in my basement, not really sure what to call them - so I've named them "Flower Stands". They are a matching set that belonged to my grandma, and for the past 10 years, they've been in the back of my mind (and back of my basement!) I keep thinking I'll do something with them, but I had never figured out what until now. Here's what they look like:

I always thought I'd re-paint them, but after a closer look, I kind of like the rust.

My favorite part is the "vine" that runs up the middle.

I decided to use one of the stands for a vintage fall display. I started with some wide mouth mason jars and lined the insides with orange tissue paper and mod podge. I filled them with some rocks and put some fall floral goodies inside. The jars weren't quite wide enough to sit in the openings, which presented a problem. My solution was to wrap some twine around the openings in 3 places to make the spaces a little narrower. Then I stuck the jars in and they fit perfectly! 

Now I just need to find a home for the stand where someone isn't tempted to eat everything!