Shabbyfufu's Giveaway!!!!

IS anyone else like me caught up in the post-Christmas let down, well it cheered me up greatly to check out Shabbyfufu's lovely little place in blogland and if that recommendation is not enough, she is also having a nifty giveaway you might be interested in. Head on over there and enjoy the loveliness!

It's not too late to find Nifty stuff

Well I found some goodies this weekend. Darling Mr. Nifty took me shopping for last minute Xmas gifts and well I ended up shopping for me, A LOT. He took me to Jacksonville and as I won't drive that far unless I really really have to, I was thrilled to get out of the confines of my 3 miserable lil thrift stores. I hit the flea market, 3 or 4 garage sales and 3 different thrift stores.

Here is just a small part of my haul...(oh and sorry for the pics, I am just getting home too late from work to take a decent picture.)

At a garage sale I found this pretty lil pair for 25 cents each. Their faces and other details have a shiny glaze but the rest of them is semi gloss. They are a beautiful emerald green. I love them! They remind me of my dear and very missed mother whose birth stone was emerald. (plus I got all the trees on the cake stand for between 10-50 cents each. Some are vintage some are newer. the cake stand was a whopping $3.00 and my most expensive buy this weekend!)



I got this tray for 25 cents and thought it was soooo perty. I am still not quite sure where I want to put it, maybe next year I will find a decent place for it. It seems to get lost in all the Christmas clutter :)



Oh the ceramic tree was 50 cents, no chips and almost all the bulbs were there. I took the loose ones off, and put em in a bag for safe keeping for now. It had no light fixture. I want a white one now :)



The empty Shiny Brite box came out to 50 cents. (the cellophane is a lil ripped at the bottom) and I filled it with ornaments that needed safekeeping and display place all at once. :) I have yet to find a Shiny Brite but I am pleased with the other vintage Christmas ornies I have found. No complains.

"Mr Christmas" Glass Ornaments in the box were 25 cents and green Made in Japan ceramic sleigh for 50 cents were both from the Humane Society Thrift Store (all Xmas stuff was 50 percent off)
Stenciled atomic symbol ornament 10 cents at the flea. (dome in the front)
Made in Poland indent (the pink and purple one under the dome in the back) was 10 cents at a thrift.
Pack of vintage gift tags that is unopened was 25 cents at the antique mall. (Mr. Nifty won't let me open it, ugh) I can't see the other designs in there otherwise. :(

I might not have a feather tree or a lovely aluminum one, but I did find this at my last stop of the weekend...



It's pretty eh? I paid one dollar for it. It just need a lil fluffing (and a lil glue)It's plastic of some sort with glass or plastic pieces all over and glitter in there too. Hard to explain. But it sparkles and will look so pretty with more sparkly stuff next year. I need to glue her a lil stronger before I can hang ornies on her. She is glorious all on her own. Oh and the lil doohickies next to her base I found at the flea for a buck. Mr. Nifty said they're tacky, but I don't think he really meant it. :)

Rescuing two Christmas pretties.

Wanted to show you my two favorite rescues this holiday season. I freed them from the dark dingy clutches of my local Habitat store.

First are these "Christmas Package Decorations" that I am assuming are meant to be the three kings. I found these about a week ago. I believe they have spun cotton heads but am new to this, so I could be wrong. I paid a whopping 10 cents for em, which is quite a markdown from their original 38 cent price AND look at the great Santa graphics on the packaging! Beautiful!
Fantastc lil find eh?



Then I noticed it...my lil kings seemed to have an ummmm upside down smile...and by upside down smiles I mean they look more than a little hostile.

Have a look. I'll wait for ya.



need a closer look?


Maybe they resent the fact that they were stuck in that packaging for all these years, never to adorn a christmas package as they were intended. I've explained to them that now they will reside in a place of honor in my living room, where their lil faces will hopefully bring a chuckle to those that look close enough. I think deep down they are happy...
really deep down.

Afterall, what's Christmas without a little "Bah Humbug?"

My second favorite rescue is this bunch of tiny vintage glass ornaments on pipe cleaner. They are small, don't let the picture fool you. I know this is not the proper name for them, I just can't recall what they are called...anyone care to refresh me? Anyhow...I almost stepped on one at the habitat store, ugh. I started looking in the vicinity and saw an ugly basket with some hideous newish christmas stuff and spotted some sparkle, started pulling out the ugly new stuff and found several more at the bottom. Thankfully it was a small wastebasket and I pulled out all of these. I didn't see anymore on the floor and was pretty pleased with my lil treasure. Another whopping 10 cents. :)



Funny thing is, I wen't back today and scored a few more pretty things, and low and behold spotted another one of these tiny pretties on the floor in another part of the store. I wonder how many more are lurking in the back.

My travels through blogland and a few giveaways I entered.

It's been a lovely Friday. Went to a local senior home where my son's boyscout troup was going to sing carols and hand out presents. It was lovely and ofcourse more than a bit sad. I wanted to take every vintage lady and gent home with me.

Then I came home and read some blogs, found a few news ones to inspire me and entered a few giveaways. (Join the fun when you have a minute)

If you've been searching for that perfect crown, not a big clumsy one (I hate big clumsy crowns don't you? ), but a delicate snowflake of a crown, one fit for even the daintiest snow pixies...then you absolutely must meander over to Lulu's blog and take a peek at the sweetest lil crown.

After enjoying the crown and thinking of all the lovely places in my home it might look pretty, I was I was on to the French Charming blog by: Karyn. This place is very very ooh la la. She posted several giveaways. I loved this blog, even if I did fail French in High School. :)

The Sweet "N" Crafty blog by Carlyann was full of fabulous paper craftiness. She is having a great giveaway. Find her wonderful blog and enjoy the prettiness here.

Then I was off to a Charming Home for a pink Christmas giveaway. I have NOTHING in pink Someday the thrifting Gods will take pity on me, well if I don't win that is :)

Now I am off to find some of today's thrift haul pics to post :)

Tommy Lee Jones Santa

I was looking at my pictures of Christmas stuff, wondering who you might like to meet when it dawned on me that you would certainly want to meet another one of my recent acquisitions. He is a tiny little flocked Santa pick whose main claim to fame here is the fact that I've decided he bears a resemblance to Tommy Lee Jones.

I think he is a little flattered at my comparison and though Santa is ofcourse a humble soul, I like to think he is tickled at the notion. What do you think?

It's the hap-hapiest season of all!

I guess I'll start this blog's first post with my reason for entering blogland. I have some deep issues where Christmas is concerned. Well my husband thinks they're deep issues. Frankly, I admit to loving virtually everything about this most wonderful time of the year. I love everything Christmas represents and am often slightly aghast when others are not enthusiastic about such a magical time.

I feel most alive in December. I remember to enjoy every day a little more, to hug my kids a little tighter, to appreciate the fact that hubby is willing to climb on the roof just to give me the lights that I cannot imagine not having up. (How else will Santa find the house?!)

"Its the most wonderful time of the year....It's the hap-happiest season of all!"

One of my other great loves is bargain hunting by way of thrifting, garage sales, curb crawling, etc. I've had some good luck finding some gems this year. I love thrifted Christmas stuff! A little chip here and there rarely phases me, especially not where Christmas things are concerned. I like the vintage pieces not because of their value (trust my collection is worth pretty much what I paid for it), but because I can only imagine how many Christmas mornings these pieces have been a part of. A little ding is just a testament to everyday life. Along with their nicks, chips, dings and scratches they bring a wonderful sense of history. Anyhow...let me introduce you to a couple of my thrifted treasures...



My first buys of the season. These little guys are 13" mini blow molds made in 1968. As they are labeled for indoor use only, I found them a lil corner of my living room where they oversee all the other Christmas thrifty friends that are gathered nearby. They make me smile just looking at them...and the $1.00 price made me smile too :)



This sweet singing angel bell is sweet as sugar cane. My daughter likes her because she has fancy gold wings. My son likes her because she's a bell and he really digs bells. I like her cause she's pretty and she was only 50 cents :)