Lookie What I Found Under The Christmas Tree!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Me, I was sick on Christmas day, but I did have enough strength to open my presents!I love to decorate for Valentine's Day, and my collection just got a little bit bigger with the addition of this pair of Lefton Valentine girls!
These two will make a great addition to the patriotic decor. They're also vintage Lefton.
Another old radio for the Old Radio Collection! I think my objective is to have one in every color, because I've got one in just about every color!
I've never seen a blue picnic basket like this one. Another great addition to the.....well, I think you get the idea!

I am SO IN LOVE with this little picnic basket/lunch box. Look at those adorable children playing!
At this point, you must be thinking that Mr. Old Glory is pretty darn great, to find all of these amazing things for me.

Pssssst! I'll tell you a little secret. He IS pretty terrific, because he lets me buy whatever I want on Ebay or in antique shops, he doesn't ask me "Do you really need ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE?", he just wraps them up for me and puts them under the tree! And I do the same for him. After a gazillion years of marriage, we've finally figured out the easiest, stress-free way to do Christmas! Can't wait to go blog-hopping and see what everyone else got!

REDNESDAY-The Last Of The Christmas Reds...I Think!

Still decorating, even though Christmas is only a few days away! It's OK though, because most of the outside stuff stays up until about the middle of January.

Since I wasn't going to be doing my usual, over-the-top Christmas decorating this year, due to the new kitten, I decided to just decorate with some of the things that I've found throughout the year, which had been waiting in the holding area (picnic basket), ready to be packed up with all of the other decorations after Christmas.

I did find some nice things this year at estate sales.

And the flea market.

It was a pretty good year for kneehugger elves!

While I was out antiquing over the weekend, several booths had their Christmas stuff 50% off. So these NOEL candleholders came home with me.

And so did this sweet little birdie, along with the tiniest bottle brush trees I've ever seen!

Although I'm not Swedish, I thought this tablecloth was so charming, and it's small enough that it will fit nicely on the coffee table.

There was no way I was leaving this angel behind either!

Here is my teeny tiny patriotic Christmas collection. The only reason I have one at all is thanks to Deb , for sending me that amazing vintage card, and to Renee for that ornament she made, using vintage materials. Thanks gals!

Back outside, my cherry bucket holds a spectacularly realistic poinsettia!

And on a sled that I found curbside, are my daughter's skates from when she was a little girl. Funny story about those skates. I decided a few years ago that it would be fun to spraypaint the skates silver, and then sprinkle glitter on them. Those skates did not dry for three years! Honestly, last year was the first time that they weren't tacky to the touch!

If you would like to see more reds, please visit It's A Very Cherry World, where Sue hosts this party every week!
Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

I was determined to not do any Christmas decorating in the house this year, because our kitten's naughtiness seems to know no bounds. I certainly wasn't going to put out any of my figurines! And I was pretty sure that a tree was a really bad idea. Can you imagine how a decorated tree would be like a playground for a little kitty?!

But I couldn't resist the urge! So here's our silver tree, decorated with vintage ornaments. I KNOW! I'm just tempting her, aren't I? But it sure is lovely, and we've got it pretty well secured there between the green cabinet and the bookcase.

And just look at this gorgeous tree topper! How could I pack this thing of beauty away, when my Flickr friend Stacie was so nice to send it to me?!?

Lots of vintage blow molds, waaaaay up there on the green cabinet. Surely kitty can't jump up there!

Some Santa mugs on the kitchen windowsill. Not really the safest spot, because Cupcake tries to drink out of the faucet when it gets turned on!

The Santa cookie jar and a kneehugger elf should be out of reach of little furry claws up there.

More blow molds, and wacky tacky plastic flowers. All kitty-proof!

And last but not least, more vintage blow molds, safe and sound......OUTSIDE! They were only 99 cents each at Goodwill, and thank goodness the person standing directly in front of them didn't seem to be at all interested in them. Because I might have resembled one of those lizards with the really long tongue that darts out and grabs it's prey in a split second! So I tried, I really really tried to resist the urge to decorate. Hopefully by this time next year, Cupcake will be slower and fatter and a bit more mature, so I can spend weeks decorating and more weeks packing it all away again. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!

REDNESDAY-Christmas Reds!

Today for REDnesday, I'd like to share some reds from thrift stores/estate sales/antique stores. YES, I've been to them all, in search of some great vintage Christmas goodies! Alas, this year is proving to be a bad year for that sort of thing around here. But I persevere, and stop at every thrift store I happen to go past!

I found this Made In Japan planter, stuffed full of wacky tacky plastic greenery and such. I love it!

Three little reindeer, all with a bit of red on them. Only $2 at an antique store. Can you believe it?!

Old metal coasters and ashtrays, from the thrift store.

A Christmas card list box, and lots of vintage Christmas cards. Perfect!

A couple of wee angels, both found at an antique store, both very cheap. It always amazes me how the prices in antique stores really run the gamut. I saw another angel like the one on the right, in another booth, for ten times what I paid for mine!

Do you decorate your bathroom? I just love that little girl on the vase and bell, with her polka dot scarf! They're both Lefton, and I paid a little over $1 for both, at one of my favorite thrift stores. I don't always find something there, but the proceeds go to a shelter for battered women, and they put clothes on the backs of the less fortunate. I like that.

Mrs. Claus and her Christmas tree S&P shakers.

And the newest addition to my "Santa Light Up Nose Pin Collection"! Or at least I thought it was mine. Cupcake seems to have claimed it as hers. Honestly, I think we have adopted THE NAUGHTIEST KITTEN IN THE WORLD! She thinks everything, everything, is a toy. Truth be told, I haven't unpacked a single Christmas thing, and I think this might be it for my decorating this year.

An action shot of her playing with the pin. It's gotten so bad that if anyone wants to work on my laptop, we have to tag team her, because if we leave the computer open, she turns it on and does Google searches that would simply amaze you. She even pulled off the Backspace key, which took Mr. Old Glory half an hour to put back on. I don't remember our last kitten being so naughty!
If you would like to see more reds, and possible more naughty kittens, head over to It's A Very Cherry World, where Sue is our hostess!

REDNESDAY-Recycling By Thrifting!

According to the Urban Dictionary, a THRIFTER is: Someone who religiously shops at thrift stores, looking for bargains and often scores amazing deals. Often dedicated to recycling and reuse of products to keep our planet "greener". HEY, that's me! Whenever I go past the three thrift stores in our area, I always stop. You just never know what you're going to find, it keeps things out of the landfill, and all three do very good work with their proceeds!

Someone put alot of work into this Christmas quilt, and although it's by no means vintage, it's really cute, and it was only $3!

It looks great with all of the other quilts too, and so does the little kneehugger elf, also found at the thrift.

I've been trying to decide which Christmas tablecloth to go with on the dining room table. I've got alot to choose from, but I was lazy and only grabbed the first few from the pile. Truth be told, if I wasn't careful, the pile would topple over!

In the end I chose this one, and I'm pretty sure it's the same one I used last year. Which makes a pretty good case for not having so many tablecloths when all you're going to do is just use the same one every year. But remember, I'm a THRIFTER, and I'm trying to save the planet, one tablecloth at a time!

I LOVE IT! That tree almost looks Dr. Seuss-ish, doesn't it?

I also found some really cheap vinyl tablecloths at the thrift, which I needed because........

I had to make some presents for my bicycle basket! It's terribly windy today, so all of the leaves from the vacant house next door have landed in my yard. AGAIN!
So remember, if you want to do your part to recycle and keep the economy going, make thrift stores your first stop!
And if you would like to see more reds, and hopefully some thrifted ones, head over to It's A Very Cherry World, where Sue is our hostess every week!

Thanksgiving At Old Glory Cottage!

I'd like to wish one and all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's our decorations, which had to be packed away a couple of days later because a giant kitten thought batting around the turkeys was lots of fun!

We'll be going to my sister's for Thanksgiving dinner. She has the whole family over every year, and cooks everything herself and it's all so yummy!

Then I'll help her load up the dishwasher.........


and we'll all gather 'round the TV and cheer on The Green Bay Packers! Or at least my daughter and I will. Everyone else hates the Packers.

Then it's to bed nice and early, because.......

NO! I'm not joining the throng of shoppers at the malls and various stores for Black Friday.

I'm going to 2 estate sales! One advertises lots of mid-century stuff, and the other one opens at 7AM and claims to have tons of vintage glassware. The only problem is that both are in a town that has all of those malls and big stores, and most of my time will probably be spent in the car. But I hope to find some treasures!

And then it's time to trim the tree, the house, and every other bare surface! I can't wait to get started. To me, it's Red Friday!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!