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!

REDNESDAY!

It's REDnesday over at It's A Very Cherry World! If you're new to my blog, and happen to love the color red, head over to Sue's, where this party happens every week!

I went antiquing last week, in search of some Christmas girl figurines to add to my collection. I didn't find a single one, but I did find this cute little red camera! After looking at this picture though, I think I'll take the flash off, because it's a wee bit humongous for such a small camera.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas around here! I think this is the earliest I've ever decorated, but I just couldn't contain myself a minute longer! I normally start the day after Thanksgiving, but what's a few days early?

This extremely large old toolbox sits by the back door, and when lit up, those lights flicker and it gives me such a feeling of contentment when I come home at night!
Well that's it for my reds this week. Be prepared to see lots of Christmas reds in the weeks to come!
HAPPY REDNESDAY!

Christmas Makeovers

I don't consider myself a crafter by any means, but I do like to make things for each holiday.
When I found this Lefton girl at the flea market a couple of weeks ago, she didn't exactly thrill me, but I got her anyway. You see, I had a plan for her.....

So I went to the local Goodwill and found this jewelry box ............

And both the girl and the box got a coat of pink paint and became a shadowbox!

This summer, my friend Nancy found this vintage NOMA thingie at a garage sale and bought it for me. When she gave it to me, all I could think was: "Why Nancy? Why would you buy this for me?!". Ok, I'll admit that it's vintage, and it's Christmas. Two of my favorite things! But that plastic box was kinda moldy inside. It sat on the porch for about a month, and I was so close to throwing it away.......

Until I cut away all of the moldy-ness, found an old frame in the attic, painted it red, and now I love it. It's so kitschy!

And the lights still work!

I can only imagine the ten different ways our kitten Cupcake is going to desecrate this thing! We've had her for three weeks now, and just yesterday she finally discovered that jumping on the parakeets' cage is fun, and so is pulling the toilet paper across the bathroom and absolutely shredding it. Sadly, I think alot of our Christmas decorations will remain unpacked this year, until she outgrows her kittenhood. Exactly how long does that take? Does anyone know????

REDNESDAY!

I'm so glad to be linking up with REDNESDAY once again, over at It's A Very Cherry World, where Sue is our red-lovin' hostess!

When Renee at My Vintage Mending showed this patriotic ornament that she had made, using vintage Christmas goodies, I knew I had to try and beg, borrow or steal it from her! Luckily, she so kindly offered to send it to me. Vintage patriotic Christmas decorations are hard to find, and very expensive, so I can't tell you how much I love this, and appreciate Renee's generosity and talent!

These vintage pixies came from an estate sale last week. It's so rare to find a set like this, so I was thrilled!

I can never pass up a vintage Christmas tablecloth......

And it's Kitty Tested, Kitty Approved!

After about 15 minutes of shots like this, with Cupcake batting around that ornament.......

I finally got a shot of this little Lefton girl. And it's made me realize that I definitely won't be able to decorate for Christmas the way I normally do. I'm pretty sure Cupcake is going to be a tree climber and an ornament-batter-arounder!
Thanks for looking at my reds this week, and please head over to Sue's to see lots more!