Countdown to Christmas?!

Last week BJ and I were on our thriftcation. It was really awesome timing because it started on Halloween (which was seriously the most boring one I've ever had minus Grimm) and included the opening of the Merry Thriftmas shop at our fave thrift store here in the Twin Cities. We traveled down to visit my mom for her birthday, which also happens to be my baby Annabelle's birthday. I can't believe she's 3! Look at her, she used to be a sweet little baby. Now she's a hairy beast! She's kicked her inappropriate eliminating for a little over a month now :D

Anyway, here's a little snapshot of the treasures I uncovered over our week off.

We started the week off by going to an estate sale on Halloween morning and it was freezing! Winter came early here... :/ I got a ton of vintage glass ornaments (which we'll come to later,) a jadeite mixer, a BP 444 that has seen some better days, and a super cute old engraved mirror. I found an old rooster hot plate at an occasional sale on the Minnehaha Mile (as well as a Frost Garland Pyrex that I really hope finds its way to me for Christmas.) November 2 was the grand opening of the Merry Thriftmas shop at Arc's and we were a little late for being early so we weren't the first in line, but not in a bad position either. The thing is that those people are ruthless!

I missed out on most of the vintage stuff. I have no idea how a couple of people got it all so fast because it was packed. I couldn't even get in the aisles so what I found in the top left of the collage was miraculous! I picked up a Tom and Jerry egg nog bowl that came with 7 DWD cups, but the bowl is perfect. I also found two gorgeous table cloths to cover Annabelle's tables (she's spoiled :P,) a couple of cute ornaments, scary Santa shakers, that cereal treat Santa (that's just what I always think of it as anyway, haha,) and a darling little deer. I spotted the plush Santa hiding on a bottom shelf and paid more than I wanted for him, but I just didn't want him going home with a creep. I picked up all the other Santa things on separate trips- it's really hit or miss after the first day.

The highlight of the week was the trip down to SW MN. I hit up my honey hole and it did not disappoint! Last time I found a full set of BP fridgies, this time I found a full set of turquoise!!! (I'm only two 501's away from completing my Gooseberry set ;) ;) We went with my mom and sister and tried to visit all my favorite spots, but my original favorite thrift down there is out of business and the other place in Lake Benton was supposed to be open and wasn't. That isn't a short trip either, so we were disappointed. I bought a vintage turquoise dust pan with long handle from the third store just to make it feel worthwhile. Luckily I started the day with a bang so I wasn't too let down. In addition to the fridgies, I found the dancing Santa, long necked deer, kitty, and small Fire King bowl (.75!) We went to the other thrifty antique store and I found a Gooseberry and a really cool mirrored shelf that I don't have pictured. 

The little deer planter, Bakelite bracelets, and blue Pyrex are from another occasional in Minneapolis. I left a 443 Pink Gooseberry behind because it was too high of a retail price with a smooth chip on the handle :( I believe the blue bowl is the bottom on the Spirograph, so if anyone has the lid...

I also found the vintage version of the Cosco chair my mom gave me!!! It's lighter and so much more awesome. The cats still prefer the new one. I had one of the old ones as a child and it was my favorite chair. One day it disappeared on one of my sisters garage sales and I've been pining after it ever since.

After all of that excitement, I obviously needed to take a break. I was super duper excited to get to work on my ornament wreath that I've been biting at the bit to start since my bulk ornament scores last month.

I made this over the course of two days and boy did my fingers hurt! The picture definitely doesn't do it justice- I have such terrible lighting in the living room. I tried to hang it and about 5 or so of the balls fell off and broke. Luckily none of the really special ones, just plain colored. Remember my new dust pan? I was happy to have it! 

If you'd like to make your own, I used an 18" straw wreath form (you'll want to wear gloves) and wrapped 3 strands of silver tinsel garland around it. I put some wire around for a hook, but mine is a little too small which made it extra difficult to hang without sweating bullets, so be generous with it. I made my own U Hooks out of 22 gauge wire to attach kind of like a staple into the wreath. I didn't want to ruin any of the ornaments by gluing them. The ornaments kept popping off their cap hooks, which wasn't a problem, just an annoyance, while I was placing them on the wreath form. It did become a problem when I went to hang the wreath, though. What I did to remedy the problem was putting a little poster putty around the rim of the ball, then pressing the cap into it. I would have done this from the start, but I didn't realize it was a problem until I was almost done. You could use glue to attach the balls and/or their caps if you'd like, but I just have an aversion to possibly ruining something with so much life.

As usual, I got sick after visiting my mom's house. There is a definite mold problem and I'm sensitive to most airborne allergens, bleh. I've been out of commission trying to get better, but I hate just doing nothing. I held out as long as a could, but with the first snow and the arctic temperatures, I just had to get my holiday hutch in order. I love staring at it in all its twinkling glory! BJ has agreed to setting up the tree this weekend so the kitties have time to get used to it before it gets decorated on Black Friday. This worked fairly well last year and I'm trying to be extra sensitive to Annabelle's sensitivities with change. It's for the cats, you believe me right?! I swear this is all the decorating I will do before Thanksgiving, I have to save a little bit for tradition.

Today I played around with Shrinky Dinks for the first time ever. I wanted to make some Pyrex ornaments with the designs that I painstakingly made to get more milage out of the time spent on it. I'm still working out the kinks on how long and how to make them flat, but I'm happy with the last two that I made. I turned the multi-stacks one into a pin and the rest are ornaments. If anyone is interested in purchasing these, let me know and I can add them to my shop! I've also got some cute mushroom ornaments that I'll be adding soon that I make out of vintage tree candle holders.

I've got some fun things coming in the mail that I'm excited to share, so stay tuned! :)