Oodles and oodles

Easiest Christmas project ever

While my mom and I were out shopping a few years ago, the song "Silver Bells" began to play. "That was your grandma's favorite Christmas song," she said. Although I thought I knew everything about my grandmother - in many respects, I think I am my grandmother - I didn't know her favorite Christmas song. Every time I hear it now, I instantly think of her. I am right back in her perfect 1950s bungalow, with its pink kitchen and candy-cane striped Holt Howard figures, a stack of Christmas albums ready to play on the hi-fi. 

So here's the easiest Christmas project ever: Ask your loved ones what their favorite Christmas song is. That's it. And when you hear it, you'll think of them.

My husband's favorite is "Sleigh Ride." My mom's is "White Christmas." My dad probably would have picked "White Christmas" too, but he heard my mom pick it, so he went with "Silent Night."

Then there's my grandfather's favorite Christmas song. Which I can't imagine you've ever heard, unless you're a fan of the incomparable Yogi Yorgesson. Without further ado, here is Grandpa's favorite Christmas song: "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas":

 

If I had to pick a favorite, I think I might go with a traditional, non-synthesized version of "Carol of the Bells." How about you?

 

 

Eye exam

There are two ways to make sure your eyes are working properly.

One is to go to an eye doctor and read that chart with all of the letters.

The other is to go to a fairly large thrift store with aisles so narrow and crowded that they are fairly impassable. From your spot midway through the menswear, look at the far wall where the linens are located and try to see if there is anything worth a closer look.

If you see this tablecloth, your vision is fine, and you should proceed first to the linens, then to the checkout.

Once home, review the results of previous eye exams.

Conclude that your peepers are working fine, and continue with household duties such as washing the vintage Christmas tablecloth collection, even though supposedly higher priority items have not yet been laundered.

 Iron, fold and stack. Remember: Eye exams are important to your overall health. Make sure to get at least one every year. During the Christmas season, weekly exams may be advisable.

Thrift store visits

The thrift stores were much improved this week, a development I can attribute only to Amy's sternly worded memo. It's good to have friends with authority.

Multiple visits to multiple stores yielded ornaments, cards, a wreath and other whatnots. (And that tree, which I play with far more than I should.)

Already feeling thrifter's remorse over the wreath. I was able to look past the gold and the plastic to all that flocking and its original box. But it's pretty big. And I have no place to put it. And not as much motivation as I thought to redecorate it. Let's move on to more successful purchases.

This little collection of ornaments was approved by the thrift store manager, who as I picked them up said "Aren't those graphics wonderful?" I have had many such discussions with the manager, who is a real sweetheart and, sadly, pretty knowledgable about vintage. As I was checking out, the store clerk took a closer look at the ornaments in back, with their handpainted designs, and said, "These are from Poland, you know." So we had a nice discussion about the origins of various Christmas ornaments. I am probably the only person in America who shops at a thrift store staffed by people with a reasonable degree of knowledge about vintage Christmas decorations. It's nice, but it doesn't necessarily work to my benefit.

There is no shortage of Christmas cards in this house, but I could not resist these.

This decoration is fairly unattractive, but it was a quarter, so I bought it for one of the ornaments (the little red glass ball in the middle, which is already on my tree). Once I got the ornaments off the frame, though, I thought it had some possibilities. I'll let you know how that goes.

I am a real purist when it comes to original packaging and not messing with objects that are perfectly good the way they are. However, I draw the line on the cellophane packaging on latter-day Gurley candles. You're free to disagree, of course.

However, I think Santa agrees with me.

It's Saturday morning, and some other stores are calling my name. Have a lovely weekend, all! 

The best vintage bottle brush tree ever

When I found this bottle brush tree at the thrift store, I thought it was OK. It wasn't like I was going to leave it behind.

It had the requisite flocking and mercury glass beads.

It had a frosty little Santa on top, which was kind of a bonus.

It had a music box in the base, and it worked, which was a plus. Not a huge plus, as I'm kind of neutral on music boxes, but it was a sweet variation on a bottle brush tree.

Dresden decorations on top. I'm kind of neutral on dresden decorations, too, but it's not like I oppose them.

The little snowdrift on the bottom was sweet, too, and the only possible explanation for the tree being encased in a plastic cylinder, which to me was not a plus.

It wasn't until I got it in the car that I noticed the weird perforated top. Which puzzled me. And as I was pulling out of the parking lot an idea dawned on me, and it's kind of a miracle I didn't stop right then to test my theory.

 

Yes, a bottle brush tree in its own snowy little world. The snow shakes back into the perforated top, and when the music box is wound up, it falls. Ever so lightly. Sigh.

I may retire from thrifting. I'm never going to find anything this excellent again. 

You will look at this tree, and you will like it. Or else.

Almost every year since I've had a substantial number of elves, I've dedicated a small tree to them.There's just one problem. Most elves don't want to be ornaments. This one does. See that little chenille loop at the front of his hat? That's for an ornament hanger. He's a good elf.

This elf doesn't want to be an ornament. He has a base rather than a hanger. He wants to hang out in forests and chop down evergreens. To him I say: Too bad. We all have stuff we'd rather not do during the holidays. If all you have to do is hang out with sparkly tinsel and a bunch of other elves for a month, count your blessings.

The naughty elves were not cooperative, however. I wrapped pipe cleaners around their base and wired them to the tree, and they would spin upside down. (I swear I could hear faint elfin laughter when this occurred.) Compounding the problem was the fact that the tree itself is a vintage one whose branches are weakening. The lower branches were drooping, even without the presence of a recalcitrant elf. I could get around the spinning elf problem by tightening the pipe cleaner (insert elfin squeals of protest here), but I could not get around the drooping branch problem. I got the tree decorated, and it looked ridiculous.

That's when I had a genius idea: Why not cut off the bottom of the tree? I would get rid of the lower tier of branches, which were the most problematic, and I would give the entire tree a better center of gravity.

(Insert various cries here: Noooo! We'll be good, we promise! Why are you going out to the garage? Not the reciprocating saw! Noooooooooo!)

(Insert here the sound of a buzz saw, flying elves landing with gentle thuds and the tinkling sound that glass balls make when they shatter.)

And here is where we realize that there is no way to avoid really stupid mistakes. Because if I'd thought this through, I'd never have decided it was a good idea to saw off the bottom eight inches of a tree after it was decorated. It was a spur of the moment idea, made in a moment of desperation. Those of us who are lucky confine our screw-ups to Christmas decorations.

And, in the end, my plan worked. I'm sure the elf who is currently being reattached to his pinecone body has a different perspective. I'm certain there might have been an easier way to achieve my goal. But it all worked out. Isn't it a pretty tree? You might want to agree with me. Because I am not someone to be trifled with when things don't go my way.

Just ask the elves. 

 

 

Words to live by

Two of my favorite phrases are "All's well that ends well," and "No harm done!" Both of them suggest a happy ending despite a series of calamities, and both of them are apt commentaries pretty much on my entire life and certainly on my Christmas decorating. Once I've gained a little more perspective, I'll explain why it is a poor idea to make a Christmas tree shorter after it has been decorated. In the meantime, here's a little picture of the big Christmas tree (not the one I attempted to shorten). It is the prettiest tree ever. It deserves a better camera and good lighting and a steady hand, but in the meantime, I needed to share a peek.

The Santa display went together smoothly, I'm happy to report.

It moved into the hutch previously occupied by the Putz village. As is so often the case, I did not realize quite how many Santa figures I owned.

The Santa on wheels is the only one I added to the collection this year. I have sold a few Santa figures this year, but this guy is a keeper.

More renditions of the Jolly Old Elf.

Two favorite little Santas on the uppermost shelf, with two of my favorite Christmas decorations ever, the reindeer nodders.

I hope you all had the loveliest of Thanksgiving holidays. I have to say that pulling out those boxes of Christmas decorations was like seeing dear friends after a long absence. It was quite a nice weekend, even with the occasional tree-pruning setback. It all turned out OK in the end. All's well that ends well.

 

 

Tradition day

I like all of the traditions around Thanksgiving as much as I like Thanksgiving itself. For the last few years on Wednesday afternoon, I've taken a walk around town to inspect the decorations. Our town has turned itself into a little Christmas destination, so it's nice to have a peaceful stroll before the tourists arrive.

Gazebo decorated: check.

Christmas tree at end of jetty: check.

Turkey Joints on the shelves: check. Turkey Joints are a Central New York specialty - a fantastic confection with a chocolate center and a hard candy shell. Someone thought they looked like turkey bones when they first were made years ago, and the name stuck. Clearly this was before focus groups and branding became popular, because it's a terrible name for candy. But it is wonderful candy.

After we ate on Thursday we sat around and watched football and snacked, and I restrung some glass bead garland for the tree and made some icicle ornaments with leftover beads. We talked about our plans for the weekend, and my son had it down pat. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and Friday, he said, was our tradition day. Which he did not need to explain further. It's the day we eat leftovers and put on Christmas movies while we start decorating. Tradition Day is a much more appealing idea than Black Friday, and I think the name will stick. We'll keep decorating today. It's been snowing this morning, and there's a fire in the stove, and it's looking like a very nice day ahead.

From our house(s) to yours

It has been a particularly hectic few weeks around the Oodles household - so hectic that all work had stopped on the Putz Pointe housing development.

So hectic, in fact, that the developer seemed to lose all interest in completing the project.

And while we don't normally associate the term "litigious" with snowmen and angels, there was definitely some talk about looking for a spun-cotton-and-chenille lawyer to get this project moving along.

 
Happily, the developer realized that with the approach of Thanksgiving, it was now-or-never for this development. Finish, or foreclosure. It wasn't clear what foreclosure would look like, although there was some talk over the glittered cardboard fences that it would involve an Etsy listing and a title like "large lot of damaged Putz houses for repair and creative reuse."

And - not to get all Hallmark-Christmas-movie about this, but it's the truth - once the developer started sifting through the glass beads and tiny ornaments and bottle brush trees, she got kind of excited about finishing. It was that, or the glue.

And suddenly, the development was done.

It features a mix of styles, including small pastel bungalows that one associates with sunny climates such as those found in Florida and California.

Every development has a couple of luxury homes.

Complete with a glass bead fence.

A brick chimney is always desirable, especially this time of year when some visitors decide to enter via the housetop.

The snowmen gravitated toward more traditional styles and colors.

You can almost hear the Christmas carols playing and smell the pumpkin pie baking here.

Although I might be imagining that because these are my favorites.

I hope, like the angels and the snowmen, that you are at the place you love best or with the people you love most this holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

 

Giveaway update

Lynn is the winner of the $50 Shabby Apple gift card. Thanks to all who entered! And for those of you doing a little holiday shopping (for yourself or others) you can get a 10 percent discount at Shabby Apple when you use the coupon code oodles10off .

Today's the day!

Today's the day you're going to be glad you took my advice and brushed up on your commenting skills ... because today your comment could win you a $50 Shabby Apple gift card!

Entering is easy. Visit the Shabby Apple website - shabbyapple.com - pick out a favorite item, and tell everybody what item you picked when you leave a comment.

If you want more chances to win, you can:

- like Shabby Apple on Facebook . (While you're there, like Oodles and Oodles on Facebook, too!)

- tweet about the giveaway with the hashtag #shabbyapplegiveaway. (I'm @oodles_and_oodles if you'd like to follow!)

- post about the giveaway on your blog (and let me know!).

You need to have a US shipping address to be eligible. Get your entry in by 11 p.m. Sunday.

And if you want to see more of my favorites, click on my new "follow me on Pinterest" button in the sidebar and check out my Shabby Apple board.

Good luck, friends!

(Contest has ended ... I'll be back with a winner later today.)