Merry Christmas and Father Christmas Fashion Show

I would love to take this opportunity to wish all my readers and Blogland friends a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,  Joyful Solstice, or whatever you celebrate.  Our family celebrates Christmas and some celebrate Hanukkah. We are a United Nations of beliefs; Catholic, Mormon, Jews, Atheists, and everything in between, including a distant uncle who thinks he’s a Klingon.

This is Christmas Eve, and before Bruce and I relax in front of the fireplace and tree to open a few little gifties, I wanted to share some vintage Christmas images with you.  Feel free to copy and save them to your collections - they are copyright free.

I have always preferred the Father Christmas image to that of Santa Claus.  Somehow, I think the noble Father Christmas embodies selfless giving.  IMHO, he is the Missing Link between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. Please, no angry emails, I am just trying to explain how I think the idea of religion and giving during this season morphed into commercialism.

But, back to Father Christmas.  This guy was a natty dresser. He knew that it took more than a bright red suit to be remembered.  I offer these pictures as proof.

This blue cloak and hat are trimmed with the finest white fur.  

As a change of pace, Father Christmas sometimes sports a yellow ensemble. 

Pay no attention to the fact that he is giving a tree that looks remarkably like the lonely one in the first picture.

Here we see Father C modeling his royal purple gown. Not pictured: the tree holder sewn onto back shoulder area, leaving hands free for a walking stick.

 Sometimes Father Christmas even wore lavender.  Yes, lavender.  But no fur on the hat (why overdo it?)

This khaki-colored ensemble sports dark fur. This outfit is lighter weight, reserved for years that were not as cold.

 Even Father C sported a red cloak now and then, mostly for photo ops with kids.

Nothing says “Outdoor Man” like this green cloak trimmed in leather cuffs and fur collar.

Father Christmas loved green, as you can see with this mint green number.

“Does this make me look fat?”  

Then there was the year that Mrs. Father Christmas (Mother Christmas?) sent all his caps to the cleaners.  He was forced to wear this wide-brimmed cap, a precursor to today’s ten gallon hat.

And possibly my favorite…..

The Natural Man, Father Christmas.  Doesn’t he look, um, God-like?  Or at least Moses-like!  All that walking and giving paid off; he has the physique of a man forty years younger.

No, I have not had any egg nog.  Yet.

Hugs,

Enjoying Life

Are you ready for the Holidays? I am. Well, except for wrapping a handful of grandkid gifts. And delivering the gifties to the neighbors. But this weekend, that will all be checked off. Whew!

So, in keeping with the happenings around the Blogosphere, I have chosen a theme word for 2012.  That word is ENJOY.  Now that I am retired and no longer have to work for The Man, I think I will be enjoying life more, doing what I want. Kids are grown and on their own. Grandkids make regular visits and then return home with their parents (don’t laugh - you KNOW that is one of the benefits of being a Grandparent!)  I just passed my annual physical, mammogram, colonoscopy, eye exam and dental exam with flying colors. Life is good.

I am going to ENJOY stitching in 2012.  I mentioned before that I have signed up for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP).  And today I just signed up for TAST, which most of you know is Sharon Boggon`s Take a Stitch Tuesday.  If you are one of the 43 stitchers on the planet who have not yet signed up, you can visit Sharon`s blog here and read about it.

What else will I be ENJOYing in 2012?  First off, after I close out my 2011 goals, I am not, repeat NOT, setting any for this year.  I have some ideas swirling around for this and that, and if they materialize, great.  If not, no big deal.  In 2012 I will not even be accountable to myself for checking things off a list.  Whew, that is some more pressure off too.  :-)  And I would like to start a regular feature on my blog, to let you know what I am enjoying, what I am thankful for, what I recognize and appreciate in my life.  I have seen it on another blog, and I love it.  It goes something like this:

Today I enjoyed/am thankful for:

Sight:  Seeing and talking to an old friend at the grocery store.
Sound:  Andrea Bocelli and Natalie Cole singing The Christmas Song
Taste:  Some fantastic red grapes
Smell:  Morning coffee
Touch: Bruce’s hair when we hugged this afternoon

But I won’t promise to do it every day or every post, just regularly. Must keep it light and not let it become an obligation.

And here are some vintage Christmas images for you.  Today I selected ones that fit the theme of Christmas greenery.   Enjoy!

More Christmas Images for You

Hi Friends,

If you are like me, you are often on the lookout for interesting vintage images.  So, I have been trying to upload some for you every few days..... my meager Christmas present to you.  But please know that your friendship and comments are so appreciated.  It’s always nice to know that you’re not just talking to yourself, eh?  LOL.

Our Christmas decorations this year are very much on the traditional side.  I love color too much to have an all-white or low-color decorating scheme.  And we have downsized to a smaller tree because it fits better in our small living room in our smallish home.  Of course, when this house was built in 1963, the original owners, who lived here for 40 years, raised their four children here.... and it was perfectly fine.   

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Bruce and I both lived in McMansions in our previous marriages, but have never loved a home as much as we do this one.  As Bruce says, “it hugs you back!”  And the fact that it is nearly paid for makes it all the more wonderful!     

Everything is ready to go for Christmas.   Will upload more images tomorrow for you.  We are off work now for several days and I plan to get some good stitching time in.  I finished piecing my 12” block for the Steampunk RR and will take a picture of that tomorrow with my new camera!  Bruce wanted me to have it early for Christmas picture-taking.  Smart man.  

Goodies and Prizes and Sales ... Oh My!

Oh, where to start?!?  I may end up dividing up this post, LOL.  So much to talk about....

First of all, let your fingers do the RUNNING over to Gerry K (Olderrose)’s Etsy Shop, where she is selling her remaining pincushions for 50% off.   This is unbelievable to me, because I know she has waaay more time and $$ invested in them.  And once they’re gone, that’s it.  I own one that Gerry made for me a couple years ago, and I am ALWAYS getting compliments on it.  It is the centerpiece of my pin cushion collection (OK, I heard that.... you’re mumbling “she collects pincushions TOO?”).    Here is my favorite one in her shop.... at least for the moment, LOL!

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When the mailman arrived on Saturday, he brought me a surprise package.  Apparently my friend Freda Butler   was sneaky and sent me a totally unexpected gift!  She knows I collect vintage hankies and hankie holders, and she found this beauty from the 1950’s:

This lucite hankie box is triangular shaped to accommodate folding one’s hankies in that manner.  My daughter, who studied ballet for 12 years, was totally enamored with it (as was I, of course, LOL!)

Bruce and I got a chuckle out of the pink men’s hankies that Freda sent along.  As Freda pointed out, it probably got mixed up with some red laundry to come out pink!  But I see possibilities for that black crown motif with a pink background!  Thank you, Dear Freda!!!

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And if all that good stuff wasn’t enough, Kathy Shaw (shawkl) had a giveaway on her blog.  To enter, she asked us to write her a little birthday rhyme.  Well, the random number generated selected me (for my number, not for the poem, LOL).  If you have ready Kathy’s blog for any length of time, you KNOW how generous she is.  Well, she really outdid herself this time:

Wow, I sooooo needed an infusion of Good Stuff in the way of silk ribbons, threads and laces as I am participating in FOUR round robins this winter.  I can’t wait to dig in.  Let me tell you, Kathy has a great shop that you can browse here.   I know some of us get $$ to spend on ourselves at Christmastime, and if you’re like me, you begin shopping in January.  You may just want to bookmark her site.  Some of her goodies include laces (including some designs I haven’t seen elsewhere), scissor fobs, beaded hat pins, needles, charms and PET COLLARS!!

Thanks, Kathy!!!

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Here are some more vintage images for you (it appears my theme today is aqua!)

Hugs,

Father Christmas and London

Well, here I am again.  The “London” part of my post is another one of my shameless Grammy posts, LOL.  I have been tending my DGD, now aged 15 months, once a week.  These pictures are from a couple weeks ago. You can tell because my kitchen is bright with sunshine from the skylight. And sunshine is far too infrequent here this month...

Here is London with “Melmo” that Grammy bought her.  Her new best friend.  “Melmo” is what DGS Hunter calls him, so Melmo it is...

London even likes her Melmo socks.  I couldn’t resist this picture of her hair. I’m a sucker for cute baby’s heads with soft curls...

When London visits, Boomer usually finds a quiet place AWAY from her. But on this day he ventured out for awhile.  She is really good with him, and vice versa.  It’s unusual.

I’ve almost finished up about five crazy-quilted Christmas ornaments.  I hope to have them ready for my next post, although one will have to wait until after Christmas, because it’s for a friend who may read the blog and recognize it’s for her....

So, in the meantime, enjoy some vintage Christmas postcard images.  I have tons of these, and might as well share.  I have a special fondness for old men with beards Father Christmas, so expect to see a lot of those.  

I debated about whether to include the one below.  I really think he looks like a demented serial killer... see what I mean?  If that little girl woke up and saw him there... What do you think he’s thinking??  Oh, never mind. I want to keep this blog’s G rating, LOL!!

I’ll be back with stitchy stuff soon.... you know how the Holidays get...

Hugs,

Estate Sale Finds

These are the treasures I found at the estate sale I went to last weekend. I wanted to get these posted to share with you for a couple reasons. First is that I hope that besides having a wonderful Thanksgiving with family or friends, that you have some "down time" or "me time" and are able to relax and read blogs for awhile. I consider this wonderful eye candy for those of us who love fabrics, linens, and all things related. :-) Secondly, as I've mentioned before, I want to start reselling most of my estate sale treasures in my Etsy and Art-Fire Shops, which are both just skeleton shops right now. These pictures were taken for the blog, and they are not artfully staged. The items have not been washed and pressed as they will need to be before being listed for sale in those shops. However, if you see something you might be interested in, or if you'd like more information, please contact me by email. And alot of the items I've shown (and some of you have drooled over) in recent posts (over the last several months even) will be put up for sale in those shops. That green needlepoint purse comes to mind. So ask questions or make me an offer.

Lots of wonderful hankies in very nice condition, two crocheted potholders (I love to add those to tea towels or aprons) and a wonderful needlepoint glasses case.

Look at that yummy embroidered pink batiste pillow casing! And that tablecloth with 4 napkins is beautiful. My favorites, though, are those two silk hankies. I've got detail shots of the hankies & tablecloth set below.

The hankies below are not only hand painted silk, but the edges are burned. Burning silk is part of our November Challenge on Crazy Quilting International, so I was especially pleased to find these vintage examples of the technique.

I couldn't resist the screen-printed farm scene on the napkin in the grouping below, although it probably only dates back to the fifties. There's another potholder in there, plus lots of interesting embroidered pieces.
Check out that very Thirties-looking woman holding the flowers!

Here's a close-up of the embroidered lady.

I don't know why I found this dress interesting, because it is in pretty shabby shape. But I can tell it was once beautiful, and the embroidery is so feminine. The front skirt is actually a little apron that is attached over a layer of the same fabric underneath.

The tablecloths in this picture are probably cutters (stained and holey), but the embroidered images are so sweet and ready for picking to embellish crazy quilting, aprons & pillows.

And you know me and aprons..... couldn't pass these beauties up! There are seven half-aprons, and the four nylon/chiffon ones on the bottom row all appear to be unworn.

The red one still has a Christmas tag on it that says "To Margaret From Aunt Hazel".

Next, here are the pillowcases. There are a pair of the pink rose design, a pair of the orange floral, and the other two are singles.

Again, there is some lovely embroidery!

The woman whose estate was being sold was the Margaret from the red apron. She had several porcelain plate collections. My favorite was the birds from Lennox. I purchased two of the dozen or more that she had, and each one was exquisite. They are gold edged, numbered and limited edition plates and they remind me of my friend Gerry K who taught us to paint these very birds (cardinals and goldfinches) at the CQI Retreat in September.

Surprisingly, for me, I was thoroughly enchanted by some of the vintage baby clothing that Margaret had saved from her children. I would judge it to be from the late 1940's to the mid 1950's.

The above picture shows a brushed nylon kimono, my least favorite piece. The three back sweaters are wool; one is badly stained (haven't tried cleaning it yet), another has been shrunk (shrunken?), and the third is very nice. The front lacy crocheted one is probably a wool blend.

These sweet kimono (pictured above and detail below) are my favorites. They are a soft nylon, which is what my own christening gown was made of. The "baby" embroidered piece on the top left is actually a linen baby pillow case.

For lovers of ephemera, I found two unopened rice paper napkin packages, probably from the sixties. They sold then for $4.50 each (imagine what the same thing would cost today!). The framed embroidered picture will be one of the items in the embroidery category of my giveaway (more about that later in the post).

These are sooooo Fifties! Those little birds (and flowers) are candle holders. Those plus the Alice in Wonderland napkins will be part of the ephemera giveaway.

ARE YOU STILL WITH ME???? WE'RE ALMOST DONE!!! lol

And who doesn't love vintage Christmas ornaments?? These are probably from the sixties, possibly the fifties. They're not mercury glass, but they're definitely vintage. I even found the red gift box charming!

I'm developing such a passion for soft pink. It must be that I'm getting older - pink goes so well with gray hair, I hear. LOL (not that I'd know anything about that!) And the chippy, timeworn look adds to their charm.

And finally, we have beaded fruit, birds (probably from the sixties. I have some great Christmas birds from the fifties in my personal collection; these are newer). The bell is probably forties or fifties, the clip bird about the same.

Whew! Quite a haul, eh?? DH got some tools, too, so he was happy (but then, he's always happy! He's such a sweetheart!)

Finally, I will announce the "Something for Everyone Giveaway" by Saturday. There will be 6 (yes, six!!) prizes in these categories (but I reserve the right to "tweak" them a bit): Crocheted, Christmas Fabrics, Sane Quilter Package, Ephemera/Collage, Vintage Fabrics & Scraps, and Vintage Trims & Lace. And I'll probably stuff a few hankies in somewhere, too.

So, I'm off to pull and group the Giveaway items. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'll see you back here this weekend!!

Hugs,