The holidays are one of my favorite times to go thrifting! There are treasures galore and nothing makes me happier than finding little vintage Christmas goodies. They are so playful and colorful. A few weeks ago I went on a big ol thrifting binge and scooped up some fun items to add to my holiday collection.

Most thrifts have a big ol area set up for “seasonal” goodies and while lots of thrift stores are getting picked over, I find that holiday decor and what not is always plentiful! Things I love to look for: vintage ornaments (Shiny Brites! they have the cutest boxes, but you have to look carefully to make sure they aren’t too faded or chipped), little holiday animals, sitting elves, ceramic holiday figurines from the 60s and 70s, dishware, linens (i found a great runner and some cute table cloths!), lawn decor (yes it’s true! Greg scored some amazing vintage lawn decorations a few years ago) and then, of course, Holiday RECORDS!

I’m obsessed with little Dream Pet reinsdeer. They’re so cute! I found all three of these golden horned  fellas at the same time. The front deer (who has golden eye lashes, thank you very much) was found last week!

This little fella is a moose who lost his antlers, but I still think he’s a cutie. He came from an estate sale….

These glasses are so fun. I don’t have all 12 Days of Christmas—we still need Two Turtle Doves and Ten Ladies Dancing! I didn’t snap photos, but i also have some fun holiday tumblers (perfect for egg nog and cocktails!)

This little cutie is the source of debate over here. Wolfie likes a proper star on the top of the tree. I think she is pretty awesome. But I don’t want to impose my taste on the entire family ALL the time (just most of the time, heh….). So when he informed me that this year was a STAR year, I sadly packed her back up. I feel like last year we did the star too…hmmm.

Have you been finding some fun vintage holiday goodies for your house? Or have you done a vintage holiday post yourself?  Add the link in the comments so we can see! I’d just love to see some of your favorite Christmas treasures!

PS

I wanted to include one of those little widgets so your blog links would be right at the end of the post, rather than in comments. But the one i found was super complicated. Anyone here used one that they could recommend??

Last year I was doing a little e-thriftin’ on eBay and I stumbled upon this cutie. I was stunned. A little caterpillar holiday girl?? Er…..at least that’s what I THINK she is. I kind of had to have her. But I forgot to bid and the auction ended. She hadn’t sold (apparently “Vintage Holiday Caterpillar Glitter Girl” isn’t a big search term). I posted her picture here and ya’ll went bananas saying “YOU MUST GET HER!” So I wrote the seller and VOILA! She was mine.

She’s so weirdly wonderful….I have no idea what they were thinking when they created her. She has a little hanging cord, so I assume she is supposed to be an ornament. Either way I’m excited to have her as part of my little holiday gang!

Pssst! I did a search for Vintage Christmas Caterpillar on ebay…..and there’s actually one on there! See?

So our fabulous friend Karen has an equally fabulous friend named Enid. And Enid puts every other vintage collector I know to shame. Her awesome 1950s home is quite literally packed to the rafters with treasures you can’t even imagine.

You know, things like a spectacular Marlin hanging on the living room wall. And crazy cool lamps. And mid-century, two-sided fireplace. And groovy paintings. And 50s dishware. And a library FILLED with vintage books and pulp novels. And her enid collins hand bag collection. And her lucite bag collection. And enamel daisy pins. And vintage bowling goodies. And vintage suitcases. And SOCK MONKEYS. I could go on forever. People this place is insanity. Amazing. Overwhelming. Gorgeous eye candy EVERYWHERE. Miss Enid has a wonderful eye.

Enid calls it The Ugh House and the story behind the name is really great. It was originally built in 1953 by Ed & Ella Baugh. Somehow the “B” and the “A” fell off the sign and thus it was rechristened!

As hard as it is to part with treasures, when you have TOO much stuff, the goodies don’t really have a chance to shine. So the lovely Ms. Enid decided she  needed to start purging just a little bit. She’s already had a big garage sale, but this weekend she had something extra special. It was an ALL VINTAGE HOLIDAY sale….and friends, it was SO awesome! Not only drinkies and snackies, but amazing decor AND the cool stash she was selling, made for a wonderful afternoon!

There were so many amazing things. There were elves and reindeer and santas. Wrapping accoutrements, holiday themed cups and glasses, wall hangings, angels, tree toppers and of course loads of ornaments—in boxes and displayed on a shiny silver tree. It was pretty damn magical.

I was obsessed with the packaging on everything. The Fashion Flower bow?? Wow.

Yes. Made by the dwarves of the black forest. Brilliant.

Dottie and I were two ships that passed in the night that day, but we both went and scooped up some awesome goodies. We passed on a lot of amazing things too. For example:

Here are some of the goodies I scooped up. I love all the little figural characters, but those jewel ornaments were my favorites of the day:

These New Year’s Party Hats were pretty fantastic too.

All in all, we had a blast! I have a “no xmas decorations til after Thanksgiving” rule, but then I go full blast into holiday mode. I love Thanksgiving but truly, I think I love it because it gets me THAT much closer to Christmas.