Treasures Antique Mall Christmas Open House

I kept busy at work yesterday, getting the store ready for our Christmas Open House on Saturday, December first. 

Its always fun to check out the Christmas goodies that the other 42 dealers here at Treasures bring in this time of year and  I think this year we have a bumper crop of amazing vintage ornaments!

These pictures are from my booth.  The great vintage Santas are always fun.  We had a 20 something gal come in yesterday and she bought 2 old Santas ... she said she displays them in an open suitcase ... which is one of my favorite ways to display them.

Most of our dealers are going to have between 10% and 50% off  all of their goods, (at least half of our dealers are discounting between 20% and 25%) so you may want to make the migration.  There will also be punch and cookies all day at both of our 11,000 square foot stores!! If you are in the neighborhood it would be worth the trip.

Oh Christmas Trees, Oh Christmas Trees ...

 One of the nicest things about doing a tree for the Primary Children's Hospital's Festival of Trees Fund Raiser, is that when you are done you get to wander.  Its fun to see the amazing creativity in our community, and even more fun to talk to the big hearted artists who are happy to share their experiences.  Above is our group in front of our completed tree.  Below are the trees I liked best during our 'walk about'.

What's not to love about the snowman tree?  The one to the left was so fun, I just loved the colors and overall arrangement.

 This lovely pastel tree looks good enough to eat ... but my very favorite part is the tree skirt.  Super simple cut out of felt with polka dots glued on, and bells at the points, but SO charming!

This tree is an advent calendar.  To the left is a frame with all the numbers 1 to 24 ... matching numbers are on the tree.  Also note the adorable ruffled tree skirt!

 

 I loved the overall busyness of this tree, and there in the middle is a reminder of what  the whole season is about.  I loved that.  (Note that the tree is not finished, thus no tree skirt yet.)

Lime Green and Cherry red ... reminds me of a fresh lime!! Yummy!! 

I liked the delicate frame work around the tree above, like a giant doily!!

 To the left is a tree that is all metal framed with greenery added, then decorated ... lovely tree!

The tree above is our next door neighbor at the Festival.  The kids decorating it were a lot of fun.  Their main ornaments are license plates that have been collaged to make words.  How fun is that.  The whole theme celebrates our award winning ski industry here in Utah and includes lots of ski passes too.  Note the skis that form the 'star' of the tree.

I have saved my favorite for last.  This tree is one of the metal yard ornaments that were popular a few years ago, like the moving lighted deer.  Not sure you can even buy them anymore. 

 Carolee Spencer, the decorator, did the tree in honor of her husband who passed away this past year.  Many people dedicate trees, as we did, to a friend or family member.  It just seems right to celebrate the life of a loved one this way.  I think this tree is an exceptional memorial, and would like to thank Carolee for allowing me to photograph it, and if I can find a wire tree, to copy it some time.  Its so charming. 

I hope you enjoyed the pre-tour of the trees at the Festival.  I will be attending the festival this Friday ... its such a magical place.  If you are local and want to drop by, my tree is number Q-17, and Carolee's tree (shown above) is number D-04 ... have fun!

Bargain Christmas Decor!

This has got to be the cheapest wreath ever made.  The huge wreath was a find at Habitat for Humanity's Restore for $5 ... The great sparkly garland was $2 at a second hand store (still had the original store tag for $32). The ribbon length was cut from a bolt I bought after Christmas last year at Walmart for 75% off.

The skates were a summer find at a yard sale for $3, the snow flakes were 6 to a package at the dollar store and the silhouette of the boy skating was free here at Graphics Fairy.  The glitter was from the dollar store, and the spray glue was $1 at the Restore.

The greenery in the skates was cut from my yard and the lights were $2 after Christmas at Walmart last year, so when all is said and done, the wreath cost less than $15.  Gotta love thrifting, eh?  And here it is to the left with the lights off.

 

Happy Christmas Crafting!!

 

P.S. This is not its permanent placement, it will hang outside, just waiting for my dh to have time to do it.

Our Fairy Garden Themed Christmas Tree

I had a wonderful day today, decorating our Festival of Trees Christmas tree with members of the service club, We Can.  We were able to complete the tree in half the time it took last year, thanks to my dh who put the tree together and reinforced it before leaving on a business trip.  Thanks Honey!

Here's the whole gang, ready and raring!!

And this is the completed tree and display, including a correctly spelled pennant banner, thanks to Tammy, a blog reader who caught my goof this morning before I left!!

We were all pretty happy with how the tree turned out, in honor of our dear friend Judy. 

I will be revisiting the festival in another blog this week, so if you want to see some amazing theme Christmas trees come on back and thanks for visiting today.

Primary Children's Hospital Festival of Trees

This is the pennant banner I made today.  It says "Fairy Friends".  I am busy finishing up items for the charity auction Christmas tree I am putting together tomorrow with ladies from my service club!

I tried it out on my own tree, which stands naked in the parlor awaiting the completion of the Charity Tree.  Our tree is being dedicated to Judy Dimond, a former member of our group who passed away in January.  We are naming it "Judy Gets Her Wings" ...  She really is and has always been an angel!!

 

This simple banner was made by printing off this great frame I found on Graphics Fairy (Minus the bow that was on the bottom of the original, to better fit the triangular shape.)  I loved the birds, and thought they went well with our garden fairy theme. Then I glued the triangles to the blue paper and used pinking sheers to trim them.  A circle of glue with red glitter competed them.  Attaching them with old red seam binding was a snap!

 

 

Here are some of the other projects I finished up, including the wrapping paper for the 'gifts' under the tree.  I can't wait to get it all put together and take pictures.  This project has been swimming in my head all year.  I hope that you appreciate that our bright color scheme and happy fairy subject really do reflect our lovely friend Judy, who was amazing in every way.  We hope this tribute will show our love and respect for her.

Come back tomorrow morning to see the finished tree! 

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

With Thanksgiving behind me, I am ready to starting thinking about Christmas.  My friend Jill, however, starts her celebration the beginning of November!! 

 She has such a great sense of style, that I love her decor year round, but I thought I would share her Christmas decor, as it definitely helps me kick off my own Christmas spirit.

This is her kitchen tree, full of red and white candy and cooking implements.  Its a perfect reminder to get your holiday baking checked off your list!

 

And how festive is this chandelier treatment?  Thanks Jill for letting me stop by and share your extraordinary style!

 

 I hope you are all having fun plotting and planning your decor for this year, and that you enjoy the process as much as Jill does ... happy decorating!



The Endless Line that Snaked into Black Friday

This is my daughter Emily. After Thanksgiving dinner at my house, a movie and pie at my son's house the two of us struck out to find some bargains.

 Behind her is this line, that was 300 people long to the point where the we stood ... there were another 400 folks behind her waiting to get into Best Buy at midnight.

This is a group of cold people waiting in the line, snuggling to keep warm.

 That is a group of cold people waiting in line, covering up in blankets to keep warm.

 

Above is a group of cold people keeping their minds off the cold by playing games.

To the right is the group who has been living at Best Buy for two weeks, they are first in line!!  They are all ready to get the best deals!!

 

 

 

In the end, the crowd in Best Buy was extreme, but well managed ... the checkout line, though incredibly long took about 5 minutes to navigate!!

 

Kohl's on the other hand was a nightmare ... one long line snaked through the store, with at least 500 people in line ... there is nothing I want that bad, and certainly no discount that could repay me the several hours these folks had to wait to check out!!

 

So now, in the wee hours of black Friday, there is only one black thing in which I have any interest, and that is the black of the back of my eyelids ... night all.