Vintage Christmas in July

I love vintage Christmas anytime of the year, even in the middle of a good, old-fashioned July heat wave. But I especially love Christmas when stores are having 50% off Christmas in July sales! Today, I'm highlighting the yuletide goodies I found over the weekend.

Normally, I am not one to collect or display too many Santas, but these vintage china figurines were adorable so I picked them up.

Perhaps they will make an appearance in my angel choir come December.

 
Or not.

I went a little Santa-crazy and also took home this vintage-look (but reproduction) cast iron Santa doorstop.

Not sure what this little elf's original purpose was, but she'll look sweet on a bookshelf with a sprig of holly tucked into the back.

This Johnson Brothers cup and saucer has a beautiful design and I love the Christmas tree peeking out from inside the cup. I couldn't resist it, even though I scolded myself as I put it in my shopping basket. But it was just too pretty to leave behind, I would have certainly regretted it. 

From the refined to the not-so-refined: I loved Holly Hobbie as a child and my pioneer-loving children do too. I found these two vintage Holly Hobbie Christmas glasses to go with the one we already had.

This ceramic Christmas tree with plastic bulb ornaments caught my eye due to its super cool retro gold detailing. Not sure how or if it lights up since there were no electrical parts, but it looks plenty festive simply sitting on a table or shelf. An unexpected bonus is that my husband loves it because it reminds him of one his grandparents had displayed at Christmastime.

And my friend spotted this Swedish wooden light-up star ornament for me. My Scandinavian Christmas dream is one step closer to a reality!

My friend also generously shared her score of vintage Christmas ornaments. I love finding the striped ornaments and the turquoise ones are my favorites. The tiny bells are quite unusual; at least neither of us had ever seen them before.

Finally, no vintage Christmas haul is complete without a tin cookie cutter or two. I already own these particular models, but as I'm trying to collect three full sets (one for each of my children), I always scoop them up when I run across them.

No matter the season, vintage Christmas finds make me so happy! Have you found any holiday treasures lately? I'm linking this post to Sir Thrift a Lot so be sure to go over there and check out what other thrifty folks have found this weekend.

Yum, soup!

Not long ago, for the first time in many years, I ventured into a Temple. Now, fret not! I haven't rejected my lifelong Christian beliefs; rather, I was seeking fulfillment of a different kind. A thrifty kind! The largest (only?) temple in town was hosting its annual Rummage Event. This three-day monstrosity outdid any of the church rummage sales that I have been to in the past. Day One, everything individually priced. Day Two, half price sale. Day Three, bag sale. I was worn out from the weekend, so I didn't make it to Day One, which fell on a Monday. But while my little ones were at soccer class on Tuesday afternoon, I took the three minute stroll down the street to check out the sale.

I only had a few minutes, so I had to work quickly. Luckily, I have perfected the lightning speed walk-through, and I wasted no time evaluating the two sections that were of most interest to me. Now normally, you know I love the vintage Christmas stuff, but I figured this was one sale that would disappoint on that front. So I concentrated my efforts in the kid books/games and china and glassware sections.

I immediately spotted a lovely ceramic piece among the plates and teacups that looked like old Johnson Brothers. I turned it over and indeed I was correct. It was marked $10, but since it was half price day, it was only $5. It wasn't one of my favorite Johnson Bros. patterns, but it was pretty and the piece was rather unusual. It was with the kitchen implements and seemed to possibly be a soup tureen but it had only one handle. And the lid didn't have the characteristic cut-out for a ladle. Hmmm...it looked suspiciously like a chamber pot. But no, that couldn't possibly be, right? I brought it up to the sweet little ladies running the check out line. "What a beautiful soup tureen!" the woman checking me out exclaimed. "It is a soup tureen, right?" I asked, not at all sure. "Of course!," the lady replied, shaking her head at my ignorance. The other ladies nodded in agreement. I hesitated, but decided to buy it anyway.

my new "soup tureen"

I brought it home, placed it on my table, flipped open my laptop and googled away: "Johnson Brothers soup tureen." Countless examples of beautiful soup tureens, some with similar detailing, but none with only one handle and all had lids with the hole for a ladle. I tried googling one-handled soup tureens. Nothing came up. Then I followed my original instincts and googled Johnson Brothers chamber pot. Guess what? Of course, a number of pots very similar to mine flashed onto my screen. I had been right. I was now the proud owner of a turn of the century chamber pot. Happily, I did note that I had gotten an outstanding price for it. I only hope that some poor lady from the Temple hadn't been serving her grandma's famous matzoh ball soup in that pot for the past 50 years.