Well, Merry Christmas Friends! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful day with your family and friends. We definitely are. But, I promised that I would share a little bit of my Christmas decor this year and some of my vintage Christmas finds as well. So, here you have it!

I fondly refer to all my Christmas stuff as “Christmas Crap” but really they are some of my favorite treasures. I’ve spend years and years (20 to be exact) decking my halls out. Somewhere along the way I found my “Christmas Style” and now most of the things I own kind of go together. A big part of what I own is either something I made or something I found thrifting. Vintage “Christmas Crap” gets me every time. If it’s something that resembles something my Grandma had, then I’ve gotta have it. If you are just starting out, or maybe want to find a common thread to your decor, I think a great way to start is with a collection. It gives you something to hunt for each year. And then I’m only buying a couple ornaments and trinkets here and there each year. I always love Martha Stewart’s Living “Collection” column. Even the tiniest, simple items, when grouped together, can make an awesome display and statement.

My tree definitely has a mixture of ornaments, but for the most part, they are gold, white , silver and green and most of those are glass. And for the last 15 or so years, I’ve collected pine cone glass ornaments. I hang these on a little silver tinsel tree separate from all my other ornaments. I also collect vintage glass ball ornaments, in the same colors (gold, white, silver and green). These are just keep in a big bowl or tray. Sometimes I add a string of battery operated lights to the bowl as well. I buy just 3 or 4 a year at antique malls and flea markets. The more worn and old they look, the better and I love when they have a little hand painting or flocking on the outside. These I pay about $1-$3 for each (therefore I only add a few each year).

I hit the jack post this year with this brass all seasons wreath. I found it at an estate sale, actually the estate sale for the house my parent’s bought. It’s the perfect addition to our mantel mirror.

My santa mugs are a newer collection, and I actually added 4 new ones this year, including the green santa I shared on Instagram. He’s my favorite, of course. I think these mugs are the only Santa themed Christmas items I own. Most of these mugs are from the early 1950’s. I sit them out by my coffee machine, and whenever anyone is in need of some tea, coffee or hot cocoa, a Santa mug is a must. Nothing puts you in a more festive mood then sipping from Santa’s smiling face (that might have come out wrong).

Bottle brush trees are a fun item to collect. The ones pictured here are all vintage, but you can actually find new bottle brush trees everywhere now and in every color. The hunt for vintage ones can still be fun. I added the little gold colored tree to my collection this year.

Little candy dishes and plates are fun to collect. I found this pair of tree shaped dishes for less then $5 at an antique mall. I love when my Christmas decor is not all overly Christmas themed, then I can leave out a lot of these pieces throughout the winter season.

Here’s a few of my glass pinecone ornaments.

And definitely not everything that I own is old, but this vintage pick of mercury glass beads sure looks cute in the new little vase I bought from Dream Green DIY. These are fun to find. I think they are Japanese made, and were intended to be icicles for your tree. But, they can add a little sparkle to a vase and you don’t have to worry about them dying.

So, there you have it. A little look at our holiday decorations. Now, it might be too late for this year, but it’s never too early to plan for next year. And actually this is the best time of year to buy Christmas decor, because it’s all on sale! Even antique malls and thrift stores will put their holiday decor on sale after Christmas. They don’t want to store it all year, so start hunting, and make them an offer, I’m sure they will be willing to give you a discount.