Neosho Finds #3: Christmasy Things

Are you ready for more thrifty bargains? I must say, Sugar Pea is the one who really made a haul. I bought her more than 30 cute, name brand outfits (none over $2.50), several pairs of shoes, lots of nice toys, stacks of books, a bathtub seat, a vintage baby backpack she can ride in, and these fun finds: a vintage Fisher-Price Happy Apple a bargain at $3, since they can go for 3 or 4 times that on eBay, a vintage children's record player, also by Fisher-Price, that still sounds great, and this cute little squishy lamb, dated 1974.


On the holiday/party front, I found a package of wild west party favor bags, some vintage party squawkers, and a bag of assorted Valentines for 30 cents, several of which were cute 60's vintage.

I have begun a serious quest for vintage Christmas decorations. Sure, I have a few already, but I've never gone all out on decorating in December because it's always been just Mr. Sweetheart and I, and it seemed like such a chore to take down and pack up all the baubles each January. Trust me, when you have a young 'un, Christmas takes on a whole new sparkly, candy coated magic. I feel compelled to bake cookies, make candy and deck the halls with fabulous (and fabulously tacky) vintage lovelies. I already have a small collection of old pink and turquoise ornaments, and these little floral picks were irresistible. I must have walked back by them six times, not really ready to fork over $3 for them, but wanting them so bad I could taste it. I finally asked the lady if she would take $2 (something I rarely do), and she agreed. I still think that was a little too much, being the thrifty cheapskate that I am, but I needed them. I also needed these two sequiny peaches, picked from a bushel basket of bejeweled fruit for 50 cents each. Why did I need them? I don't question the vintage gods when they tell me to buy something, and neither should you.


Some more ornaments for my collection. The whole lot set me back a buck.

These ceramic cuties were an exciting find. The sleigh and stocking cup were hand painted by some crafty lady years ago, and the Lefton bell was only a dollar, and makes such a pretty sound. It's hard to say what the first two cost, as they came from one of those great church sales where nothing is really marked and they just quote you a price for a huge box of stuff you gather up. I made a killing at this particular sale, and the whole fabulous mess cost $11, which included Sugar Pea's record player and a bunch of stuff you see here, plus the best stuff I'm saving for last.


These two heavenly felt creations were from the same sale as the pink floral picks and peaches, which Sugar Pea and I stumbled across last Monday. It was a good day to be in the market for Christmas. The sweetness of this carefully beaded and sequined stocking someone lovingly stitched for their Mama just melts my insides, making me well up with love for my own Mama, and hope that I can be half the mama to my little girl that she is to me. The Santa puppet will be fun for us to play with together. Sugar Pea and I, that is, unless you just want to, Mom.


Ok, Dollfaces, I told you I was saving the best for last, and I consider this next find to be part of said "best", but because I don't want to split these up from the other Christmasy things, I'm giving you a sneak peek. My mom found these while I was in another room of the church sale, and we calmly and quietly squealed and gave each other the secret, big-eyed look we get over a really great find, so as not to draw attention to our delight, and therefore cause price gouging. Here are three Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas magazines, dating from 1958, 1960, and 1962, and three magazines called New Ideas for Christmas from 1957, 1962, and 1964.


I actually own the 1960 BH&G issue already, and consulted it heavily for vintage decorating ideas when I won first place and $100 off our rent in our apartment complex's Christmas porch decorating contest last December. I've even made some Sweet Potato Balls with marshmallow middles from one of its recipes. I knew what a treasure trove of ideas and vintage inspiration these magazines contained, so my stomach dropped when the church lady looked at them and said, "We were going to charge a little more for these than the other magazines, because of their age."
Oh no. Here comes the part where they jack the price up because they see I'm interested and maybe these old magazines aren't trash, after all, they think, but something valuable and collectible worth big bucks. It's the unfortunate side effect of the eBay phenomenon that every goober with some old junk for sale thinks he or she is sittin' on a gold mine. I waited. Would it be $3 a piece? $5? My mind raced as I calculated what I would be willing to pay. I could handle a dollar a piece, maybe a buck fifty, much more than that would be pushing it.
"How about 3 for a dollar?", she asked.
"Yeah, that'll be fine," I replied coolly.
Thirty three freakin' cents each. You read it right. I nearly messed myself, Dollfaces, but I didn't because I was in The Lord's House, and that ain't proper. Plus, it would have taken up valuable bargain shopping time to clean myself.
I promise to share some great Christmas ideas with all of you, when the time comes. And very soon, I'll share the rest of my finds with you.