The Stockings Were Hung…

Good morning, my friends!

I’ve got lots to share with you today—been having so much fun making things after my creative break over Thanksgiving!

As you all know, I LOVE everything vintage—no real surprise there!  So I was so excited when a friend of mine told me about a wonderful new company you may not have heard of yet…

 Vintage Street Market…Tutorials, nostalgic history, decorating ideas…such a fun place to visit and shop!  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some of this stuff! 

Most of their product as sold in kits—and their products are all original vintage items—no reproductions—which means there is a limited number of kits available.

And they’re just chock-full of fun!  Here’s their Retro Christmas Kit that I used for my projects today:

My first project…a fun Christmas stocking…

These are the wonderful old drugstore Christmas stockings, that would be filled with candy and inexpensive little toys…love them!

So easy to embellish with fun finds from the Retro kit…also used a bit of sheet music from a vintage caroling book they sell, too…I even used the tag from the vintage button packaging!

I always try to personalize my projects with a bit of my family history, as you know…This wonderful old photo from the 1950’s is my Mom…complete with pin curls covering her head!

Mom is quite an artist—always has been!  Each year, her parents would have her paint her Christmas images on the large windows in the front of their Phoenix home for all to see…

Good job, Mom!

A close-up of the fabulous Santa sticker…I remember things like this! 

…and then there’s this beautiful old Bakelite button…I LOVE these almost as much as my mother-of-pearl buttons!

Next, a little Christmas hanging made with other elements of the kit…

A vintage card from the ‘50’s, along with it’s envelope served as the focal point for this easy-peasy hanging…

I just traced the envelope on some thick red cardstock and glued them together for more stability…added some beautiful chunky red German glass glitter along the edges of the envelope and a little Gold Glimmer Mist over everything for a bit more sparkle…

I cut out the sentiment from the inside of the card (would NEVER ordinarily do that!) and I love the way it looks here…don’t you just love those retro/vintage fonts?!

…added a little vintage Christmas me from 1963…can you see the silver aluminum tree on my grandparent’s Phoenix patio?  A warm Christmas morning so long ago…

…and my favorite part--

They  sell packages of these wonderful old reflectors!  If you’re not familiar with these, they were first used in the 1940’s.  They would be placed on the light string at the base of the bulbs to reflect a bit more light on the Christmas tree…magical!

Okay…now for something incredibly sweet!

CANDY CANE PUFFS

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
package white chips
1/2 cup peppermint candies, crushed

Combine flour and salt; set aside.

Blend together butter and sugar; beat in egg and extracts. Mix into flour mixture using low speed. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate for one hour.

Shape dough into walnut-size balls; place on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes; cool. Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler (I just did it in the microwave).

Dip cooled cookies into melted chocolate. Roll in crushed peppermints; set on wax paper until hardened. Makes about 4 dozen.

Oh, my!  These are just delectable little bites, I promise you—and VERY easy to make!

The recipe came from one of my very favorite places—Gooseberry Patch!  It’s in their newest Christmas book (#12)…

…filled to the brim with loads of Christmas decorating and gift ideas…and the recipes…goodness gracious!

Okay…one more thing to share…

…another in my collection of vintage Christmas cards.  This one seemed quite appropriate for a Christmas stocking theme…charming little tops that might have been placed in a little child’s stocking on Christmas Eve so long ago…

This was sent in 1938…the year in-between my parents’ births (Dad in 1937, Mom in 1939)…just look at that lovely font used for the sentiment (can you tell I love beautiful fonts?!)

And besides the fabulous old stamp…get a load of the address…”City”.  That’s it!  What a simpler, wonderful time!

Well, that’s it for me today.  I hope you’re enjoying this first part of the beautiful month of December…so much to do…isn’t it exciting?!

See you soon with something new…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Christmas,Vintage Street Market,Gooseberry Patch,Candy Cane Puffs Recipe