Christmas Wrapped Up

"Well I don't know what to say except it's Christmas and we're all in misery!"

~Ellen Griswold

National Lapoon's Christmas Vacation

I thought you all might get a kick out of the top photo.  It's what happened to my perfect rows of Santas when they all decided to flip off the top of the china cabinet in a hyper speed domino effect, pulling each other down the backside by their connecting light string.  I managed to grab them from hitting the ground and had to place them in a jumble until I had a few extra hands to sort them out.

This season was a hectic one. We had some of the family going out of town for the holidays and then we were asked to do "Christmas" with a two day notice early in December.  We obviously weren't going to have gifts done at that point so now we have to get together yet again after the holidays.  For some people out there who enjoy their loved ones this would not be a problem but we have a particular member on this side that loves to bitch and whine and make everyone miserable.  Last year she said it could be her last Christmas and then again told that to us this year.   She doesn't really believe this, it's just her martyr motto.  I've just come up with a great gift idea for her!  A holiday shirt all decked out in red and green, with the saying "This could be my last Christmas" printed across the front in the same fun font that one would have 'Seasons Greetings"!

The holiday decorating really kicked my ass this year, taking nearly a full week to complete.  I think I am at the point of max capacity on holiday decor, which is a bit sad to me since I love to collect it.  I'll have to let some stuff go if I want to add any more.  A friend of mine and I are planning to have a big craft sale next year with a focus on vintage Christmas so at least I can enjoy finding fun pieces for that over the next year, without adding to my hoard.   Mr. Husband and I had a good time doing some after Christmas shopping at all the thrift stores in our town and even the next one over, hunting down wonky and random Christmas stuffs. I don't find too many mid century vintage Christmas items anymore at thrift stores anyway.  For the sale I am going to be leaning more toward the tackiness of the late century, 1970-90s, lots of bears and granny crochet!  

I was thinking about what is my real problem with December, and it's that I have two full time work loads: Christmas and everything else I do as a housewife.  I have discussed this with Mr. Husband and next year in December I am not washing dishes or making dinners, he will be. Which works out that I'll only have to rewash half the dishes and the walls and counter tops that will be splashed with food, but this is still a help for me.

Every year I usually find myself so overwhelmed I am proclaiming quite loudly that I hate Christmas, at least this year I never said that but did tell a cashier at the grocery store I was a woman on the edge.
All and all, the holiday wasn't that bad.  We had friends over for dinner who were amazed (not horrified) by our overwhelming holiday decor, we watched all of our favorite movies, and ate a lot of cookies and treats, diet be damned.

 And of course I am already making plans for next year so I guess I haven't been disgusted enough to give up on the holiday just yet.

Oscar the Grouchy

It has now become my favorite holiday hunt to find a funny gift for my grandpa.  He is known as a grouchy old man to most but he is actually really funny with a grouchy sense of humor.  He isn't the kind of person that is easy to shop for but I started last year taking a humorous approach to selecting his gift.  I was pretty stoked to find this latch hooked Oscar the Grouch wall hanging as his gift this year!  Perfect!



Last year I happened to come across a cute ceramic Lil Stinker Skunk for him that I filled with Tootsie Rolls.  I probably look forward to him opening his gift more than any other one I give because I know he will have a funny grouchy comment about it!

"What's this? The Grinch? Or Oscar the Grouchy?  Did you make this?"

He held it up to the wall of the living room so I wouldn't put it past him to hang it right there next to his couch!  The Grouch Couch!

Log Loaves and Fireplaces

image source


For this year's baked goods gifts for fam and friends I was inspired by the above image from Farm Journal 1965.  Little cardboard fireplaces filled with baked nibbles and a bonus decoration on the mantle.  The originals have an oven door kinda flap to stash the goods behind, but I thought it would be more clever if the baked good was exposed and yule log looking.  I could not find brick printed paper in town and the effort it would have taken to make my own would have been a dullard thing to do for something that is going to go in the recycle can on Dec. 26.

So thinking outside the box and of course on the cheap, I happened to find a roll of wrapping paper that was double sided, with red and black buffalo check ( it's brick-ish to me!) on one side and a red/black wood grain on the opposite side.  Perfect!  The paper is made by Hallmark and I found it at Walsmart for about 2.50 for the roll.  I was able to get perfect sized boxes for free from the grocery store while they were restocking the Lean Cuisines.  I cut the icicles from a long strip of white paper and hot glued it on.  The andirons are just black paper.  I also included in the back of the fireplace a copy of the recipe for the loaf.  I made a couple from Pillsbury Bake Offs from 1949 and 1951, but those are gonna have to be posts for another time.
I thought it would be fun if the stockings hanging from the mantle were also the gift tag.  I free hand cut them from scrapbook paper and added a letter sticker to the front.  All of the mantle decorations were different.  I made them from little bits and bobs I bought from thrift stores.
 I made 6 of these but here are the two I was able to get photographed before folks took off with them.





The last K and L are two precious boston terriers that belong to D and L.  I stashed a little sack of doggy treats in the fireplace back for them!



This one doesn't have it's loaf in it because it hadn't happened yet.



For the topper on this mantle I decided to glue it all to a rectangle of cardboard wrapped in paper so it could be plucked off and used in the future as a bit of a Christmas decor centerpiece.

If I had thought of it sooner it would have been fun to place an electric/battery powered flame light shining behind the loaf logs!

I told everyone we gave one of these to not to feel they have to keep the whole contraption.  It's all cardboard and paper and I did that on purpose so it could be easily recyclable.  I found out that my mom and grandmother carefully unwrapped their loaves to save the paper so they can set up their fireplaces next year!

Tacky Sweater Stockings

I usually can manage to coerce PB into making Christmas presents each year, but it's getting harder and harder.  I came up with a fun idea this year for his cousins that at least I got a kick out of.
Tacky Sweater Stockings!

I know that the tacky sweater trend is out wearing it's welcome but I still think it's great.  I was into tacky before it was hip so now I can still enjoy it and just look outdated but at least not a complete mental case anymore.

I happened to see these sweater stockings at dollar tree (before below) and thought the idea to tacky them up was beyond brilliant.  So brilliant I can't be the first to have thought to do this but I do lead a very sheltered life.

I bought the red and green non-sparkly pom poms and felt sticker letters at dollar tree also.  I mixed up the red and black letters to add to the tacky wonkiness.  The other bits are out of a few bags of random uglish ornaments I picked up for cheap at thrift stores.

While we were working on the stockings PB kept telling me we were wasting our time because his cousins weren't going to appreciate them or get what they were. I think we could have added a few more bits and bobs to the stockings but we decided to use some restraint since we didn't know if they were going to go over well. But surprise!  It turned out they really liked them!

The stockings were just the 'wrapping' though.
For the stocking stuffers, PB filled them with his favorite candies, Ramune soda, and ramen noodles from a local Asian market.

If you are looking for more gaudy, check out my past post:
Tacky holidays to you!

🎄🎄🎄 

Jell-O Jingle Jells

{From Chatelaine Magazine 1959}

image source

With all the heavy sugar laden desserts and cookies we have had around the house I decided to put together something more on the light side, a Jell-O dessert called Jingle Jells!  I used sugar free Jell-O and sugar free cool whip.  I made the mistake of not following the directions (which sound like Jell-O Jigglers) and didn't make my jello firm enough to hold the bell shapes easily.  I wound up having to put my bells in the freezer to firm them up.  While I was in the freezer a more efficient person would have remembered to take the cool whip out to defrost but no.  My whipped topping is not beautiful and fluffy because I had to ...microwave it... for a few seconds to defrost it, so it turned out a touch runny.

  It's a simple concoction but the holiday hectic hell has gotten me to the point I can't even make Jell-O right.

It tasted just fine though, damn it.

A tip that the Jell-O folks didn't let on about is how to keep the red side red and the green side green.  

To keep them separated I had PB hold a plate vertically in the middle of the bowl while I scooped equal amounts of 

jell-o on each side.  Once full just slip the plate out! 

{click on image to enlarge for recipe}

Christmas Tree Cake

Even with it being after Christmas, and 51 posts for December at this point...I still have more Christmas!!!

The next few posts are some of the edibles and craftables I pulled together for the holidays.

First is this cute little tree cake (about 10 inches tall) that PB helped me make and decorate.

It was from a set of vintage pans I picked up from a thrift a few years back.  The instruction sheet was included and had a recipe for making just enough batter for one complete cake tree.  We actually wound up making two of these trees for different functions because they come together pretty quickly and are fun to decorate.  I bet the same idea could be accomplished with 3 small round pans.  Maybe a potted meat tin, a canned chicken tin, and a large tomato can with only half of it filled with batter?  Or for fancy folks 3 small cake pans in graduating size. 

Fa! La!! La! La!!

Merry Christmas from the Sugar Plums!
Performing every open mic night at The Saints punk club in downtown Chumuckla, Al!

Christmas with the Colonel

Our Christmas tree theme this year is
Christmas with the Colonel!

Under the tree we placed our KFC collectibles.  A vintage postcard from Sanders Court and Cafe, vintage sporks and napkin, Colonel Sanders Pop doll, and a vintage "Christmas with Colonel Sanders" record.

Check out the rest of the deep fried goodness!



KFC holiday bucket for 2019. Super cute graphics on it, all neat Colonel Sanders items or chicken related!  Apparently if you snap a pic of your favorite item and post it on some social media site you could actually win that item!!!!



I personally like the fried chicken curtains the best!




Square dance Colonel ties, images of vintage Christmas KFC buckets, lids, and Colonel Claus.



I carved about 12 pieces of fried chicken out of styrofoam.  Also put a bunch of mini rubber chickens on the tree (see top of photo).



A Sanders Angel for the top of the tree.
 I made him from a print of a vintage plastic bank and added a gold pipe cleaner halo and chicken feather wings.



The whole 12 piece Meal Deal!
I should have made some gravy garland!



Here we are back in 2017 at the Louisville Welcome center hanging with a wax Sanders!


Snack on some past deep fried KFC related bonus morsels:

Wishing You Kentucky Fried Christmas 2017

National fried chicken day 2015
Kentucky Fried Wigwam Night 2016

Chickeny Trick-or-Treat Bucket
A finger lickin' good pumpkin 2018

Will you be my chicken-tine? 2018
Fried Chicken Valentine Bouquet 2019

Kentucky Fried Vacation 2018

Finger Lickin' Good Wreath

Chicken on the front porch!



I continued our "Christmas with the Colonel" onto the front door wreath. 
Print outs of vintage images and sporks.



Also made a Santa Sanders delivering a sack of fried chicken to all the good girls and boys!

Xmas Decor 2019

 This year's holiday decor has definitely overstuffed my kitschy Christmas stocking!  

Here are a few views of the dining room.

And the living room:

The Santa Shrine.

Robots attacking the Atomic Town.

Elf Shelf.

A corner near the back door that typically doesn't get decorated but since the collection has expanded so much, Christmas has now oozed to farther regions of the house!

The green shelf full of Christmas cheer!

Just when I think I can't do more or add more I find a way.  Since taking these pictures I have added silver garland to the front of the shelf edges and this area is now all super sparkly!

There are a few other spots I didn't get a chance to photo but jeez, isn't this enough?!
Too much?!

It's Christmas so I say the tackier and more overdone the better!
Maybe next year I'll look into carpeting my house in fake snow!

Kitschmas Wreaths 2019

I love making me some vintage doo dad wreaths!
I had just enough little bits to put together a few to sell in a vintage pop up shop a friend and I put together back in September.
Here is what I made!

Our pop up shop was actually just us selling vintage what nots, crafty stuff, and plants in my front yard but we each made a couple hundred bucks each so not too shabby!

Kitchmas Bubblers 2019

These bubblers were my favorite crafty endeavor for the holidays this year.  I have been collecting up enough candelabras and ornament bits to make them all summer and then had a vintage pop up shop to sell them back in September.

The idea for these started last year when a friend of mine bought me a big bag of bubble lights from a pound sale at Goodwill.  There were a lot of broken ones in the bag but I was able to salvage enough to craft up 8 sets of candelabras.

Like I mentioned earlier, she and I had a vintage yard sale back in September. I decided to save my vintage leftovers from the Punk Rock Flea Market last year and also made these bubblers and a few wreaths to sell.  I sold nearly all the Xmas crafty stuff since I was only asking 10 bucks each for them.  From this sale a long saga has formed.  So I have to tell you all about it because it's become a legend in a way around my house and between us and our friends that did the sale with us.
So, Mr. Husband and I go to a lot of estate sales and we run into the same 5 people all the time.  They are : weird dude that only wears sleeveless shirts and no shoes, short stern lady that looks like another person we met at another sale, guy in pale jeans and generic white tennis shoes, Hawaiian shirt guy, and crabby faced lady.  Yes, these are their "names".  They have to be all re-salers.  And you would think at this point we would have become friendly with one another but these people are a bit cut throat.  When I advertised for our vintage sale of course I did a fun craigslist ad and hyped it up to be the sale of the century!  Ha, ha, so that meant all of those Estate Sale 5 came by. The only one that bought a lot of stuff was the crabby faced lady.  She grabbed up 3 candelabras and a set of vintage Kromex containers.   When she brings them to me she doesn't even open with a friendly hello.  She says "I do re-sell.  Can I get a better deal on all of this?"  The total would have been 45 bucks but I said I would sell it all for 35, which was a bird brain thing for me to have done.  I just wanted to get stuff sold and I am sure I paid less than 35 for the total of those items, but still, ugh! Mr. Husband even helped her carry her stuff to the car.  Between us and our friends we made a total of nearly 600 bucks.  Not too bad, since we didn't have to pay for a booth rental at a flea market or drag all of our stuff to a location and then set up and break down a tent.  As I was packing up I realized that some things were missing.  Things that I didn't remember putting out for sale, but did remember pricing them.  An apron, a belt buckle, a plastic chef memo pad holder....possibly more.  Then it came to me!  I had packed a bunch of stuff in the Kromex containers!  We were all helping each other set up so I wasn't the one who placed the containers out that morning, Mr. Husband had and he didn't know.
So Crabby Face wound up getting even more out of me for that 35 bucks.  Now here is where things can go a few different ways.  She finds the stuff but can't return it to us because she doesn't remember where we live.  I can see that.  But remember I said earlier we run into her all the time.  I'm not saying she should keep these things in her pockets just in case either.  So the next weekend I am out estate saleing and sure enough I run into her twice!  She doesn't even say one word!  I think maybe she hasn't discovered the extra items yet.  Then the next weekend I run into her again, literally.  I was walking through a tight kitchen at a sale and we came face to face, eye to eye!  She says nothing!!!  Not even excuse me, pardon me, hello, or f*ck off.  The next weekend (third after the sale) Mr. Husband and I decide to hit up a few antique malls. I notice one booth is setting up vintage Christmas already even though it's the middle of October! Cool!  Hey, and there are my candelabras...for 20 bucks each!  As a matter of fact the owner of the booth was right there..Crabby Face!  I sent Mr. Husband over to check the booth out in detail because I didn't want to make a scene.  He went over there and made eye contact with her and she didn't say a word.  We decide to hit up the rest of the shop on the opposite side for a bit to give her time to clear out.  And lo and behold, in another booth over there were my Kromex containers!!!!  I am pretty naive when it comes to vendors I guess.  It never occurred to me that someone would have more than one booth, especially since they are so damn expensive.  So of course I opened and checked the interior of the containers and EMPTY!  The items I was missing were not for sale in the booth so I don't know what that old crab did with them.  She may even have another booth at another antique mall.  About a week before Christmas Mr. Husband and I stopped back by this particular antique mall and all 3 of my bubblers were gone, sold.
On the tags of her booth had her name, Hope.  My friends we did the sale with went the extra step and even found out her last name and her facebook where she puts up stuff she is selling, keeping an eye out.  Either way it goes it was really bad business of her.  Especially since my friends work for an estate sale company and she will be not getting any deals from them since all of this went down!

Like I mentioned earlier, this whole saga has now become kind of a legend that we all have fun with.  We'll ask each other if we've had any Crabby Face sightings over the weekend.  I kinda have been planning on really over doing being friendly to her next time we run into each other because clearly that is not her thing.  Big smile and a warm hello, and saying "Smile! It increases your face value!"