Vintage Barbie Dolls And More - A Fabulous Display

I made the time to go for a long-awaited, much-needed visit earlier this month with my very dear old friends up in Camino, and while I was there, we also went downtown (to Placerville) so we could have lunch and cram in a wee bit of shopping in our short time allotment that day. We ended up splitting up, and I headed straight for the antique shops (there are no thrift stores on Main Street!).
One of the shops I visited was  Empire Antiques (I hope I have the right place), and when I came upon these wonderful displays, I just HAD to snap some photos so that I could share them with you here!
First of all - a LOT of vintage Barbie, Midge, Ken and other dolls:

It was a couple of weeks before Christmas, and honestly I didn't even look at any of the price tags because I had no money to spend on vintage dolls or clothing for myself!
 I can't usually afford to buy vintage Barbies anyway - you can see some of the prices, here. They're just nearly always too "spendy" for my thrift shop budget!

But the displays! The rooms were large and all set up behind Plexiglass or something.
 I don't know whether this was something that had previously been in a collector's home, but I'm just assuming so.
I mean - they were fabulous!
Check out the kitchen:

All of the women and children are busy in the kitchen - so cute!

Oh, is that hubby sitting in an easy chair in the other room?
Gee - does that seem familiar to anyone?
What a delightful Christmas scene, though - preparing to have dinner in the dining room:

And I had to take a picture of this set-up, as well - with the sort of "mod" look furniture, and such.

I was extremely impressed with this vendor's doll display, as I'm sure you can tell by my post!
Sorry I did not get great photos of it all, but there was not a lot of light, and I was using my phone, and had the reflections to deal with, etc. I did my best!
I hope I have more time next time I go, and if I have any money I can afford to spend, I will take another look at those price tags!

New Years Greetings from Tina and Jac



Good morning! Tina here. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

I am going to share my present to myself which I just purchased from ebay. The seller purchased it at a garage sale, and lucky for me listed it just after Christmas as a buy-it-now. I could not resist.



This is a self portrait watercolor by Jac Turner, one of my very favorite local artists, who has been gone now for over twelve years. This was painted in April 1991, not long before I met him. Longtime readers of the blog might remember my post in August 2014 about Jac, and mentions of his art in March 2011 in my post on the Gutenberger house, and the May 2011 post about the M. E. Church in Coloma.

I want to wish all of you a very nice New Years, and I can't think of a better way than to show you than an antique (1909) postcard with my favorite flower, the nasturtium!

 May your wishbone always break in your favor, and may your New Year be bright!

Back To "The Drawing Board" Yet Again

Today, I have a few more examples of the colorful and delightful vintage stationery items that were produced by Drawing Board Greeting Cards, Inc. back in the 1970's and 1980's. I have written about them more than once because I am so "drawn" to the wonderful artwork they featured.
We'll start with this adorable Santa card, below - seeing as how it's almost Christmas, and all!

How cute is he?
Next, some adorable note cards with polka-dotted mushrooms, flowers, and a ladybug.
It doesn't get much better than these:

 I LOVE them.
The frog below is a gift box - and I love him, too!

 And this owl, below!
Begging you to "Do-O-oo Come!" to a party.
Don't even get me started on how great-looking I think HE is!
Hey, if you're going to send me an invitation as fabulous-looking as this, and invite me to a party - I'm coming!
Bet on it.

 More invitations to an "Open House" feature a sweet little home, sweet home, complete with a kitty cat in the window:

And one more that's pretty darned cute, too - A little birdie (or two) told me that you are invited to "Join The Party!"

That's it for today, because, well .... you know how everybody asks you if you're "ready for Christmas", like if you're out shopping and running errands and stuff?
Well, I'm not!
Gotta get busy, because I still have a lot to do!

Merry Christmas from the Gold Country!

Good morning, Tina here.

This is a very short post.



I just want to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas.

May you all enjoy your holiday and share your love with family and friends.

What's Penny Wearing? #146 - A Christmas Ensemble

 Today, Penny wanted to show you the pretty sweater and skirt I found that would be just perfect for Christmas.

A crocheted cotton sweater in a pretty green:

And the skirt is red cotton denim, brand new with tag:

My tree brooch is missing a rhinestone or two, but it still sparkles, and I added a lone tree earring to be it's little "mini me".

I thought they'd all look pretty together for Christmas!

Christmas Finds, Much To My Delight!

It's so much fun to discover vintage treasures, and I have gotten lucky lately, and have managed to find some wonderful Christmas items.
Angels are one of my favorite collections, and the ones in these two first photos on my post made me very happy!
This little candle-hugger is from Fitz And Floyd, and so is the candle holder holding the candle she's hugging!

I could NOT believe my eyes when I spied this lovely trio, below!

(Because I am OBSESSED with these colorful painted angels. Whenever I find any to add to my collection, I believe my heart skips a beat.)
I also found this cutie-pie snowman bell, and the little angel alongside him:

A vintage red reindeer Dream Pet, his little red-flocked reindeer friend, and a dear little elf:

Let's all dance and sing while Santa plays the accordion!
Found him at the Vets Thrift - he's a music box:

I added vintage bottle brush trees to the lamp posts after buying this adorable pair at the flea market:

And here's another pretty angel!

Santa and some reindeer, along with vintage wrapping paper as a background:

And a papier mache box in red and green, which doesn't necessarily have to be just for Christmas, of course:

I think I paid fifty-cents for a plastic bag containing all of these special angel ornaments......

   ....  along with these birds:

(I couldn't add that bag to my basket quickly enough!)
Four more Santa mugs are always welcome in this house, especially with smiles as sweet as these:

Colorful vintage tags:

Whew!
I think that's it for today, only because I need to get this post up, and work on other things!

Lovely California Christmas Postcards Sending Greetings!

Good morning, Tina here.


As a California girl who has lived in the Northern California Sierra foothills for close to sixty years, I have always celebrated Christmas while enjoying the winter weather here. It can be warm and clear, perfect for a game of football on the lawn; rainy and blustery, best viewed from the fireside next to the sparkling Christmas tree; snowy and sharp, an expansion of white to rush through on a sled; foggy and mysterious, hiding views of our river below off and on with wisps of creeping misty coolness; or crisp and frosted, iced puddles calling to children's boots everywhere.


California vintage Christmas postcards usually celebrate our weather from the Southern California point of view, which is warm and citrus scented, colorfully flowered, and with a backdrop of lightly frosted mountains. Sounds good to me!

When winds are howling 'round your doors and frost is creaking through the floors,
just pack your grip, for nature stores a wealth for you on other shores;
Her sunny smiles await you here with all the Golden West holds dear.

The wide, warm west sends greeting, for the best of Christmas Cheer,
May the coming year be one of gold, like the orange pictured here.

Old King Cole is a cranky old soul, because he can't live out here,
for we're warmed with sunshine - don't need any coal, for Christmas or Happy New Year.

Snow capped mountains and orange grove. When I was a very little girl we lived in one of those orange groves with mountain views.

Palm trees and poinsettias. This postcard below reminds me of Santa Monica and the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean.

Date and fan palms on Palisade Drive. We painted our home a beautiful mellow green which was called Palisades Park, I love green houses and it seemed such a perfect California color choice!

Poinsettias at Christmas. The bracts which form the "flowers" only turn red when the days are short. I have a poinsettia which lives in the dining room in winter. It doesn't get a lot of light in there and will show us a bit of red by Christmas most years.

Private garden in what mansion? I will take that for my Christmas present!

Some California sunshine from 'neath her skies of blue. How I would love to stick my nose into those orange blossoms!

Our garden in midwinter. In our Kelsey winter garden we do get a rose to bloom once in a while. My son has a single blossom on his little pear tree, a little bit of nature's Christmas decorating.

California Christmas Greetings from Gold Country. Merry Christmas to all!

December, By Jerry Pinkney From" The Year Around Book"

Well, here we are eleven days into December already, and I'm finally remembering to share this wonderful illustration by Jerry Pinkney!

 Ring that bell, Santa!
Because I am totally digging that cool, colorful Christmas living room you have entered, here.
I love everything about it.
In fact, aside from the fact that ours is a "non-working" fireplace, I'd love to attempt to re-create that scene!
(From "The Year Around Book", by Helen Jill Fletcher, published in 1965.)

 I also wanted to just share a few quick photos of some Christmas items I've found recently.
Like these lovely vintage Shiny Brites:

I just adore beautiful vintage Shiny Brite glass balls, but I have so many ornaments that I simply do not have the space to store them all, so both of these boxes are for sale in our booth at Mountain Treasures in Sonora:

 The next box is a keeper for me, though  - I love the ones with stencils and stripes!
These by Franke:

 And I found this gorgeous felt and sequin wreath!

Because I can never have enough vintage,colorful felt and sequin goodness in my home at Christmas time!