Peter Pan Records For Christmas

My friend Robbi gave me the greatest  bunch of stuff last month, mostly things she found at yard sales, I think. She thought I might like them. Um...yeah, I surely do!
How lucky am I to have such a generous and sweet old friend?
Thank you so much, Robbi!
These Peter Pan records have the cutest illustrations on their jackets:

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!
(You'd better watch out.....)

Too Busy....

I wish there were two of me, because working and trying to do everything else to get ready for Christmas is simply too much for me this year!

It's been ten years since I was working full time at Christmas, and unlike many of you ladies out there, I'm not used to being this busy! I'll get it all done, somehow......

Cool Christmas Catalog, Part Two

More pages today from the 12/25 Christmas Crafts catalog, circa 1971:

You could get me almost anything on these pages as a Christmas gift, and I would think it was cool - even the toys and things that were meant for kids!

Cool Christmas Catalog, Part One

I found this great vintage catalog at a thrift store for twenty cents. It is filled with the neatest things!

I scanned most of the pages so I could show you the goodies inside:

There are quite a few, so I will show the rest tomorrow.

Click on the pictures so you can see them better.

The catalog is from 1971, and the name of the company offering the items was Edcom Systems. It says inside "Edcom of Princeton, New Jersey, is a new pioneering research and development organization. It was started and is headed by Frank Caplan, former president of Creative Playthings. Working with him are several key members of the team that helped build Creative Playthings, Inc." There sure are a lot of things inside that I would have loved to have purchased back then - and still today, if they were available! I do still see some of the things around. There is a list on the back of the catalog telling which stores in which states had a "12/25 Christmas Crafts" boutique inside.

A Visit from the Head of the Herd

Good morning. Tina here. 

We had a close encounter yesterday with one of the bucks which hangs out in our yard here in Kelsey.

Luna had wanted to go outside but hesitated when I opened the screen door. What was up?

Well, this big guy was what was up.  He was practically ready to climb the steps to our front porch, but he was as cautious of Luna as she was of him.

He waited around so I could fetch the camera, then checked us out and went on to greener pastures.

He keep looking back at us as if to check we were still paying attention.

He nibbled at the nice fresh green shoots which have sprung up after our torrential rainstorms the fall has brought us this year.

Then he met up with this other large buck out by the burn pile.  The does and a couple of small bucks with only spikes were foraging in among the scrub oaks off to their right.

As I quietly and slowly walked closer, the does noticed me and decided to leave.

The two big guys looked back at me, seeming to wonder what the big deal was.

But off they went to their next meal further into the river canyon.

Angel Wrap From Hallmark

Such sweet angels on this lovely wrapping paper from Hallmark, circa 1968:

I still love visiting my local Hallmark store; they have so many wonderful things!

Finds For Christmas

I have managed to find some nice Christmas items at the thrift shops, here lately. So of course I wanted to share them with you in a post.
 I found a lovely vintage Christmas tin:

You know how much I love vintage cards. Well, I found some that I can actually use. Hot air balloons - there are ten of these:

And pretty Christmas candles; there were twenty in this packet:

"The Merrie Christmas Drink Book" was not MY find, it was Lori's. But she gave it to me for my Peter Pauper Press book collection - because she's a sweetheart:

This vintage card box, below was full of unused vintage cards, too...

... but I am less likely to use these older ones, especially when they are from the 1940's, and I have only one of each:

No, I think I will be keeping them, not sending them:

A "sweet" pair of vintage candy cane pillow cases:

Mrs. Claus and a box of vintage C-9 bulbs in some of the unusual colors I love:

Here's wishing you a colorful Christmas!

A Real Bargain

When I knew I'd be heading to the mall and I figured I'd be able to go in to Sears and check out the Land's End department, I had decided that I would see if I could find a fleece vest like the ones I ordered from their catalog a while back. I love them so much that I bought three different colors on sale, but since I have lost weight they are pretty big on me now. I love that I have been losing weight, but I hate when favorite articles of clothing no longer fit. This was my plan, and I had even torn out catalog pages from Land's End that had some men's fleece vests, thinking if I could find those, perhaps a men's size small or medium would fit me. I just wanted to see, and I was hoping they might be on sale. I had the catalog pages in my purse. As it happens, on my way over to Placerville I stopped at a couple of thrift stores, I found the Eddie Bauer vest, below for $1.99. Score!

When we visited the Eddie Bauer store at the Roseville Galleria, I decided I would have a look around to see if I could find something similar. And I did - the price was $49.99, and it was NOT on sale. This vest that I found online is the closest thing to mine, except that it doesn't have a hood. I love that mine has a hood. I am VERY happy that I found it, and especially at such a huge price difference. It was a real bargain, for sure.

Shopping At My Favorite Stores

Lori and I got to go do some shopping last week. It had been four years since I had been to a mall, and I was ready! We went to The Fountains at Roseville, and the Westfield Galleria at Roseville, where quite a few of my favorite stores can be found. Our first stop was the Vera Bradley store. For the first time, I treated myself to a few items - early Christmas gifts to myself. I have been working HARD and saving my money so it was time for a splurge:

I decided (finally - all of the floral fabric patterns are spectacular, so it's difficult to choose!) on this gorgeous tote bag and matching set of zippered bags, below. Everything I chose was on sale:

...and they even gave both of us a little gift! Adorable tiny change purses:

I got some gifts at Crate And Barrel:

And I bought myself a Vera Neumann Christmas tea towel! Where have I been? I didn't know they were selling Vera items there! Guess I'm out of the loop:

I picked up some of my favorite soaps at Bath And Body Works, and also a great holiday hand soap:

We HAD to go to Anthropologie, of course. I got two aqua latte bowls, and one mini in a color that I didn't have:

At Papyrus, which is filled with SO many beautiful cards and gift items, I just picked up a couple of tags (but I wanted so much more!):

I spent a good deal of time at the Land's End shop at Sears. I love Land's End. However, I bought a nice rain parka, and the sales clerk forgot to remove the security tag! It has been raining cats and dogs here and I can't wear it. Still not sure what I am going to do about that. Grrr.... But I also got a nice long-sleeved tee and some socks:

At Eddie Bauer,- all I bought was a nice pair of trouser socks to wear with boots. I DID look around a bit, though (more about that in tomorrow's post):

Shopping at Joann's Fabric And Crafts here in Sonora was done the day before, where I finally remembered to pick up one of their gorgeous tote bags, and I also got a few 99 cent patterns, like this one for an old-fashioned dress for work:

"I enjoy shopping", she said, in one of the greatest understatements in history.

Angel Gift

My friend Jamie gave me this absolutely gorgeous angel for my birthday:

She has such a beautiful face:

Thank you so much, Jamie. You know that I love her.
And you.