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    Home » Holidays

    A Little Christmas Thrifting

    Published by Pam Kessler | 992 words. · About 5 minutes to read this article. - 48 Comments

    Well, blow me down.

    I got a little pre-Christmas thrifting and antique mall shopping in last week and thought I'd better show you the goods before Santa gets here and decides he wants to haul some of this stuff up to the North Pole with him.

    I have started collecting thermoses and thought they were perfect for a little vignette on the kitchen counter. Let's face it, anything that has red in it is good for Christmas decor.

    Thermos collection vignette for the holidays complete with Santa mug and a bottle brush tree

    The gray bodied one with red lid/cup to the right of Santa (our right, not Santa's right) and the red, gray and dark brown shorter one to the left of Santa (again our left, not Santa's left) are the newest ones. He has no hands, so pretty sure he would be confused by left hand and right hand anyhow.

    The cardboard Santa box to the far right (let's not get into whose right) is actually a small promotional item for a Christmas club at a bank in Terre Haute, Indiana. It has a slot in the top where you can insert your spare change. What ever happened to Christmas clubs?

    And I know you are all going to be as excited as me about this next find. I found some new-to-me blow molds this year.

    Kitschy Christmas blow mold candles for the front porch

    Yes indeedy!

    This is where half the people reading have just exited from my page. Let's talk about them now that they're gone.

    Can you believe not everyone likes blow molds? I know!!!

    Kitschy Christmas blow mold candle with Santa on the base.

    When I first saw these vintage outdoor Christmas candles sitting on the porch of a little out-of-the-way antique mall, I about peed my pants.

    Kitschy Christmas blow mold nirvana at the antique mall

    (Taken with my cell phone for Instagram. It's supposed to look grainy. No, really.)

    And then when I flipped the price tag over, I really did pee my pants. $8.25 for the set.

    Do you hear the orchestra music and see the rays from heaven shining down on this booth of kitschy Christmas goodness? Oh, I did.

    And this is how my porch ended up this year (you can see more of it in it's own post - Adding Retro To Your Christmas Porch Decor). Still using the candles, but more greenery going on!

    Vintage blowmold candles used as Christmas porch decor

    My #1 Tip For Thrifting For Vintage Christmas Decor

    Thrift stores box up donated Christmas decor they get after Christmas when people are downsizing their stash, store it until next Christmas and put it out on the shelves sometime around October 1st. Check with your local thrifts, but October 1st seems to be THE DAY for getting some good stuff before it's picked over.

    Another of my favorite thrifted blowmolds is this Santa.

    Plastic blowmold Santa with candy cane

    He must have toppled over a few times on someone else's front porch because they attached his feet to a piece of wood to keep him steady.

    I think my favorite thrift store find for Christmas was this vintage ceramic Christmas tree I found for a few bucks a couple years ago.

    Vintage ceramic Christmas tree found at a thrift store

    I couldn't get out of the store fast enough with this thing, thinking they may change their mind about the price and come running after me  🙂

    A couple years later I found this much smaller ceramic Christmas tree with a holly base, which I did a Christmas giveaway for my readers with in 2018.

    Ceramic Christmas tree

    And just this year I found a white ceramic Christmas tree with red birds!!!

    OK, I have to admit then when I found it I didn't even realize it didn't have a base to it. I'll just stick a battery operated candle in it until I run across a decently priced white base somewhere.

    White ceramic Christmas tree with red bird lights

    Speaking of vintage Santas (we were weren't we), I found this Rushton Coca-Cola Santa in 2017. And he goes perfectly with some of his other Santa cousins on my dining room buffet.

    The Rushton Coca-Cola ones (on the left in this photo) originally held a mini bottle of Coke, but I have NEVER seen one in the wild with the Coke bottle still attached.

    Collection of vintage Santa dolls

    You can see the rest of my 2018 Christmas Home Tour: Thrift Store Decor Style HERE.

    Both the scale and the vintage plastic Santa with sleigh in this post about A Nostalgic Christmas Breakfast Room were thrift store finds. I think Santa may be a 70's Christmas decoration?

    Vintage plastic Santa in sleigh

    Practically everything in my Vintage, Rustic, Industrial Holiday House Tour is thrifted including  quite a few thermoses and this cool old syrup tin.

    Thermos used in Christmas decor

    This vintage Santa and his flocked deer friends are also thrift store finds from my Vintage Farmhouse Christmas Decor where I show you how I mix a bit of farmhouse with a bit of vintage.

    Vintage plastic Santa and flocked reindeer

     

    Speaking of deer, I've found quite a few of these hard plastic Christmas deer at the thrifts over the years, so I just casually place them around my house to add a bit of fun to my Christmas decor.

    I have a whole post dedicated to the little guys, called Oh Deer.

    Vintage Christmas deer on Cosco stool

    My skis on my Holiday Front Porch For The Picnicking Ski Bums started off life as a nasty old pair of chipped skis I found at the thrift store and transformed them into one of my favorite pieces of holiday decor with a little bit of paint.

    Thrift store skis painted and used as Christmas porch decor

    I run across nasty, banged up, chipped skis ALL THE TIME at the thrift stores and they are normally under $5 a set.

    And of course, Santa Mugs are one of my favorite vintage Christmas decor that can be found every so often at thrift stores. I just love the thought that some kid in the 40's used to get all excited to drink out of this mug every single year.

    Vintage ceramic Santa mugs

    Have you found any fun Christmas stuff at the thrift stores?

    Any pants peeing incidents? Related to thrifting, of course.

    You'd be amazed at what you can find at thrift stores and antique malls for Christmas decor. Save a few bucks . . . upcycle . . . decorate in style. #thrift #thrifting #VintageChristmas #ChristmasDecor #ChristmasDecorations #retrochristmas #retro #vintage

    Other posts you may enjoy:

    Top 10 Thrift Store Shopping Tips
    How To Clean And Restore Thrift Store Finds
    5 Absolutely Iconic Vintage Christmas Decor Items You Just Have To Have (And Where To Buy Reproductions)
    « Decorating With Vintage Plastic Deer
    A Year In The Life Of A Blog »
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    Comments

    1. Gail Martin

      April 01, 2021 at 5:59 am

      I saw your blow molds. I used to have the candy canes that I got at Walmart when my oldest was still little enough to sit in the cart. He is now 31. AND I have coveted your middle Santa. I have one a bit bigger that him that I got for Christmas when I was a year old. I am now 61. Time flies !!!! I still put him out at Christmas. Your sight just brings back so many memories of years gone by. I tell my sons that they missed out on the best years. My aunt was very crafty. She would make her decorations. Her daughter has taken after her. She will take a drawing out of a magazine and enlarge it ( just for the outline of the picture) and tape it together and then paint it on Plywood. Everything she has done looks fantastic. Thank you for all of your ideas.

      Reply
      • Pam Kessler

        April 01, 2021 at 3:39 pm

        You are so welcome! Glad you are enjoying my site!

        I want to make a huge wooden Santa for my porch next year. I think they used to sell patterns in the wood working magazines way back when, because I've seen them at yard sales and they're always exactly the same. Maybe I'll try your cousins method.

        Reply
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