A Very Vintage Holiday
Vintage mug (same pattern here)
Visiting antique and thrift stores is one of my favorite pastimes. I love how it feels like a treasure hunt. You can find the most interesting and unique pieces, plus it feels good to buy used. I frequent the Alameda Antiques Fair often and we’re lucky to have a number of other antique stores close by, but if you know specifics of what you’re looking for, sometimes you can get lucky on Ebay or Etsy as well.
The holiday season is the perfect time to visit antique stores too. They feel even more charming when they pull out all the vintage holiday decorations and also make great places to shop for gifts you won’t find elsewhere. While I still love a good trip to HomeGoods, I’ve been really loving how antique and vintage things add more warmth and character to your home. It’s like you can feel the history. These are some of my favorite things to keep my eye out for at antique stores during the holidays:
Holiday mugs & tableware - Switching up your plates and mugs for season really helps you get into the spirit. I’d been keep my eye out for just the right holiday mugs for my tea for a while and came across these beautiful poinsettia mugs at the start of the season.
Holiday table linens - I love linens year round so it’s no surprise that I love to have some for the holidays. I have a number of red and white napkins I love because they work perfectly for holiday, but also in the summertime!
Ornaments - For gifting or decorating your own tree—I love adding interesting ornaments to our tree. I think the perfect tree is a mix of one of kind, homemade and matching/coordinating ornaments. I never want our tree to look too catalog. It should look like it belongs in your house and is cozy and warm while still looking put together and thoughtful.
Nutcrackers - My mom collected nutcrackers growing up and she had such a huge collection. She recently told us she gave most of them away (!!!) and I was taken aback. I have a few and love the idea of continuing to grow the collection.
Needlepoint stockings - For a minute I thought maybe I’d pick up a new hobby and try my hand at needlepointing. Of course I wanted to jump right into a stocking which seems so beautiful and classic, but all the how-to’s recommend you to start small and work your way, all the way, up to a stocking. In the meantime, I’ve just found a few at the antiques faire that I thought would look beautiful as extra decoration around the house.
Christmas village houses - Another collector item, I just got my hands on a few too many so I don’t think I can grow my collection any further, but they are so beautiful. Let’s not talk about where I’m going to store them though…