Christmas in July … uh, June!

Consider this an early version of my annual July public service announcement: Start looking for Christmas goodies at the thrift stores *now* before they go up in price this fall! I've had some success lately and am already excited about using some of these thrifted items for decorating and gift giving this Christmas.

Anything decorative in a cup-like piece gets my attention, and this 99-center caught my eye for a lot of reasons.

Mainly, I love old bottle brush trees but rarely see them, so I'm collecting new-ish items with bottle brush trees until I come across some old ones.

And of course, plates for treat-giving are always on my mind. This ruffled glass one, though, well, I'm not sure it will actually make it out the door!

But if I need to give someone a cake or a couple of loaves of tea bread, I have the perfect large platter to send along. Again I say, who wouldn't rather receive this reusable $1.99 piece instead of an ugly plastic platter for $5 from the grocery store?

And speaking of Christmas, not long after I published my Vintage Christmas Cookbook last year (of course!), I learned about the most marvelous resource I wish I'd known about earlier! It's a group (and website) called the Golden Glow of Christmas Past, and it's just for those who are fans of vintage Christmas decor. A $60 annual membership includes access to the group's online resources, their private Facebook groups, and their magazine (currently six issues annually). I am loving it, and among other things, I have learned of many, many more vintage teapot ornaments than I was aware existed. So if that sort of group appeals to you, too, be sure and check out the Glow here!