Kitschmas Decorating

Kitschmastime is in full swing at my place...kitschy holiday decorations from the 1950s and '60s currently cover every available surface. It's my belief that you can't possibly ever have enough of this fabulous stuff...

Kitschmasland.

A funky-looking Santa in his equally funky red house,
under an aluminum tabletop tree.

Is this the Cutest Little Snowman Ever? Yes.

And these are the Cutest-Ever Gnomey/Elfy Guys.

  Glass balls: the latest roofing trend, circa 1950.

A close runner-up for Cutest Snowman Ever 
resides on this vintage package trim.

This little gnome/elf guy has unfortunately been afflicted with Pinecone Body Disorder,
commonly seen in many mid-century Christmas decorations. 
His friend below has the same affliction. 

These two adorable snowperson shoppers may be 
Holt Howard Company products.

The "Yuletide Electrified Santa Chimney House"
features some remarkably colorful packaging.

 This bizarre feature of the "Yuletide Electrified Santa Chimney House" was apparently its big selling point. Unlit, the viewer sees Santa's molded plastic head protruding from the chimney. He looks a bit worried to me, like he's afraid he's stuck. When lit, our worst fears are confirmed: the cellophaned image of Santa in the chimney becomes visible through the cut-out window.

More Christmas Present Peeks

If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that I've peeked at my Christmas presents (well, they came via eBay, so I had to open them and give them the once-over, you know...) Anyway, here's the next batch of present peeks. Can you guess what they are???

Christmas is Coming!

Yay: it's December! That means some fabulous new toys are coming soon! Actually, they're already here, via Santa's partnership with eBay, and I've peeked. Well, I HAD to peek "to make sure the toys were okay," otherwise, how could I be a responsible eBayer, and leave prompt, positive feedback for our sellers? Anyway, that's how I'm justifying the peeking. Here's a couple of glimpses: can you guess what they are?

$1 Baggie Dollhouse Find

At a recent antique show, rooting around in a dealer's box of bargain-priced "junque," I found this baggie full of broken dollhouse furniture, priced at just one dollar. (It doesn't look like much here, but just wait...)

The pieces were clearly very old, German-made circa the 1890s-1910. On a closer, surreptitious inspection, I discovered all the bits were there, and they weren't really broken, just unglued. Over the past century, the animal-based glue dried out and gave way.

It was the work of a couple of minutes for the pieces to be reassembled, and ta-da: here they are!

The 4 inch tall chair is made of red stained, gold gilt trimmed wood and pressed cardboard, while the faux wood grained sideboard  is in a much smaller scale at 3 1/2 inches, and fits perfectly into my hard-to-furnish 10 inch tall dollhouse.

Not a bad find for a buck!

A New Peng Peng Bear!

Look who just arrived in the mail: "Candy," one of the latest creations of teddy bear artist extraordinaire, Peng Peng. Just 4 1/4 inches tall, the fully jointed little bear features hand-dyed mohair in a luscious shade of green, milk glass googly eyes, and handmade booties with a tie-dyed dress. Candy is just delicious!