Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Vintage Glass Ornaments

 I am taking a quick break from decorating to show some of my Christmas collections.  This is part of my vintage glass ornaments.

I always remember these being put on the tree.  My father liked red cedars, but the branches were too flimsy to hold many ornaments so we switched to Frasier firs.

Each year we would go to Fatman's Forest to pick out a tree, get boiled peanuts, and ride the little train around the tree lot.  Those of you anywhere near Augusta, GA, know what an experience that was.

Notice in the picture above the ornaments were hung with bent bobby pins!  I have left them just like that.


 My favorite candy dish holds an example of more ornaments from my childhood.  I actually rescued a whole cooler full of these my mother was selling at a yard sale back in the seventies.

There was once a set of bells - there are only four left.  There are a couple of the NOEL balls left and this is the last of the silvery green with the painted bells.

I always put them on the tree.  Yes, at least one gets lost or broken each year, but they are loved and enjoyed.

I also have a bunch of vintage red, green, and gold balls.  I used to have fresh white pines for trees, but found out I am allergic to the preservatives sprayed on them so I went artificial.  I must admit artificial trees are much kinder on your glass ornaments - no sap to clean off!





 This one is not glass.  It is a sentimental little paper mache cupcake ornament made by my youngest brother (now deceased) when he was in kindergarten.






 This is the wiseman.  You are wondering why I would call this a wiseman.  When our tinfoil star angel tree topper bit the dust, we bought this. I was in the third grade and my brothers younger.  It is gold glass with a filler of dyed angel hair with three bells.  My brothers and I instantly yelled, "We have a wiseman for the tree!"

We still call it the wiseman.




 The rest of this post contains photos of part of my Shiny Brite ornament collection.  These go on a separate tree so my childhood ornaments are not mixed with ones I have purchased or received as gifts through the years.

When your birthday is in December, you receive a lot of Christmas stuff - a ton of it - it fills three attics!



 Three reasons for purchasing these: they were super cheap, they were tiny, they were red with painted white designs, and someone had taken the time to tie a piece of twine to each ornament.  Oh, wait, that's four reasons!




 This box was missing one ornament, but still tiny, red, and silver. 





I love even the faded and speckled ones!



 I bought this box of two mixed sets because of those striped ones.

I do have a thing for the ones with the indentations on the sides.



Well, that is just the top of the pile.  Boxes more, but I think I will just show the completed trees when I get a chance.

I know some people must think I am glass-ball crazy.

And you know what?

I am!





The nativity scenes were just sorted out and found their proper places on the living room mantel.  The angels have a new home this year.  There are a bazillion gourd Santas to find spots for around the house. So I running off, but I will be back with after photos to show.  Don't know if I am brave enough for a house tour!

See y'all!



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11 comments:

  1. Oh, my dear Donna: boiled peanuts and Shiny Brite ornaments! My heart is all a-flutter!! Thank you for sharing these beauties!
    Nancy

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  2. You brought back wonderful childhood memories Donna. As a child I remember thinking the indented ornaments were really beautiful and classy and my dad would only buy the cedar evergreen too. I think it had something to do with the drying out process. The cedar branches would last a really long time and there were no needles to fall. I never like that type of Christmas tree.

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  3. Oh my Donna! Those shiny brites really bring back some child hood memories! It sure wasn't a Christmas if at least one didn't break!! I just unpacked today...a box that had 3 old ornaments from Sam's grandmother in them. I'm always afraid I'll break them, but like you...I use them and love them!

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  4. You have some lovely vintage ornaments I'm always on the look out for new ones to add to my tree.
    Denise

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  5. Thank you for sharing some of your ornaments and the memories and stories behind them. I have a small but growing collection of Shiny Brites... they're just too hard to resist! I especially love the speckled and faded ones :)

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  6. We had that same tree topper when i was a kid (had the same pink fluffy stuff in it too). I never thought to put my family Shiny Brites on one tree and my thrifted ones on another. Great idea!

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  7. Love your Shiny Brites. When you said Fatman's Forest I knew what you were talking about. I spent many a day there as a child and later used to eat at the resaurant. I retired from the Medical College. Happy Christmas, Olive

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  8. Great collection. I have some for sale and sold some on my Etsy:) Stop by. I posted http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/search/label/Let%20it%20Snow and Impossibly sweet to the party. Merry Christmas!

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  9. I love all your vintage ornaments!!! A wonderful collection, Laura

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  10. What great vintageness--not a word I know :) Great memories too; I love the wiseman memory :)

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  11. In LOVE WITH THEM ALL!!!!!!! : ) Hugs and thanks for sharing!

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I enjoy reading all of your comments and will always answer with email. I will try to track you down if you show up as a "no reply" commenter to let you know. Friends are like that!