If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love blow molds - if you don't know what one is, well it's those plastic lawn decorations that were everywhere from the 60's through to the early 80's - now they've been replaced by the inflatables - no inflatables for me, I'll take the blow molds anyday!!
The other week I was in the lineup at Target, an older gentlemen was buying a snowman, he started talking to me how he didn't like these new figures, that he preferred the "old plastic ones" - that was all I needed to strike up a conversation with him, he proceeded to tell me about his display that he's been building for 20 years and is worth thousands - he told me where it was, last night we went there, on probably the coldest night so far! That's the reason I didn't get very good pictures, the wind was raw, it was freezing!! He came out to talk to us when we were walking around and told us where he got various pieces - I just have to go back out there in the daylight and get some better pictures. We couldn't believe it - there must have been 100-150 pieces of blow mold Christmas heaven!!
This is just one scene, they covered the whole front yard - there was just everything....
This is just a small section of the snowmen - there was every size...
We wanted this one, we wanted a Mrs. Claus, we wanted a very retro Santa - there was lots we wanted. I saw a different Santa yesterday at the thrift store and I left it there, after seeing all those last night, I should have bought it!!
I can share all of my blow molds with you because I have a very small collection compared to what I saw last night.
The big Santa on the left was my very first one I ever found - he's a 4 footer.
I have been so lucky finding all of these and never paying more than $5 for any of them.
I found this one at a yard sale this past summer for a couple of bucks! I didn't see this one at the big display last night, we put him on top of the shed.
We bought this back in the 80's, long before we knew what a blow mold was - he sits on top of the clothesline pole.
Blow molds come in all sizes, we love them all!! Not only are they outside, they're inside too!
The only blow molds I can ever remember having at home were these candles - here's Darcy back in PEI in 1989 - I never really cared for those candles , every Christmas Dad had them tied to the front step - those are long gone but I just had to find a set of my own and I did!
I finally have my corner shelf decked out in all the beautiful red shades of Christmas - but when I was setting it up, it seemed like I had a whole lot more vintage Christmas than I did last year, I didn't think I accumulated that much but apparently I did, so much that my husband made me another corner shelf yesterday. They are just the greatest shelves, that will make two in the livingroom, one in the kitchen, and two in the gameroom. If you want a closer look, just click on any picture!
Here it goes - the top shelf..
Every item on this one is thrifted except for the reindeer and the Santa and the chimney, the chimney came all the way from Holly in Newfoundland!! It's so cute, this is the first year on the shelf for it. I've had the deer since the 70's, my penpal, Carol was from Red Deer, Alberta she sent that to me at her Mom's urging, it has been in the house at home, now it's here with me once again. Carol and I have been friends ever since, actually, she just sent me a new bell for the "Red Deer". I was asked if he was a Dream Pet, I don't really know anything about Dream Pets, although I know I do have one that I'm sure of - this one is made of a rubber or faux leather material - Carol says that the city was selling them as a way to promote the city. Were Dream Pets made of this material?
Not so many thrifted items on this shelf - the Santa and the sleigh belonged to Mom, it was made in Japan. The Santa and sleigh behind it belonged to my great aunt, it has the original sticker on it, Thames, hand painted, made in Japan. Everything else was purchased except for the classic Night Before Christmas, a trade from Molly, we did a fun trade back in the fall, check out her blog - We Have No Enemies
This shelf is pretty well all from home - the Putz houses, bottlebrush trees and little guys at the front were all Mom's - I found the knee hugger this summer at a yardsale.
I am going to do a little video on Instagram some day soon of the music box in the back, it belonged to my grandmother, I still have the original box, it holds a candle but there is no room for that on here. It's the cutest thing, it plays Silent Night and was also made in Japan, as is the Santa. I actually finally have a couple of Gurley candles, I have never ever seen one of those around here, I had to order one on Ebay, I was that desperate!! Last year I found the little mouse, it's a Josef Original. Thanks to Erica, that's Golden Egg Vintage Erica for her creations at the front, so very cute!!
Erica is so good to me - I love the Annalee Santa in the sleigh. Everything else is thrifted in this pic.
My only new item on the bottom shelf is the plastic Santa and sleigh. The little girls with hair are all Napco, made in Japan. I bought those years ago on Ebay, I guess another "Jill" owned it, her name is written on the bottom! I didn't know at the time that I had found a Bradley doll, but I guess that's what she is.
I have become crazy for all this vintage Christmas red, I decorated the tree yesterday which I used to do with mostly primitive type ornaments - wood and dark colors, I used none of those this year, everything is shiny and bright now!! I'll be sharing some of my other vintage Christmas shelves in the days ahead but today I'm linking up with a special party - Vintage Christmas at Organized Clutter and also Thriftasaurus.
This shelf is close to the corner shelf - I changed it up this year and made it about the lights, because I found myself with quite a few boxes of lights! I just hope there is no door slamming though or everything on it could come crashing to the floor! I like it!
Have a great day - hope you're displaying a little bit of vintage Christmas too!
