I know I have said this before on this blog, but I have a real thing for retro Christmas images. I love the depictions of Santa in the 1940s; I love the charming representations of cozy living rooms with blazing fires in the fireplace; I love the adorable reindeer; in short, I just love them all. They don’t make Christmas cards the way they used to – that part is obvious.
Last fall I took a few vintage cards and used those images to make a set of Christmas coasters. I still love them every time I look at them.
You really can’t get images any cuter than these. Santa and reindeer in a trolly? Come ON.
I had some metal ornament blanks lying around, so I decided to design some ornaments along the same line. I finally had to stop myself because I kept finding new pictures I loved and designing ornaments from them. I was definitely “in the zone” for a while there.
Here’s what I created:
Cuteness overload – I know! They’re in my Etsy shop if you are interested.
Now if we can just get modern card manufacturers to return to these types of designs, I’d be happy. I always go on a “retro card hunt” when they start hitting the shelves, and sometimes I can find some nice retro design, but other years I have resorted to creating my own cards on Shutterfly.
The other quest I go on when Christmas stuff starts rolling out is trying to find retro-looking wrapping paper. Now THAT is a feat! I have had good luck at places like Home Goods and Marshalls, but it varies wildly from year to year. This year I’ll share some if I’m lucky enough to find a good design. Midcentury-inspired design seems to be getting a little more popular, and there are many products out there that I have my eye on. I didn’t buy these last year, but I’m thinking of grabbing them this year:
You can find them at Walmart. The brand is Mr. Christmas and you can easily find them by searching for “retro Christmas plates.”
If you haven’t visited a World Market around Christmas time, then you absolutely need to if you’re a 1950s fan. Have you seen their retro Christmas houses? I have collected five, and they keep coming up with new designs each year, so I’ve had to hold myself back because they are ALL adorable. They light up and make a charming addition to your holiday decor. Some are kitschier than others, but I love the ones in Midcentury ranch houses, like this:
It comes complete with an atomic cat stretching out on the side of the house!
For the Halloween lover, they even have some Halloween-inspired houses.
Speaking of World Market, my hubby and I will have to make our annual trek there to find our newest “misfit” ornaments.
A few years ago, I started accidentally collecting ornaments that were a little on the bizarre side, and my husband and I started calling them “misfits.” World Market is an absolute GOLD MINE when it comes to offering misfit ornaments. Here’s a sampling:
See? The weirder, the better. It has gotten to the point where I have an entire Christmas tree devoted to just misfit ornaments. What can I say? They make me happy, and normal is boring. Don’t worry – I put up multiple trees, so the traditional ones make it out of the box as well.
But, really . . . . an elephant taking a bath with his rubber ducky? You just can’t say no to that.
