Thrift Store Finds : Vintage Christmas

Follow Up : You can see each of these items being used within our Christmas decor 2019 in this post.

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Hello!

I had some great lucky Vintage Christmas thrift store finds over the past several months, which I used for our 2019 decorating.

It was fun sprinkling these new-to-me items amoungst our existing vintage Christmas things. I took some photos of how our home looked over the holidays, making sure to include a glimpse of every one of these items, which I'll be posting tomorrow. So, if you fancy a little "treasure hunt / spot the new items" fun, come on back to see these items in action!

Prompted by my sister who drives (I don't), in November we went on a thrifting excursion, going a little further from home than usual, for an afternoon of shopping in Etobicoke (a suburb west of Toronto). We found an area that has a huge Value Village, a Salvation Army, a Talize and a Mission Thrift Store (which was closed on Mondays and it was a Monday when we went). Being used to repeat visits to the same Value Village (at Lansdowne and Bloor) all the time, I felt like I was in thrifting heaven. I definitely had to pace myself, because we encountered so many great things in those stores, and at such reasonable prices. It was amazing and we're both looking forward to going back to Etobicoke for thrifting soon!

So, some of these finds occurred in those stores, and the rest all came from my "tried and true" Value Village in Toronto.

Let's begin with the ceramic figurines ...

A Thrifted Christmas Gift Exchange

Hello, hello!

My "sisters who are friends" (or is it "friends who are sisters"?) and I had our first “Thrifted Gift Exchange” this Christmas.

There was my sister Camille and my good friend from high school, who was once also married to my brother for about 15 years, Colleen. It's safe to say that the three of us know one another well, so, while a gift exchange involving only secondhand finds might not work in every situation, we felt we were familiar enough with each other's tastes to give it a go.

When I told another friend we were doing this, she said that she would not find that fun and that she felt choosing thrift store items as gifts would be a hard thing to do. So, again, this might not work for everyone, however, we knew going into this that all of us love vintage things and have always been comfortable with used items.

We set a price limit of $10 per gift, each buying for two people. We all ended up going slightly over that, but not by much. There was remarkably great gift getting potential for a tenner at the thrift store!

I got my things for them at the Value Village at Lansdowne and Bloor. My time allotment for shopping only allowed for one visit to the store, so, as I passed through those entry doors, I had my fingers crossed that I'd get lucky and find the perfect items.

I began by putting everything I saw that might work into my cart. But, as I shopped, I realized that the job of finding secondhand things for these ladies was quite easy. I ended up with more options than I needed and retraced my steps, putting things back on the shelves.

Here's what I found ...

Celebrating a Decade of Friendship with Meghan with Food, Art and Music

Hi there. Welcome and thank you for dropping by.

While late autumn and early winter fills most everyone's schedule with fun celebrations, I consider myself extra lucky to add three personal special dates to my calendar during this time. Those are anniversaries of meeting three people who've become very important in my life : One is my dear husband Nick -- I met him on a blind date in November 1998, and married him in November 1999. (We went to Halifax for our anniversary, written about here, here and here.)

The other two are celebrations of cherished friendships. Having a relatively small family, most who live a fair distance away, "I'm a friendship kind of person", (to quote Chelsea Handler in this video where she's showing Architectural Digest around her stunning home.)

And so, I enjoy commemorating Friendiversaries. Here is the story about the second such occasion I had the pleasure of celebrating in recent weeks, my decade long relationship with Meghan! (The first was with Julie, written about here.)

Meghan and I met at a place we both worked back in 2009, and although neither of us is still there, we continued what began as a work friendship, beyond the work space.

She is a cool, caring and very courageous person, who I always enjoy spending time with. Regular readers will have seen that our times together very frequently involve seeing some kind of art, with our recent friendiversary celebration being no exception.

We began with dinner in Kensington Market. I snapped a few shots on the way to the restaurant ...

Travel : Halifax Part 3 – Maud Lewis at Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Hello! Here is the third and final story about our anniversary trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Part 1 and Part 2)

On our last evening there, we went to see the Maud Lewis Exhibition at The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Maud was born and lived her life in Nova Scotia, so it is fitting that the gallery has a permanent exhibit of her work on display, including the very house in which she lived and painted.

Maud lived between 1903 and died in 1970. She'd developed severe rheumatoid arthritis as a child, which greatly effected her mobility and made going to school difficult. As a young girl, she was taught to paint by her mother, and the two of them handmade Christmas cards, which they sold. After her parents died, her only sibling, a brother, inherited the family home and Maud eventually had to move out. After answering an ad for a live in house keeper for a fish peddler, Everett Lewis, she moved into his tiny home (the one that's in the gallery) and after a short time, they were married. She would accompany him on his work-runs and sell her paintings along the way. She also sold paintings from the front of their home, to travelers who would pass and see the "Paintings for Sale" sign.

Having watched and loved the movie "Maudie", I found viewing the exhibit to be an extra special experience. It was so neat to see the house and, of course, the completely charming artworks.

Travel : Our Trip to Halifax – Part 2

Hello! Welcome back to the second post about our little vacation in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we went to celebrate our 20th Anniversary. (See Part 1 and Part 3 here.)

As mentioned in the prior post, the weather was very nice on Monday, our first day in Halifax. We weren't so lucky on the second day, as it rained pretty well all day long.

We still went out, though, for a little walk and a hunt for provisions ...