Old ornaments make new 'prizes'

Cheryl-Anne Millsap  /  Staff writer

This wreath was made of vintage Christmas ornaments from a flea market. (Cheryl-Anne Millsap/The Spokesman-Review) Get out of the house •The Monroe Street Antiques District will hold its Holiday Open House Friday-Sunday. Visit stores along Monroe all weekend for a chance to win a grand prize. For more information call (509) 325-3864. •The Holiday Open House at Hurd Mercantile and Co. will be Saturday from 3-8 p.m., with food, wine, special prizes and live music. Doors open at 10 a.m. For more information, call (509) 291-4077. The annual Rockford Methodist Church Christmas Bazaar will be the same day. •Openeye Consignment Shop and St. Elmo's Antiques will hold an Antiques Fair Saturday, at the Palouse Grange Hall in Palouse, Wash. Dealers will have antiques and collectibles for sale. Refreshments and live music will be available. •A Victorian Christmas Party will be, Dec 10, from 1–4 p.m. at the restored McConnell Mansion, 110 S. Adams, Moscow, Idaho. Live music, traditional decorations, homemade treats and a reading of "The Night Before Christmas" highlights the activities. The event is free. For more information, call (208) 882-1004. •The last flea market of the year will be Dec. 10 and 1 1 at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center. For more information, call 746-5555. Where do you shop? We're putting together a list of reader-favorite antiquing spots. Drop us a line, or call me to report where you like to shop for antiques and collectibles. If possible, include an address, phone number and any other information about your favorite dealers. Contact me by phone at (509) 459-5153, e-mail at cam@spokesman.com or via snail-mail at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Required reading "It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965," by Susan Waggoner. Published 2004 by Stewart, Tabori and Chang. List price: $16.95. On the Web For an archive of our Home content, including Treasure Hunting columns and Cheryl-Anne Millsap's blog, access the information at no charge at spokesmanreview.com/home

Christmas decorations, like everything else, go in and out of style. But the nostalgia associated with those decorations, especially the things we remember and associate with happy Christmases past, never fades.

Right now, all your favorite treasure hunting places – antique malls, thrift stores and the little shops around the corner are decked-out with vintage decorations. As a rule, they are inexpensive and plentiful. And, for some of us, they're hard to pass up.

Each year I look for new ways to use kitschy vintage decorations and collectibles like dancing Santas from the 1960s, frosted glass balls and foil corsages from the 1950s and even tiny chenille animals and angels from the 1940s.

Here's what I came up with:

Breathe new life into a tired wreath. I picked up a bag stuffed with mid-century decoration from Goodwill Industries. For less than $5, I had more than enough goodies to decorate an 18-inch artificial wreath. I used green pipe-cleaners to secure the trinkets and ornaments to the wreath and filled in with little red bows.

Send them home for the holidays. If you're having a party, use vintage Christmas ornaments and collectibles as favors. Place a basket of one-of-a-kind treasures by the front door and give one to guests as they depart. This is a great way to get the kids involved in the event.

Front and center. Use thrift-store finds as the centerpiece at your cookie-swap or brunch, or use them on the breakfast table. That way, if there is an accident with the gravy boat, or someone gets careless with the punchbowl, you can toss the decorations with the paper napkins.

For more delicate items, create miniature vignettes under glass using cake plates and covers.

String them along. Attach vintage Christmas items to artificial garland for a festive and retro look. Pick a theme – all Santa, plastic ornaments from the baby boomer-heydays or even vintage Christmas cards – and deck the halls with inexpensive and fun finds.

Tiny ornaments can be stitched to Christmas stockings or to a piece of fabric to decorate the fireplace mantel.

Time in a bottle. Fill a large glass bowl or trifle dish with tiny glass balls, antique screw-in Christmas lights or strings of vintage blown-glass garland.

Cover the bottom of a large vintage jar or other glass container with a thick layer of plastic snow (the kind used in miniature village settings.) Carefully place a vintage ornament or tiny nativity scene in the jar and cover with a vintage doily or piece of lace.

Make a memory bowl. Gather vintage Christmas items and toss them into a large bowl or basket. Leave the container on the coffee table and invite guests to rummage through it. You'll be surprised how many happy memories will be triggered by pulling out an old friend.