Hot Vintage Collectibles for Christmas

I don’t know if you have noticed but people go crazy at Christmas. I think they have help back from buying all year and now the year is coming to an end they feel they can let go of a bit of cash. Here’s what is selling like firecrackers going off on the 4th of July.

Anything with a truck and a Christmas tree. This includes signs, real vintage trucks, cloche with a truck inside, pillows, shirts and anything else you can create. Red trucks sell the best with turquoise right behind.

Along with the truck and tree goes anything buffalo plaid. Shirts, signs, pillows, ribbons, scarves, hats all sell with buffalo plaid.

Blow molds sell. If you follow my blog (sorry I haven't posted in a while) you know I love blow molds. Blow molds, for those that don't know, were those big, hard plastic Christmas yard decorations that were made in the 70's -90's. You know the ones you had when your kids were small. Or for the younger crowd, when you were a kid and as you grew older you were embarrassed for your friends to see them in your yard. I put two blow molds in the window at the store where I have my booths and in two days sold them both.

Vintage Christmas is in. Shiny Brite ornaments, plastic tree toppers, Putz houses and  plastic Santa's from the 60's all are in demand. Putz houses are cardboard houses made in the 50's and 60's that were gathered together to make a village. Kind of a pre Department 56 Christmas village. Most were made in Japan.

Another hot idem is shadow boxes and Christmas scenes filled with vintage Christmas trinkets, ornaments, original knee elves (not the guy that sits on the shelf and tells Santa on you), and Christmas cards. Aluminum trees from the fifties atomic age are really popular too. I've sold two already this month and it's not even December yet.

Another hard to find but fast to sell item is vintage Christmas ceramics.  Vintage ceramic Christmas trees sell to folks that recall the one their granny had. Santa punch bowls and cups also are great sellers.

I'm a lover of Vintage Christmas. When I go to estate sales the other dealers I see often call me the Christmas Lady. Gee I hope they aren't reading my blog. Remember, buy what you love.  Have a Merry Christmas season and enjoy all it offers. Go to the parades, the plays, the singing Christmas trees, go riding and see the lights, make those cookies, drink that egg nog and spend time with family.

Tart Tin Ornaments

Just a few of my many tart tins. 

For the last year I have been purchasing vintage tart tins at estate sales. I have quite the collection. I am attracted to their shapes, textures and colors. I knew I wanted to recycle them and create something new from something vintage which if you follow my blog you know I love to do. The first thing I came up with was tart tin Christmas trees which I wrote about in an earlier blog, Tart Tins. You can read it here.  But I still have lots of tart tins. So I searched my favorite idea site, Pinterest and discovered some cute ideas for tart tin ornaments. I have no idea if they will sell but I love how they turned out. Here's how I made them.First start with some vintage tart tins. I bought mine at local estate sales. Next I gathered some cute vintage items from my Christmas goodies stash.

Vintage Light Bulbs

My one really well organized area....my Christmas stash

Wooden Ornaments

I have bottle brush trees, old wooden ornaments, glass balls, flocked Santas, reindeer, bells, garland, scrabble letters and more.


 I think the tins look great with snow glitter. First I spray the tin with adhesive spray. I like to do this outside because the spray has a terrible odor. Then I sprinkle my glitter into the tin. I try to do 10 to 12 of these at a time to let them dry.

After they dry I use a combination of hot glue and white glue to attach my decorations. I like the hot glue for a fast hold and the white glue for a longer lasting secure hold.


I use a punch tool to put two holes in the top of the tins to put silver elastic cord through to hang the finished tins. This punch is an awesome little tool.

I found some cheap round stickers at the local dollar store so I created some vintage graphics with them from Graphics Fairy which is a great site for vintage graphics.

Here are some of the finished tins. 

I think these turned out awesome. If you don't have any tart tins you could use old cookie cutters as an alternative. If you try this please share your finished products with me as I'd love to see them. Happy Junkin. Remember, buy what you love.