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.

Christmas in August?

Ok if you follow my blog you know I love Vintage Christmas. I dream of finding boxes of Shiny Brite Ornaments, Santa blow molds and aluminum trees. I buy lots of box lots of small Christmas items too. I'm always trying to create something new from something old which is my definition of upcycling. One thing I like to make is configuration boxes. That's a term from Tim Holtz Company that sells paper shadow boxes and other vintage looking accessories to go in them. I've used two of his boxes to create some of my own configuration or shadow boxes. But I like to find old shadow boxes and reuse them best. Here's the last one I made.

To make these I first use decide which of my collections I'm going to use. This can be a difficult task as I have a huge collection of vintage Christmas smalls. But I look for plastic deer, knee elves, Christmas light bulbs, glass ornaments and flocked Santas and snowmen. I recently went through all of my collection and sorted it into separate boxes. So it went from this (Ok and more) to nice organized boxes. 

After deciding which items I want to include I cover the inside of the shadow box with Christmas theme scrapbook paper or vintage Christmas wrapping paper. I use Christmas Washi tape to trim the edges. Then I glue using glue dots , if possible, the items into the scene. I like the glue dots because you can remove them at a later date. I found the "Joy" at a dollar store. I hope they have them again this year. Configuration boxes are lots of work,  but fun to make. 

I also have been collecting vintage tin cups to use to create a little Christmas scene. I used green floral foam to fill into the cup and covered it with snow and glitter. Then I placed a bottle brush tree with a flocked Santa.  I added an old plastic candy cane ornament, and I made a parchment paper sign with glitter on the edge. Then I spray painted an old plastic snowflake and a star and added them.  I really love how these turned out. 

So no matter what vintage items you buy at estate sales if you buy things you love you can always create something new from them. Remember "Buy what you love."

Is It Vintage or Antique?

What's the difference between vintage and antique? 
Are these vintage or antique? 

Folk Art Barn in Goodson Vintage Treasures
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

Thumb oil cans in Goodson Vintage Treasures 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

I've been asked this question many times, and it's something I've thought about a great deal. Since my business name is Goodson Vintage Treasures and my soon to be functional Etsy shop will be Vintage by Goodson ( long story but my original business name to is too long for Etsy).  Is "vintage" just old and "antique" just really old? 

At the shop where I have my booths, they define antique as 50+ years old and vintage as 25-50 years. I think that's a good place to start. 

The terms are really relative to where you live also. In the eastern  half of the United States you tend to find things that are much older than the western half. But in England they laugh at 50 years being an antique since they have buildings and items centuries old. In that perspective I think an object would need to be at least 100 years old.

The value of an item also determines whether something is merely old or an antique. A beautiful 100 year old, oak dresser or vanity is definitely an antique. But if it is beat up or has been ruined by water it may be completely worthless.

Antique Dresser in a Booth at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC.

Of course, your age also affects how you perceive the age of an object. When I seen items that I received as a wedding gift 46 years ago labeled as an "antique" I get a funny feeling. Like I'm getting really old feeling. The adding machine is just like one my mom used when I was growing up, and my husband and I received a piece of this glass new when we were married.

Fron a booth 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, N

Fron a booth 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

Toys are an area that reflect this. I view toys of my mom's era, 1930s, as antique. I'm not sure at age 90 she appreciates that though. My son, age 45, views toys of my era, 1950's, as antique. But I often see Star Wars toys in antique stores like he had as a child. 

I'm calling this tin top vintage. 

So as a rule of thumb I'm going with my store owners definition of "antique" and "vintage". Even though sometimes it hurts a bit. Remember, just buy what you love whether it's vintage or antique. Oh and by the way I think the first two photos are both vintage.