Fun and festive yarn for Christmas crafting

 

Summer is definitely the time of year to sit at the beach (or on the porch with a glass of iced tea or iced coffee at hand) and work on crocheting smaller projects for Christmas.  I often make hot mats, dish cloths, coasters, and even ornaments.  It's always fun to find a festive new yarn to use.

 

The variegated yarn above has gold sparkles in it.  

The tree motif above is made from this pattern in a sparkly green yarn.  I still want to do a bunch of these and make a garland.

I just used a festive variety of regular cotton yarn in the hot mat above.

Imagine my delight to see in my email this morning a message from Yarnspirations featuring a new yarn simply titled "Festive"!  It is a new color way from Red Heart Super Savers Bitty Stripes.  You can save 35% now on this yarn with the code XMASINJULY.  

For a closer look at this pretty new Christmas yarn, go here: Bitty Stripes Festive.  Happy shopping and crafting!

Last call for Christianbooks' Christmas in July sale!

 

I wish I had paid more attention to this sale earlier.  Now it really is the last minute!  But if you are like me, you might still be interested in checking out this sale.  

Here are some of the fun things that I found.

This sweet Advent calendar for only $2.99:

A set of 8 pop-up Christmas cards featuring a red pickup truck for $4.27!  Pop-up cards are such fun but usually quite expensive.

This tree-shaped  Let Us Adore Him melamine tray would make a lovely gift when filled with Christmas cookies or fudge.  It's a deal at less than half price.

I have always liked paper placemats, and this set of 12 for $3.60, pictured below, is especially festive and fun.

Head on over to Christianbook.com and check out the sale.  Hope you find some good buys as well!

Two more days for the red, white and blue sale at my Etsy shop!

 

Yes, today and tomorrow you can still find 25% off on red, white and blue listings and other American classics in my Etsy shop, A New Hampshire Attic.  Usually in July I will do a Christmas in July sale for all or part of the month.  With this year being such a big birthday for our country, I decided to do an Americana sale for the first part of July and then I will do a Christmas sale (also 25% off) for the second half of July on Christmas listings only.

Here are just a few of the 43 listings currently on sale:

 

 Go on over and browse!  I'm sure you'll enjoy perusing these fun vintage listings even if you are only "window shopping"!

Sweet log cabin plates

 

Observant readers may have noticed the edge of a plate in my last post -- the one about the winter cross stitch that I "framed" in a Mason jar -- and might have wondered about it.  These are actually plates that I got at the thrift store.  I probably paid no more than $2 apiece for them, probably less.  I did a little research on them and thought readers would enjoy hearing more about these pretty winter plates.

They are from a company called The Cellar and from what I can determine were sold at Macy's back in the day.   They were made in Italy in the 1990s and are hand painted.  I have no difficulty believing this, as the plates vary a good bit in color and just the overall look.  Even if one had a "set" of these, probably none of them would exactly match.

Though not all that old, these plates are technically vintage.  The pattern is called "Log Cabin Christmas" (though to me they are not all that Christmasy -- just wintry, and therefore more versatile).  You can see a good number of the other pieces in the set here at Replacements Ltd. where you can purchase a plate for $40.

You can find everything from plates, bowls, and mugs to salt & pepper shakers, cake pedestals, butter dishes, sugar bowls and creamers, and much, much more.  I especially fell in love with the teapot below:

 I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more pieces as I visit thrift and antique shops.

And there you have the intel on a very sweet thrift store find that I am so pleased with!

Christmas plates from the thrift store

 

We love finding Christmas plates at the thrift store!  Sometimes they are collectibles; other times just inexpensive plastic plates to use in giving away cookies.  Last year I ended up buying a whole new set of Christmas dishes there, after being sure my daughter would be willing to take my other set.

 I recently bought three Christmas plates -- two decorative and one for actual use.  The one at top is a collectible, from Avon in the 1980s, I think.  We just loved the scene.

I bought this plate with the sweet deer back in the fall.  It coordinates with two trays 

 

and some other plates that I have, the Better Homes & Gardens ones from Walmart.  But I hadn't seen this small plate with the deer and I love it.

And then there is this one:

This is such a nostalgic scene!  This is a collectible plate too and not meant for food use, so I am displaying it.  The poem may be a bit dated -- "Never a Christmas morning, Never the old year ends -- But someone thinks of someone -- Old days, old times, old friends" -- but I actually never tire of it.  It's true, so true.  Sometime during the Christmas season, we are bound to look back and remember old days, old times, and old friends -- and, though a few tears may be shed, we can also thank God profusely that we have these dear memories.  I love this scene with the couple making their way toward a cabin in the woods.

Such good deals!  I think the deer plate was $1.50 and the other two were $4 each.  The loveliness they bring to our home is priceless.

A couple of Christmasy thrift store finds

 

 Last week I took a very quick browse through parts of our local thrift store.  This store is actually two stores, in buildings across the street from one another.  The stores are named Ladders and Step Ladders.  Step Ladders has a very large Christmas section, all sorts of lights and decor, ornaments, tins, and other goodies.  I didn't go there this visit, but instead visited the very small Christmas area in Ladders, which mostly contains Christmas dishes.  

That's where I found the item at top.  I think maybe it's supposed to be a hot mat.  It's hard to tell.  It's made of vinyl, I think.  It's plain brown on the back and the whole thing is nicely saddle-stitched around the edges.  I paid 80¢ for it and plan to use it as a piece of art to display at our cottage in the woods.  I love this vintage-looking scene of deer in snow!

I also bought this cookie cutter, for 40¢.  

It's a sort of stylized Christmas tree complete with trimmings -- it looks as if the design will impress into the cookie dough if the dough is rolled thick enough -- maybe 1/4 inch or so.  It doesn't show up well in the photo, which I took in haste, but this is a nice sturdy cookie cutter and has a handle.   I'm looking forward to using this cutter for Christmas baking this holiday season!

And there you have it -- just a couple of fun thrifty finds.

Christmas in July sale at my Etsy shop!!

 

Just a little public service announcement!  I'm running a Christmas in July sale over at my Etsy shop, 

A New Hampshire Attic.

Now through July 24, all items in the vintage Christmas category are 25% off.  There are approximately 70 listings in this category, which includes vintage Christmas cards, both new and preowned, vintage craft books, candy boxes and even a couple of handmade crafts.  Hopefully I will be listing a few more items before the 24th.

Head on over to browse and shop!

Christmas in July at my Etsy shop!

 
Yes!  Now through July 24, I'm running a sale at my Etsy shop, A New Hampshire Attic!  You can take 25% off on every listing in the Vintage Christmas category.

Most of the listings are Christmas cards both new and used, from the 1920s through the 1970s. 

 

I also have some vintage Christmas stickers listed and some handmade vintage felt ornaments,

 

 along with a holiday feltcraft booklet, a poinsettia themed pocket calendar, a vintage Christmas paper sachet and some Christmas candy boxes.  Maybe a few other goodies as well!

If I find time, I will also add a few more vintage Christmas items to this category of my shop for your browsing and shopping pleasure.  Even if you don't buy anything, you are sure to enjoy your trip down Vintage Memory Lane!

A few more delightful thrift store finds

 

 It's a special blessing that our local thrift stores have sections specifically dedicated to Christmas and that they maintain these rooms/areas year round!  The Christmas ornament above is but one example.  I bought a package of four, I think, for only $2 or so.  They are truly lovely.

I got the snowflake plate with the plan of gifting it to one of our daughters -- it will be filled with one of her favorite Christmas cookies, Sacher Tortes.  She also loves snowflake themed items.

I can always use another pie plate and I love unusual, decorative ones.  I don't have any that are specifically Christmas themed.  This is pretty, and was only a few dollars!

This snowman shaped plate is fun.  I'll fill it with someone's favorite cookies or treats and it will become part of the gift.

And look at this pretty Christmas tree plate with the cabin scene and the falling snow!  I'll keep this one and use it to bring cookies or fudge to holiday gatherings.  There's a very small chip at top right, but the price was right so that doesn't bother me.

Hope this look at some of my finds has been inspiring for you!  Does your local thrift shop offer Christmas items all year round?

Thrift store finds with Christmas and winter themes

 

I always love to visit after-Christmas sales at our local stores -- mostly places like Walmart, Marshalls, Rite Aid and CVS, and even the grocery stores.  I've found some great deals at these places and have written about them in the past.

But only recently have I considered our local thrift stores as a source for Christmas deals -- especially for things like decorations, lights, and dishes.  One has a room dedicated to seasonal dishes.  Another has entire Christmas section.  I bought the snowflake plate at top in 2022 and enjoyed decorating with it.  In 2023 I filled it with my daughter's favorite Sacher Torte cookies and gave it to her for Christmas.

The beautiful pitcher above, a Hallmark design, came from a thrift store.

Both plates in the photo above were found at a thrift store.

The log cabin plate is so sweet.  I found a second one this year and tucked it away to use for gifting cookies next year.

I found the vintage Christmas magazine above at a thrift store for $5!

The mug below is a recent find.  We're using it at our cottage.  It holds a generous amount of coffee or hot cocoa!

Hope you've been inspired by some of my Christmasy thrift store finds.  There are a few more, so stay tuned!

(Below, a closer look at that snowman plate. )

A challenging Christmas jigsaw

 

Back in December, feeling festive, Mr. T and I picked up two Christmas/winter jigsaw puzzles at our favorite thrift store.   At some point in the holiday season, we decided to start one of them.  Of course it is always a gamble of sorts buying a used jigsaw puzzle.  We realized it was certainly possible one or more pieces could be missing, but the scenes were beautiful, and this one called Christmas Cottage was only $3.

What we found upon opening the box was quite a surprise.  

The person who donated the puzzle to the store had included a thoughtful note.  He or she shared the information that the puzzle had a missing piece, but that this need not take away from the fun or the challenge of working the puzzle.  The donor had taken a photo of the puzzle showing just where the missing piece should be.  They even drew a blue arrow (visible in photo of their letter above) pointing out its location in the puzzle.

This was so helpful!  This puzzle was definitely a challenge, but it was so beautiful that we enjoyed every minute of working on it.

Such a fun thing to find in a thrift-store puzzle purchase.  We got much more than $3 of enjoyment out of this.  Now we are wondering what surprises might be in store in the second puzzle we bought that day!