I recently acquired a small lot of vintage valentines. Most of them were the type kids passed out at school, and each of them has a number penciled on the front, placed in a circle. While this may detract from their value, I find the idea of a youngster implementing some sort of ranking or [...]

An adorable pair of 1960s little girls gloves with cross-stitched floral details: When I saw them, I immediately thought this would be a great thing to do to jazz up a pair of cheap gloves (or mittens). And then I thought, “Wouldn’t that be one way to salvage those lonely single mittens and gloves left [...]

I’ve posted a lot of other cute, kitschy and even racist vintage Valentine’s Day cards at my other blogs, but it wouldn’t be fair not to show off some of my own vintage greeting cards for this holiday from my collection here, would it? *wink* The first is an Ameri-Card (# X-6545/8 D) that asks, [...]

Pick: I suppose it is time. Time to take down the tree, put all the ornaments in their boxes, until next year. We are the only ones in our ‘group’ who have a live tree. When the kids were small, we’d work on putting it up for a few days. You’d do the lights, the [...]

Rabbit and Skunk and the Scary Rock, by Carla Stevens (illustrations by Robert Kraus) is one of my fondest childhood reading memories. Of course, I had completely forgotten about this book until I spotted it at one of those church rummage sales where you pay $2 for whatever you can fit into a paper bag. [...]

People don’t always know what I mean when I talk about pencil crayons. I thought that was a pretty universal term for them. Someone assumed I was talking about regular crayons, wax crayons. But, pencil crayons are coloured pencils, not made out of wax. I’ve had pencil crayons since I was a kid. We did [...]

At first I was going to post this photo of Clara Bow posing by a Christmas tree because of the fabulous decorations and stuffed toys; but once I saw this photo of Martha Sleeper I was equally smitten! Martha Sleeper was a silent film star in the 1920s and, in the 1940s, a Broadway actress. [...]

‘Tis the season for fabulous holiday meals featuring turkey, and this antique illustration shows the longevity of breaking the wishbone. This illustration, captioned “If Their Wishes Came True,” was scanned from my copy of Caricature: The Wit & Humor of a Nation in Picture, Song & Story (Illustrated by America’s Greatest Artists). I’ve only a [...]

In this economy, finding the perfect gift may be easier than affording it; but eBay has good news for those who collect antiques and vintage collectibles — and those who buy antiques and vintage collectibles as holiday gifts. Ebay now has two new announcements to help making afford gifts more possible. The first is eBay [...]

Pink is in for Christmas the past couple of years. Did you know pink for Christmas isn’t a new idea? The first aluminum tree came out in 1958. Since then metallic trees had their time of being popular. I remember seeing them in shiny green, red, silver, white, blue and pink. I think the new [...]

It’s that time of the year again, when people ask me, “What gifts can I get the collectors in my life?” Some say it’s easier to buy gifts for those who collect modern collectibles; you simply run out and purchase the latest release — and boast to everyone else that you got it, they’ll have [...]

Two vintage die-cut Valentines (Carrington Co., Chicago, ILL), circa 1920′s. The two adorable vintage paper Valentines feature cute young ladies with appropriately bobbed hair and rosy cheeks.  Sent to “Dear Alma” — but consider the happy holiday wishes for you too. *wink*

My mom found this old pickle cookie cutter and gave it to me for Christmas this year — though first, in the confusion of gift opening, my middle child got it, opened it, and was very confused. (I guess she was the pickle in the middle? lol) My mom found the cookie cutter out antiquing [...]

I know some collectors will find this inherently evil, but I like to use my collectibles. In fact, one of my favorite things about the holidays is using my vintage glassware. One of our family traditions is to stay home with the kids on New Year’s Eve and have a party. A geeky party, filled [...]

One of my favourite Christmas things is the tree, all lit up and decorated. The ornaments are a blend of special treasures I bought over the years, vintage ornaments passed down in my family for a generation or three and the real prizes are those ornaments we made ourselves, mostly from some felt, lace and [...]

I used to have cookie cutters that belonged to my Grandmother. I remember a gingerbread man. It was aluminum, a dull silver colour. The shape was filled in, not like the modern ones that are open on top. The old gingerbread man was wearing a pointy hat. That’s about all I can really, clearly remember [...]

When I was a kid, our big family gatherings had the traditional kids’ table. At first it was fun to hang out with your cousins, having those chocolate-milk-bubble-blowing-contests without garnering parental stink-eye; but eventually you wanted to age-out of that table and join the grown-ups because you weren’t a kid anymore. And then one day [...]

Christmas time always brings up toys. Now that I’m a parent, I try to remind myself that finding the perfect toy ought not to be the pressure point I make it out to be… Some of my favorite and most memorable toys were not ones I asked for. Even if my grandma would sit us [...]

This antique photo of a Christmas tree surrounded by little boys who seem less than thrilled suits me because Christmas trees have never been my favorite things. Primarily because it was our family custom for my father to get the itch to go Christmas tree shopping on the coldest, nastiest day of the year — [...]

A story from my mom, of No Egrets Antiques: Christmas at our house was always wonderful! It was not that we got everything we wanted – kids always have expectations way beyond reality. But everything seemed bright and shiny. My mom had Christmas music on the radio (the one with the little, round red light [...]

Unpacking delicate vintage glass ornaments, untangling glowing orbs of flickering light, placing winter village scenes just so, divided camps of garland vs tinsel, and don’t forget the tradition of tree topper placement. Some believe less is more (those weird freaks!), and others (like me!) believe holiday is the time of year to go all out. [...]