A Vintage Christmas Tree

Growing up, my family and my husband's family were very different when it came to Christmas.  His family had the same tree every year, colored lights, all of their hodge podge of ornaments, and TONS of icicles/tinsel; and they weren't big on traditions.  My family on the other hand ended up with many traditions, and we enjoyed changing up the theme of our tree over the years.  We always had a few ornaments that were special to us that always went on the tree, no matter the theme, but overall it often looked different from year to year.

So, Hubby and I had to find a way to compromise.  Our solution?  He doesn't mind me implementing traditions from my childhood, as long as I don't become to uptight about them or get stressed out if they don't get done just right.  He's a very low stress, casual kinda guy.  As for the tree, we alternate years.  One year I choose the theme, and the next year he gets to pick.  It's worked very well so far for the 10 Christmases we've been married.

This year was my year and I chose to do a vintage tree. 

Over the past year I've been collecting ornaments, most of them bought on the cheap at yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, etc.  I found the vintage style light strands at a yard sale, and even have authentic vintage foil icicles. 

The other addition that I am LOVING is the bubble lights.  I found reproduction ones at Hobby Lobby.  I can remember my granny having these on her tree when I was little and I remember just sitting and staring at them and being so fascinated by them.  Actually, they were the inspiration for the whole vintage tree. 

I never did buy a vintage topper, so I just used the one that we always put up when it's Hubby's year.

I didn't come up with a "vintage" type tree skirt either, just used one I already had.

See that little stuffed rocking horse in the back left corner?  My grandma made those for me and some of the other grandkids years ago, and it's very special to me.  It always has a place at Christmas time.

Here's a boat load of pictures of some of the more interesting ornaments I was able to find.  If you love vintage, you'll get an eyeful here!



This is the one I paid the most money for.  I found it at an antique store
while we were on a trip to Iowa.  I think I paid $6 for it.




I got a set of 4 of these big ol' ones at an estate sale for about $8.
They're big, probably about the size of a softball or so.




These were part of a box of misc. ones I found at flea market for $1/box!




The beloved bubble lights!




More of the $1/box set.




My aunt sent me a box of ornaments that had several of these cute lil' guys in it.



This is one of my favorites, it has a little miniature winter wonderland inside of it.

  

More of the $1/box set.




I think this one was from the same estate sale as the large ones seen earlier. 
I think I paid about $1.50 for a box of several different ones.





This one came from a yard sale for .10.





Authentic foil icicles - paid .50 for the box.




Oops, how'd this cute lil' guy sneak in here?  : )
This is my 15 month old.



My husband asked me how much I think I have invested in the tree.  I figured it up the best I could and I think it's around $30 or so.  Not a bad investment for a fun, retro, memory inducing tree. 

The one thing I wish I would have done differently would be to have sprayed the tree with fake snow before decorating it.  I think the whiter tones would have been a better background for all the various colors of the vintage ornaments and would have made them stand out and shine a bit better.

But I've really enjoyed it and I'm glad I did it. 

(The majority of the ornaments will be up for sale after Christmas, so if anyone is interested in them let me know!)

Linking up to:

A Christmas Tree Party - Thrifty Decor Chick

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday - Coastal Charm