In my early newlywed years (way back in the 90s) I started gathering up things to make our home a happy little wonderland and in my journey to do so, I met up with kitsch and we got along right from the start. Not to say that I don't love the look of snowy garlands, beautiful white candles and all cream and silvery gorgeousness because I do! I often think I'm going to do that but then, I just can't. I'm a kid at heart I guess. I love the whimsy of brightly colored ornaments, pixies, santas, putz houses, beaded multi colored garlands and sequined felt.
But as the years have gone by and I've been married almost 22 years (I must be getting old) I have amassed more than is ... hmmmm, let's just say ... practical. Yes, I have amassed more than is practical. That's being kind. Or as my husband would say, "We need another room to store the Christmas stuff!" When you reach the need for room number two for holiday decor it might be time to weed some things out or if you are lucky enough to be in the biz of shop-keeping like us, you decide to say goodbye and let your beloved vintage goodies go on to find new homes to be loved in. What's that old saying ... if you love something set it free and if it finds it's way back to you it's meant to be. Or something like that. Well if the goods I set free find their way back to me, please someone send help!
So a couple of weekends ago husband and I dug into some of the holiday decor and decided it was time to set free the collection of Gurley candles we had built up over the last 5 years. I love them and they were fun to find, but I've decided to let them go so I can continue bringing home a few new things this year. Really my system is max out your space and then 10 things go out so 10 more can come in. Kind of like a few estate sales I've been to. The agony of waiting outside the door while everyone waits for one person to come out so they will let one more person in. Oh, the excruciating pain of watching others shop thru the house windows while you stand outside like a rejected loser.
I digressed. So I decided to rather unceremoniously lay out my collection on the table and take some rather poorly lit photos of them before packing them up for the shop. At least I'll have these crappy photos to remember them by ...lol! I'm not sure why I set them all flat because it looks rather "dark" seeing all of those rigid santas in a row like that. Maybe that was my subconscious at work secretly rebelling against the purging. Like if I have to get rid of you I'm going to create a mock battlefield of fallen Christmas candles. Who knows.
The candles did get sent over to the shop and they will hopefully find new homes this Holiday season. And yes, now I have room for more goodies!
I think my mother had those same Santa tapers at one time. All those Santas with their hands up, saying "bye-bye" and all the carolers with their pursed mouths, saying "no!" I can tell they are sad to leave. Well, maybe except the snowman; he looks pretty happy.
ReplyDeleteHa ha .... yes you are so right! That snowman does look happy to be leaving!
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