Christmas Pins

Welcome to Vintage Thingies on Thanksgiving Thursday! This fun weekly event is hosted by Suzanne the ColoradoLady. Visit her for the list of all the participants you can visit. There are always so many neat things that people are sharing. I am also linking in to Angie's Holiday Show & Share at The American Homemaker. There are all sorts of great Christmas crafts, recipes, and decorating ideas, so visit those ladies, also!
I know I'm jumping the gun, but by the time everyone finishes with their busy holidays and sits down to read this we will all be thinking about Christmas! I checked the calendar, and including Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are only 5 VTTs, and I have tons to show you. Some things may be shown on other days, even if they are vintage, so you might want to look around a little more this month.

I apologize in advance for the blur on these photos. I took them myself and you know I have the shaky hands! I may be able to have someone re-do these shots and I will change the pictures.My sister and I each have one of these stocking pins. Hers has a kitten and mine has a poodle. They are attached with a little lever to the stocking so they kind of bob around when the wearer moves.This is another one from my 1970s childhood. I really like it because it makes a statement and is big enough to wear on a coat.Ah, the bells! I'm sure my parents just adore the person who got us these. They have a nice strong ring to them! When I wear it now I tape the clapper down.This Santa head has a fuzzy beard and still lights up! However, the little pull cord has become detached and I can't get it back on properly. Since the red on his nose is worn off, I just wear it as a pin. People really like this and always ask about it. You can still buy these new; I found them at The Vermont Country Store, which has all sorts of retro items. If you are a lover of vintage/retro, you really need to check it out some time!This fun Christmas tree was my mom's. Technically it probably still is, since she lent it to me about 5 years ago! When I was bald for Christmas (twice, by the way!) I had a great black furry hat that I would decorate with different pins every day for work. I conveniently forgot to return the pins I borrowed. The tree is enamel with pearls and rubies. It's only missing 2 stones, which is pretty good in 60 years.The gold and pearl tree is also missing 2 stone. I don't know if it is better to replace them so they look better, or leave as-is for their value as originals. No one ever notices that they are missing, they just see the overall design.Finally, my favorite of all, the 50s reindeer! I just love his style and form! The metal is a matte brushed silver. He looks great on a plain red sweater.