![]() These ornaments are often passed over at the flea market, but I look for those things that show evidence of being loved.” “When they are grouped together, they can be quite beautiful. All of the ornaments have lost their color but, to me, just like people, they become more beautiful with age,” he says of the special glow the ornaments achieve when the paint wears away and the silvering inside shows through. One of Richter’s favorite trees is “the Velveteen Rabbit tree. From mantels and mirrors framed by holiday greenery, berries and pine cones, to bowls overflowing with ornaments treasured for their patina, “no surface is off limits when I’m decorating for the holidays,” he writes. “Finding these objects, decorating with them, and sharing them with others brings an instant feeling of comfort and joy.”īeyond the tree trimming, Richter offers a multitude of ways to create vintage vignettes in your home. “Vintage ornaments, lights, decorations, cards, and wrapping all conjure up happy memories of Christmases past and serve as tangible mementos of holidays shared with family and friends,” he writes. Ranging from porcelain bells to tinsel lights to 40's-era icicles, each ornament and decoration on the site is chosen because it sparks an emotional connection to the past. It can be done at all levels.”įor those who want a jump-start, Richter curates an annual holiday sale of Christmas collectibles on the online shopping portal, One Kings Lane. ![]() Hone your taste and bring in more of what you like and weed out what you don’t. Once you get into it, you can do some research on the Internet, get smart about what you want. When asked how best to start a collection, Richter suggests “thinking about what you connect to - something that you had growing up or wished that you’d had. “People have such an emotional connection to these and they are out there at flea markets, conjuring memories and stories.” These and other vintage decorations provide collectors with Richter’s “three Cs - comfort, connection and continuity.” Among the most popular vintage decorations are “the choirboys,” collections of hand-painted figures in porcelain, ceramic, resin or wax. “The best time to find vintage Christmas is in the summer, but I keep an eye out all year long,” says Richter, who shops flea markets and yard sales in search of vintage treasures and shares a list of his favorite flea markets in the U.S. Later, his dad took him to an auction and, knowing his son loved Christmas, handed him a box of ornaments and suggested he begin collecting.īecause vintage is, by definition, something that is just 20 years old, vintage Christmas decorations are surprisingly easy treasures to collect. ![]() I’m the opposite of the collector who wants ‘perfect.’ I’m attracted to things that were handmade - the stars made of construction paper and angels made of tin cans,” says Richter, whose collection of 2,500-plus vintage ornaments and decorations began with a light-up Santa and a small tree that his brother, Johnny, decorated just for him when he was six years old. “I’ve been collecting for so long that the things I look for are ones that show they have been loved. “Decorating is a mindful process and it’s a way to be reverent about this time of year,” says Richter, whose book, “A Very Vintage Christmas: Holiday Collecting, Decorating, and Celebrating,” is the definitive guide to celebrating the holidays in vintage style. ![]() In all, he’ll decorate 20 trees - ranging from live ones to store-bought beauties flocked with snow to a vintage tree from Germany made of dyed green goose feathers - with treasured ornaments he’s collected since childhood. ![]() The vintage lifestyle expert, interior designer and TV personality is preparing for the arrival of fresh-cut Christmas trees from Bountiful Acres in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. On the day before Thanksgiving, Bob Richter is preparing for more than a holiday feast with family and friends in Lambertville, NJ. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |