Friday, November 22, 2013

Vintagey and Christmasey

Thanksgiving is next week, and we are wrapping up some home improvement projects, which means I will soon begin decorating in earnest! I always feel so sorry for Thanksgiving; Halloween comes, then Christmas is already out well head of 31 October...poor Thanksgiving seems to get lost in the shuffle. That's one reason why I'm not going full force on our holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving; I want to give the holiday its due. Plus, as a mom, I have seven years of turkey-themed school art projects to proudly display!

Still, it is hard to resist the lure of the sock monkey. The first one made its appearance last week. I've been collecting decorations from my mom as I want all the childhood ornaments and other ephemera I grew up with. She has some amazing things, including some ceramic Christmas trees made in 1974 (before I was even born!) by my maternal grandmother, whom I adored and miss terribly to this day. These little trees are quite trendy now. I just remember growing up with them, pulling the bulbs in and out of the tree. I couldn't wait to get my hands on them! Sadly the giant one my grandmother made is broken at the top so I am going to have to do some repairs. Luckily, though, the small one is in pristine condition. I ordered some bulbs and put it out immediately, with an elf monkey to keep it company. With it is a mason jar of Christmas pins.


I'm on the hunt for an all-white tree now as I have the perfect display in mind. I'll be looking for it at a thrift store or yard/estate sale, though, as the resell prices are a bit high for my taste. I've found two more green ones but alas, no white.

Soon, very soon, the house will be completely taken over by Our Epic Sock Monkey Christmas.

4 comments:

  1. I really like those ceramic trees! But then we had Lite Brite (a toy) as kids.

    I do not get the sock monkey thing....they were a little too human-like to be totally cute like some of the other stuffed toys. And then there were the hear no evil/see no evil/speak no evil monkeys- too solemn to be 100% fun. But to each his own. Aren't there sock monkey PJs at Target too? Nick and Nora?

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    1. Hi C, I just think sock monkeys are cute, I don't have bad memories of them being scary…like I do with clowns! Argh! Poltergeist ruined clowns for me.

      You are right, Target does have some sock monkey PJs, but they are footed which I just can't stand.

      Thanks for reading!

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  2. Hi there,

    I am hoping you can help me with what is not yet a problem, but could be one in the foreseeable future. I have a 10 year old son with Autism. Del has never had a particular attachment to a toy until I bought Monkey Elf, and now they are inseparable. Monkey Elf goes everywhere except school (but Del puts Monkey to sleep in the dish towel drawer and kisses him goodnight before he leaves). Here is my problem--I don't think Monkey Elf was originally constructed to have much longevity--at least not leading the active sidekick life he has right now. His right leg and tail are already shorter from multiple surgeries. He gets washed in the dishwasher because I'm afraid to send him through a spin cycle. I have been desperate to find a "back-up monkey elf" to prepare for the inevitable day when he is just worn through. I've searched everywhere on the internet, and the only place I've seen his twin is your blog. I put out a plea on my Facebook page to see if anyone had picked one up over Christmas--no one had--but three separate people directed me to your site. I know that the passing of a beloved toy is a rite of childhood, but he is getting so much joy from this little monkey, interacting with it on such an emotional level (a big thing in the world of Autism), I just hate to see it end before Del is ready. I'm willing to pay for him and his shipping, or trade you for another sock monkey, promote your blog, whatever you want, if you would be willing to part with yours.

    Thanks for listening (reading?)
    Jory Cannon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jory, feel free to contact me directly at musingsbyjacquelyn at cox dot net, or by clicking gon the About Me at the top right and then the email link. I would be happy to help you out.

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