Shiny Brite

 Our daughter Jen set up a tree filled with Shiny Brites as a Christmas surprise. ( Her Christmas surprises always make me cry.) Jen is very thoughtful and always does everything to make us feel right at home during the Winter. 

The tree sits out in the game playing area, where Far Guy woodcarves and I put together puzzles.  We enjoyed the tree every day. 

It was so much fun to see all the special ornaments on a tree again...it has been awhile since they were on a tree and appreciated!  

We undecorated the tree and put away the ornaments a few days ago...thanks Jen for one more Shiny Brite Christmas.  Hopefully is is the beginning of a Shiny Brite New Year:)

Far Side

Shiny Brite Christmas Eve

 I have many memories of the Shiny Brite tree.  I enjoyed decorating it every year.  

It has been a long time since I searched and purchased a new ornament. 

Here are two of my favorite ornaments.

See how the light is reflected off the tree in the background...Shiny and Brite! 

This ornament was a gift from Edie, it was originally an ornament that my second grade teacher had on her tree. 

I wish everyone a Shiny Brite Christmas Eve!

Far Side

Shiny Brite

The Shiny Brite tree is still up. 

I am still enjoying it.  I think about all the people in my life that are represented on this tree.  So many.  Far Guy, Chance, Jen, Madeline, Grace, Lillian, Susan, Sandy, Hazel, Edie, Kay, Rae, JoLynn, Cyndi, Leann, Mildred, Minnie, Tom and Linda.

The tree may come down this weekend when we are having a snowstorm...we will see.

I suppose I should undecorate the spinning wheel too.  These garage sale Shiny Brites and the Shiny Brite Card from my friend Mildred have been up for about 13 months now.  I have dusted around them:)

I was at the Thrift Shop the other day...they were having a Christmas Sale...so I went to "just look"  well...

It seems I failed miserably at just looking.  This Hot Pink Shiny Brite Tree Topper came home with me ...for 27 cents who could resist?  NOT ME!

I did not "sort" yesterday. Appointments were accomplished and a trip to the grocery store and out to lunch at our favorite place.   I did not go to Bingo it was just too cold to go out again in the evening.

Our high was a brief -2 for a minute or two and then went lower ...officially the high was -5 F or -21 C  the low was -26 F or -32 C  eh! ...just another balmy day in Minnesnowda. (Too cold to snow!) Didya know that the snow squeaks differently under your snow boots at different temperatures?  It surely does.

 Far Side

Unexpected

We went on an adventure on Saturday afternoon. 
 Not far from home and just a short adventure before nap time.

Anyways...along the way I noticed something strange. On our way back we stopped for a photo.

Do you see it?

How about now?  A Shiny Brite tree along the road!    There are no houses nearby. 
Someone probably wanted to make people smile.  And it worked.

Far Side

Lights and Shiny Brites

Last night we picked up the elderly folks and went to Wadena to see the Christmas lights.

This place has quite the light show during December.  They have their own radio station and the lights are in tune with the music.   It was the first time my parents had been there.

On the way back home since I had my camera all set up and on the tripod for Christmas lights …we stopped by Main Street.

Nice to have one block of Main Street all to myself.

The Shiny Brite tree didn’t happen this year.  I was way to busy with other things.  However I did put some of the new/old Shiny Brites on my spinning wheel.  I bought two packages of ornaments at a second hand shop for $1.50.

There is a tree up there that hangs there all year…the Angel stayed up all year too…I added the Santa from Maddie to the grouping.  Tis very festive! ( And will be real easy to put away)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Exploring

I finished off one of those “explore” projects, stitch markers made from little charms and “stuff” that was hanging around in my beading supplies.  I will never make them again…at least not without taking lessons in how to close jump rings.  Nope no photos.

Then I decided I better explore that Shiny Brite tree upstairs before I have to dust it.

Far Guy helped for awhile I conned him into thinking that back and forth was worth a few steps.

It snowed most of the day…not sure how much we got 4 maybe 5 inches.

It was a good day to put all the Shiny Brites away.  I bought a new storage container for some of the most collectable ornaments. I still have to place some notes in that new storage container about the ornaments…what they are and why they are special.

Better late than never.

Merry Christmas!

We would like to extend a Merry Christmas to all! We are having a cool white Christmas here in Minnesota…we got some fresh snow and it is way below zero.

The Shiny Brite tree is complete.

Here is our Christmas Letter 2017.  I don’t have a photo of my finished Christmas card…I mailed them all off without a photo of the finished card… they were all pretty and glittery.

Shiny Brite Progress

The Shiny Brite tree is in progress.  I go upstairs and add a box or two of ornaments to the tree from the stash a couple of times a day.  The Sandras, Jennifers, Lillians, JoLynns, Minnies, Mildreds, Leanns, and Chances are on the tree. The Madelines, Cyndis, Raes, Tom and Lindas, Edies, Graces, Susans, Kays, Hazels and many ornaments from Far Guy will be hung soon.

The Stash…I have a system… and all boxes are marked with what ornamanets and who they are from…I should really take photos of each box. For now my post it notes work great!  When all the ornaments are in this big wooden box that looks a little like a coffin…there is not much room left for expansion of the collection. One by one the boxes are taken out, the ornaments put on the tree and the empty boxes stacked on the table.   Some ornaments lose their hooks…some have wobbly metal caps that need to be repaired.

A gift from blog friend Mildred last year.

I feel blessed to have very thoughtful friends who have gifted me with Shiny Brite ornaments over the years. 

Chance had a fairly good day yesterday, he enjoyed a ride to town. 

Put on the skates

Yesterday it rained like summertime, it sleeted, it rained again with thunder and then it sleeted again and snowed.  What a miseraable mess…now the wind is howling like a banshee.  Wind chills are way below zero.

Having a Blizzard Watch has it’s perks…I got the upstairs all cleaned up but was left with no energy to put up the tree.  My hand/wrist/arm/shoulder will need a day maybe two to rest.

Chance did not like the thunder and stuck to us like glue all day long yesterday.  When I was upstairs he laid at the bottom of the steps.

Shiny Brite with skaters that Chance gave me one year…it is painted bright yellow on the inside and stenciled in red on the outside. Soon it will be on the tree…I hope.

Shiny Brites with a history

On Saturday morning I received a box in the mail.  It was from Colorado. A whole box of ornaments now named Cyndi arrived!  Five Ice Blue and Five Red.

Cyndi writes:

I Immediately thought of you when I unearthed my Christmas Ornaments and came across a box of Shiny Brites,  They aren’t the prettiest…but they have been on my tree every year I’ve had a tree since we bought them for our first Christmas together in 1972.  They were purchased at the Rhinebeck Hardware Store in Rhinebeck, NY.  The price is still on the box, $1.19!  We were married in October but I had to finish student teaching about 300 miles away.  I remember finishing the semester and driving home a few days before Christmas.  We were giddy about celebrating that Christmas.  We went out and purchased a small tree, a stand, some lights and two boxes of Shiny Brites.  This is all that remains, with the exception of a few that have lost their tops or have borrowed a top from some other ornament.  Enjoy them.  I will look for them on the next year’s Shiny Brite tree.  Best always, Cyndi

Thank you so much Cyndi!  I think they are just perfect!  I love when Shiny Brites have a history.  I will tuck their history into the box with the ornaments!

Cyndi and her husband are selling their home and many of their possessions because they are “downsizing” and moving.

A New Month

I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning up and putting away “stuff” that had been cluttering up my desk for most of January.

Ta Da!! The grands three ring binders are up to date and put away.  The Christmas letter binders and Christmas photo card binder has been put away until next year.  I made folders for old Firehall Newspaper Clippings and another for The Cousins Newsletter ( it has a bit of family history).

I decided to use three ring binders for the grands “stuff” so they can take the items out and look at them closer if they wish…it is better than a scrapbook…no adhesives!

I still have a fair amount of paper stuff to go through…I wonder when it will end?  Seems we recycle some shredded paper and office paper every few days. Good golly didn’t we ever throw anything away?

The Shiny Brite Tree must come down before I have to dust the ornaments.   I have the boxes laid out and ready so it is a project for one long day or several shorter days.  I have enjoyed having it up WAY past Christmas.

  

It REALLY is time to put them away for another year.

After the Shiny Brite Tree I have old notebooks to go through from when I worked at the museum.  They have come in handy when Board members had questions. It is time for them to go too.  I kept detailed daily notes.

What project comes after that…I am not sure. Having two projects on the horizon is good for now.

Shiny Brite Tree 2016

It is done!  Actually I thought it was done once, took some photos and added just a few more ornaments.  Typical for me.

Finished finally!  Far Guy wants a photo from outside..there is about a foot of snow on that deck.  It has not been a priority for shoveling.

The Gingham Ornament is one from Susan, this is it’s first year on the tree!

This is an ornament from Kansas Kay!

Ornaments and the snowy deck.

There it is…decorated before Christmas!

It is still cold here…brrrr. Headed for dangerous wind chills on Saturday and Sunday.  Wind is expected and lows will be –20 to –30F or –28 to 34C eh.  Winter Fun in Minnefreezeyourbuttoffsota!

Gifts from Kansas

It was really cold on Thursday morning…like –25 F or –31C eh!   The mailman delivered a package to our door along with the mail that included seven Christmas Cards!

I opened the package first! 

A box of Retro Shiny Brites and a book The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas.  “A colorful exploration of Depression-era Kansas and the meaning of friendship.”  I was hooked after the first few pages!   Thank you Kay you are ever so thoughtful! 

I took the ornaments upstairs, found some hangers and hung them on the in progress Shiny Brite tree!  These will be known as my Kay ornaments!

The tree upstairs will be done soon, I work on it for a few hours and then do something else.  So many people have given me ornaments it is like a trip down memory lane while I am decorating.

Good Find

Sometimes when you least expect it, you see something different in an antique shop and cannot resist.

Shiny Brite Made in USA

This is a design that I don’t have in my collection.

It is a beautiful torquoise color trimmed in silver mica.

Perfect for my collection!

Made in Poland

I had some good luck at a garage sale.  I peeked into a box of old ornaments and found five made in Poland Ornamants. Polish Ornaments are glass and hand painted. They were imported into the United States probably in the 1950’s.

They weren’t marked…so I asked.  25 cents each…well alrighty then!  Should I tell her thay are worth much more than that?  Nope…I am keeping my big mouth shut.  A fair value is somewhere between 6 and 10 dollars each.

See how Poland is stamped on the cap?  That is how you tell it is what collectors call a polish.  These five were probably part of a set of twelve.  The seller stated that they were ornaments her son and his wife wanted to get rid of.

Polish ornaments are cousins of Shiny Brites.

One of the ornaments was a Shiny Brite…it is called a Stripe.

These are not old they are new, but for 10 cents each they came home with me.

Here you can see how small they are compared to the polish.

It was a good day going to garage sales throughout the city of Menahga.