Vintage Holiday Shopping Guide: Gifts for Home Decor Lovers

While most people enjoy the ongoing act (and art!) of decorating their personal space, be it a bachelor apartment or a sprawling villa, in a way that brings them both joy and contentment, some take this part time hobby and turn into an ongoing passion that consumes their thoughts and shopping trips. No matter where on the scale the home decor lover in your life fits, chances are they’d welcome a wonderful, thoughtful gift for their house.

The items below have an inherently old school feel to them, some are whimsical others are resplendently chic, all are likely to be type of decor pieces that would bring a giant smile to the face of anyone on your holiday shopping list who loves to adorn their home with elements that speak to their adoration of vintage.


~ Gifts for Home Decor Lovers ~



{Hidden beneath her gracefully sweeping, crimson hued stoneware skirt, this immensely adorable lady hides a stick or small tub of your favourite spread from freshly churned butter to vegan margarine, apple butter or a cheese log, ready to add pep to one's table through the holiday season and well beyond. Also available in marigold yellow, this cuter than cute butter dish can be yours for $28.00 (US) from Anthrologie.com.}



{Your gift recipient can inject a rainbow of cheerful colour and vintage style to any room in their home, from the den to the boudoir, with this chicly beautiful metal starburst clock which retails for $59.99 (US) from ModCloth.com.}



{Who amongst us doesn’t adore the pleasure of sifting through flea markets, estate sales and thrift stores in the hopes of find just the right treasures for our wardrobes and homes alike? If this sounds like you or someone you know, then The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details by Stan Williams, may be exactly the book to turn to for inspiration when it comes to how best to put those newfound (old) treasures on display. Released in 2009, this charming, photo filled, 240 page book is $18.50 (US) from Amazon.com.}



{Generously sized cabbage roses in a tranquil pallet of coral pinks and dusty yellows adorn this beautiful cotton duvet cover, telegraphing a wonderfully feminine feeling that would work marvelously in any bedroom or guestroom in the house. Queen (full) sized “Tea Rose” duvet cover, $68.00 (US) from UrbanOutfitters.com.}



{This darling vintage inspired box and the elegant pastel hued tea set it houses are both equally lovely items for a special someone on your holiday list to decorate their kitchen with. Set of four (one each pink, green, blue and yellow) “Piccadilly” bone china tea cups and saucer with gift box, £34.95 (UK) from Dotcomgiftshop.}



{Who wouldn’t delight at the prospect of gathering everything from holiday cards to the more mundane mail (like December’s credit card bills!) of everyday life from this immensely quaint white mail box (letter holder) with black enamel finish. Measuring in at 7.75 inches wide by 9 inches long and 4 inches deep, this wonderfully elegant receptacle would add a marvelous vintage touch to the outer decor of any home, and can be purchased for $24.00 (US) from Painted White.}



{Muted tones of aquamarine and teal lend this patriotically lovely thrown pillow a hefty dose of aged appeal. Measuring in at 30cm wide by 40cm long the wool and cotton “Britannia” cushion featuring a classic Union Jack flag in “duck egg” can yours to give (or keep!) for £35.00 (UK) from Laura Ashley Home.}



{This delightful tea towel is almost too pretty to use – all the more reason it deserves to go out on display proximately a turquoise kitchen, buttercup yellow bathroom, or snow white hued laundry room, for all who enter to admire. Embroidered and appliquéd wrens and doves who are immersed in a darling tea party cover this generously sized cotton tea towel (28 inches long by 21 inches wide) which is available for $24.00 (US) from Anthropologie.com}



{If there’s someone on your gift giving list who swoons at that mere thought of all things vintage French decor or antique shabby chic related, then The Paris Apartment: Romantic Decor on a Flea Market Budget by Claudia Strasser (published in 1997), $19.76 (US) from Amazon.com, may just be the perfect present to bestow upon them – and their beautiful home –this holiday season.}



{This gorgeous sea foam green storage bench is a real multitasker! At once it’s both an extra seat and a stylish place to stash anything and everything you might not want cluttering up a room all the time; it can be an ottoman, coffee table, or collect all for coats and bags. Upholstered in vintage inspired vinyl, sporting a plush tufted and piped cushion top, set upon tapered mid-century style legs, and measuring in at 38.5 inches wide by 18 inches high and 18 inches deep, this smart and stylish bench is available for $240.00 (US) from UrbanOutfitter.com, and would make an incredible gift for someone really special in your life.}



{Instantly transform any vanity table, bathroom counter or dresser top into the sort of glamorous spot one might expect to see in a vintage Hollywood starlets’ home with this incredibly pretty, ever so slightly rococo, hand painted cream and gold pedestal mirror. Measuring 34.5cm high by 18.5cm wide, this sophisticated looking glass is available for £28.00 (UK) from Laura Ashley Home.}



{An elegantly dressed woman in an enchanting gown holds a delicate paper lantern up to light the evening’s activities in this wonderful print that's stretched across a 12 by 14 inch canvass. Ready to instantly infuse added beauty to any vintage fan’s wall, this attractive print is $30.00 (US) from Plasticland.}



{Stock up on this magnificently pretty glass transferware holder and candle set to use as a stocking stuffer, hostess present or strikingly attractive gift on its own. This 4.75 inch tall by 3 inch wide peacock bedecked, shabby chic Victorian looking holder with a nine ounce white hued candle (45 hour burn time) is $19.50 (US) from Touch of Europe.}



{Dazzle your holiday giftee with a book they’ll be thrilled to keep out on the coffee table (or night stand), browsing and daydreaming over all year round, such as this amazing collection of over 600 magazines covers all featuring the eternally graceful Audrey Hepburn. This fashionable tomb, Audrey Hepburn” International Cover Girl (by Scott Brizel), was just released in November of this year and can be found on Amazon.com for $29.70 (US).}


This bevy of gorgeous home decor items has me itching to both give gifts from this list and add a few treats to my own home! I hope that amongst the ideas suggested here you’ll find oodles of inspiration for all those on your list who love to deck their halls (and every other room!) in vintage style.

Joyful holiday wishes to one and all as we count down these last ten (shopping) days until Christmas! :)

Snip, snip, snip, went the hair

♪ Zing, zing, zing, went my heart-strings! ♪


{Charming Swiss hair salon shop sign, discovered via Dom Dada’s Flickr stream.}

Last Friday after popping by the bank, I headed across the street (albeit to a budget-friendly chain type of place) to get myself a ridiculously long overdue hair. I can’t even muster up the courage to admit how long it’s been since my last one, but definitely more than a year. I wasn’t procrastinating in the “just haven’t been bothered to get around to it sense”, but I will admit to delaying the inevitable due to a chronic tailbone problem I have that makes sitting extremely painful. Sadly that means that even the most simple of things like enjoying a meal at a restaurant or sitting in the hairdresser’s chair can be a huge challenge that I need to plan in advance for.

Yet my hair, straight as a rod, fine as a newborn baby’s and thin (aka, there isn’t a lot of it), simply does not have the natural density and volume to pull off bra strap or waist length styles, love the notion of Rapunzel/Jane Seymour like styles as I do.

By sheer luck I picked a good time of the day (noon) to hit the salon, as soon as I walked in I was whisked over to a stylist and my hair was being shampooed in no time. The stylist, who I’ll call “K” was a friendly middle aged woman who seemed to have an uncanny ability to know things about my hair.

“It’s been a long time since your last cut, hasn’t it?” she asked, her fingers flying through my sudsy hair. To which I couldn’t bring myself to cop to how long it really had been and gave the vague answer of “several months”.

Later on she said rather point blank, “You’re hair is thinning, isn’t it?” This is absolutely true; since I was 14 years old my hair has been falling out in disturbing quantities. I’ve sought medical advice, had tests run, tried increasing various vitamin intake levels, but nothing has helped and doctors just seem to shrug and say produce the favourite cop-out of medical practitioners everywhere, “it must be genetics”. Perhaps, but I wish there was so way to know for sure!

Granted working with and understanding the mechanics of hair is her job though, so she really wasn’t getting all Derren Brown about what lays atop my scalp ;) It was just nice to have someone who seemed to understand my hair for once, as I’ve had a really lousy string of hair dressers – and some awful cuts – over the years.

Once shampooed, we discussed how short I wanted to go and I explained that I wanted to still be able to pull it back (how many times have we all heard that now on reality make-over shows, it sounds almost cliché to say at this point) and that being able to curl it, especially in pin curls and hot rollers, was of the utmost importance to me. K proceeded to lop off a good four inches (perhaps more), which brought my hair up to my shoulder blades. She then worked in some layers (I’ve been getting layered cuts for years, but my layers had all but grown out and were in dire need of reviving), blew dry it and rubbed in a palm-ful of volumizing lotion.

The whole experience went much quicker than I’d been dreading it would and I was out of the salon in under half an hour, giddy with my new cut and wishing I’d taken the plunge – or should I say “cut” – ages ago.


{Delightful vintage illustration of a stylish lady getting her hair done. Image care of Kitschy Kitschy Coo’s awesome blog.}

Since then I’ve washed it three times (I generally wash my hair every other day, opting for a shower cap the other days), worn it down, partially pulled up, and in a sort of deconstructed victory roll style. On Monday I picked up some pin curl clips and a rat tail comb (both Goody brand http://www.goody.com/) at the drug store (I was also looking for perm papers, which are useful when doing pin curls to help tuck the ends of the hair sections into the curl with, but it seems that drug stores and even Trade Secrets, which I also checked, do not sell them these days, home perms having gone the way of the dinosaur), and I think these tools will make pin curls significantly easier to do then how I’ve been working them thus far, which was with a brush and bobby pins.

I’m not a pin curl expert though and have never attempted them on shorter hair, but I plan to do so soon. It might take a few attempts, but I don’t mind at all. I’m so pleased as punch with the length of my hair right now, that I find myself looking in the mirror more often and actually smiling!

Last Saturday I posted a helpful pin curl instructional video by Lisa Freemont Street, but thought that I’d share some more of my favourite pin curl how-to clips, produced by ladies far more talented than I am in this arena and from whom I’m hoping I will be able to become a pin curling extrodinare.


{From the uber talented Super Kawaii Mama comes an awesome, straight forward, very easy to follow video entitled “Perfect Pin curls”. If you haven’t done so already, I highly encourage you to follow her Youtube Channel, it’s bursting with helpful vintage styling related clips.}



{The lovely Amanda of MistiqueMake-up shows you how to do flat pin curls, which as she points out, can be a lot easier to sleep in overnight than “upright” or “standing” pin curls. After checking out that clip, be sure to see her video “Styling ideas for pin curled hair”.}



{I love this pin curls for beginners instructional video from Strawberry Koi and have watched several times before. Now it takes on a new meaning to me though, as her hair is very similar in length to my own now. I whole heartedly recommend all of Strawberry Koi's videos, and love her gentle voice and thorough manner of teaching things in a very easy to follow manner.}

In my nearly 25 years of life on this rock, I’ve never had a hair cut that I was more pleased with – and there’s no way I’ll ever go so long again without a trim. As this experience proved, sometimes enduring a bit pain in the name of style is worth a huge gain!


{Yikes, now that that looks rough! Photo of a woman getting a cold set perm from Donna Lethal’s Flickr stream.}

Do you love/hate your hair? Have any stories of trips to the beauty parlor that put a smile on your face?