It's all junk...old boxes, milk crates and old books...leaves, acorns, sticks, cookie cutters,vintage photos, bones...just making displays with my junk and the things of the daily life..... My kids will back me up on this...I love the old wood crates! I never "moved on" and bought new furniture except for a new couch from time to time and mattresses....I love using what I find on walks, and finding free stuff and shopping the yard sales and junk shops.
"If it ain't junk, it ain't much"
the display started like this... and then it grew...
The light up snowman seems pretty rare in the holiday blow-mold light-up universe.
Here's a flickr stream of lovely wacky blow molds....I'm far from the the only one who loves them like crazy.....
Union Products of Leominster, Massachusetts, was known as the "Plastics City", hired Don Featherstone to create fun blow mold decorations starting right after his graduation from Worcester Art Museum’s art school, in the mid-50s. We know him best as the creator of The Pink Flamingo in 1957. Union Products closed in 2007, and the flamingo molds were bought by HMC International LLC and are now made in New York.
Polaron, Union, Bayshore and Empire were some of the best known American companies that made the weird and wonderful light up blow mold decorations.
Reaching its hey-dey in the 60s and 70s, the blow mold decorations were in every middle class home. Easter bunnies, Santa, snowmen, angels, and the rare Candlesticks...a pair of which I had at the shop. This faded Santa was a fancy part of my "Jews in Miami Beach" theme I used in my 2009 xmas display in the shop on Broadway, and now sits in my front yard ....
I never wanted you to mistake FunkomaVintage for an ordinary boring store....I like to say " I'm a dinner and a show!"
here's how he started life...
2 light up toy soldiers....from my shop display....
crazy Easter bunny...and also from a shop display....
and of course, my pride ! Dracula by Don Featherstone....
and 2 Don Featherstone pink flamingos ...flamingii....
Using my stacked crates, I keep the few cookbooks I use, a few gardening books, and my bird identification book, with binoculars handy. There's a stack of Polaroids, a Mercedes hood ornament I found in the yard when I was digging a patch for sunflowers last spring.....maybe the whole car is buried in back yard!
The old canning jar was a beach find...it's covered in sea dirt and tiny barnacles. The white ironstone bowl is full of beach glass and other sandy finds, with a square of old barkcloth.
There's a Santa I made about 15 years ago.....and I think 2012 will find me making dolls again. Rolled up is a length of rustic canvas punched with grommets and cords.......I'm pretty sure it was used to cover a furled sail on a boat's boom. Helms alee !
