Vintage finds and retro handmade--a sweet mix I know you'll love.

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Collecting: Vintage Christmas Trees

I've heard of people collecting vintage artificial Christmas trees.  I once watched a tv interview with a woman who had collected dozens of them (yes, full-sized), including real Victorian feather trees and quite a few 60s-era aluminum trees in several colors.  She had a large home and was displaying at least one tree in every room!  I think that was on an old episode of Martha Stewart, but I can't be sure of that.

I technically have two artificial trees, myself:  One tabletop white tree, which you can see in all of my ornament photos, and one full-sized pre-lit green tree which sits in the front room.  I hadn't really thought of collecting any more trees, until I saw this fabulous embroidered tree at my local thrift store.
 People were practically drooling over this when I brought it to the checkout at that store.  Yeah, I think it's awesome, too.   Don't you love this?
I really admire the level of detail in this piece.  Whoever did this was patient and dedicated.  I know--I've done large embroidery projects before myself, although never this big.  It's white and colored yarn on peacock blue moire silk, nearly two feet tall and over a foot wide. There isn't a snag on it, although of course the yarn is a little fluffy in a few places.  I love the sequin shapes. 
  I looked online and found a lighted tree of this style (yes, that one hung on the wall and had lights installed in it), and it was decorated with broken jewelry.  It had been put together back in the 60s.  I think mine comes from the same era. 

This leads me to think it was a trend at that time.  Anyone else have a tree like this?  I'd like to see it.  Post some photos on your blog and create a back link to this one, would you?  Your links will be displayed at the end of this post.

4 comments:

  1. OMG, I have the exact same tree. And it is one of my favorite possessions. I wonder if the same person did it?

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    Replies
    1. That is possible, but I am theorizing that this might have been a commercial kit. I've never found a vintage unopened one online, though. It may surface, one day. It's lovely!

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  2. More than likely this was some sort of kit or pattern that more than one person did. Is yours the same white color against a peacock blue background? Interesting! Thanks for commenting.

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  3. I have the same, one, too!! The peacock blue with the lime green, white and light blue yarn! Mine says "Zosia 1979" on the back and was stapled to a hard cardboard surface and sealed with parchment paper over the edges of the wrapped fabric. I just got mine from a yardsale in Conklin, New York while one vacation from Oregon. Fascinating!

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