I absolutely love vintage Christmas decorations, especially from the 50’s and 60’s. I remember going to my grandparents’ house and always enjoying their ceramic Christmas tree and the orange glowing candles in the windows. Now, I try to find vintage Christmas decorations whenever possible, to display in my own home. Here are some tips for finding Vintage Christmas decorations at reasonable prices:
1) Look at yard sales and thrift stores. My best vintage Christmas decoration finds have been from yard sales. Just this year I found a vintage set of Christmas salt and pepper shakers for only $1.00. From the same yard sale, I bought a full bag of gorgeous antique glass Christmas tree balls for $2.00. Yard sales and thrift stores are your best bet for finding very inexpensive vintage Christmas decorations.
2) Be willing to accept or fix minor flaws. This summer, I found a FREE working vintage light-up ceramic Christmas tree. About half of the lights were missing. I ordered replacements online for under $3, and had a complete, beautiful tree that cost me almost nothing. Remember you can fix a missing hook or a bit of chipped paint. Sometimes a real treasure could be just waiting for you with a little TLC.
3) Check online – I recommend Ebay, Craigslist, or your local Facebook Online Yard Sale site. If you know what you are looking for, it’s easy to do a quick search on these sites.
4) Shop off-season. Prices online will be better off-season. A beautiful vintage Christmas decoration on Ebay will go sell for much less in March or April than it will in November.
5) Remember that some replica decorations are safer than the vintage ones. For instance, bubble lights were popular in the 70’s and 80’s. However, they were not made with the built-in safety features that they have now. Replica bubble lights can be found at craft and seasonal stores, and online, and are a safer choice that the originals.
