Did you have an Advent Calendar?

 

Did you grow up with an Advent calendar?

 

It is a very common tradition in Scandinavia, and in Norway, where I grew up, children often have one with just pictures (the boring one), one with little milk chocolates (the yummy one), and one with little presents (the favorite one).  I typically had the first two at home, and at school we had the third kind with all the presents - and every kid brought one wrapped gift for somebody else.  It is such a good school memory, probably among my favorites from elementary school.  Actually the entire December month was the best one in school, and I was always a bit sad when the actual vacation started.  The anticipation was in so many ways the best part!

 

Below are two videos that show what I did yesterday and today - sort of a vlog Advent calendar.  I am going to try to do one video every day until Christmas to show what I do during December and how I prepare for Christmas.  We have a mix of Scandinavian and American traditions in this house, so it will be a mixture of both.

 

Day 1

 

 

Day 2

 

So, did you have an Advent calendar growing up? I really would love to know!

December Recap, Cliff's Notes Edition

The good news from December:  I made the most money to date in my booth, about 3X what I normally make!
 Despite the fact that I was missing in action for the entire two last weeks of the Christmas month, the stuff seemingly sold itself.  I went back to my booth today for the first time in 18 days, and it was not a pretty sight.  Stuff shuffled around, books and tins on the floor, other people's merchandise left in my booth, ugh.  But then I got my check, and I felt a lot better.  Big things sold and lots of little things sold, and I have a lot of open shelf space to fill up.  And guess what my number one seller was?
Once again: mugs!  I sold about a dozen mugs in December - as I have said previously, Mainers sure like their coffee, tea, cider and hot chocolate in retro mugs.

What was your biggest seller in December?

Scrooge booth?

So, I thought I had quite a few Christmassy things to put in my booth for the upcoming season, but after looking at it, I realize I have failed quite miserably.  My booth does not look as festive as I had pictured in my mind.  Not at all.

I partly blame the fact that I cannot plug anything into any wall outlets (against store policy), so all the Christmas lights I had pictured, would not work out.  Also, I have two cute vintage ceramic Christmas trees, but they sure look sad without any lights on - so I did not even bring those in yet.  I put in a few cookie tins (more will come), some Christmas mugs (I officially sell more coffee mugs than I ever thought), and some children's Christmas books.  Oh - and I did bring in all my Christmas craft books I had stored in a guest room closet and never made anything from - the guilt is gone!  Hopefully they will entice somebody else's crafty temptations. 

I also have a whole bunch of Christmas linens I would like to sell, but I have no idea how to display them, and my booth is starting to look a bit cramped.  Any ideas on how to display linens in a small space?

I did bring in some new crystal liquor glasses - these look a bit holidayish to me with their pineapple cut pattern (to replace two sets of Dorothy Thorpe roly polies that have sold in front of my Mad Maine sign). 

Also, do ice skates with red piping count?  I have an old-fashioned sled in my basement too that I always envision I will do something with by my front door, but it has never happened (like the craft books).  Maybe I should bring that in too.

Other than that, my booth looks about the same in terms of its whimsical style.  And maybe the rest is meant to go under the tree anyway ;-)

By the way, I met another booth owner today that has been doing this very successfully for years (and has a couple of different booths around the store).  I asked him about the upcoming Christmas season and how he prepares for it.  He does nothing differently!  Is it perhaps a female thing to want to decorate our booths for Christmas?

How much do you decorate your booth specifically for the holidays? 

Thanksgiving, then full charge ahead

Taylor and Ng Thanksgiving Mugs with proper use of Top Hat

Funny how having my mom in town for an extended visit meant absolutely no time for my antique booth.  It doesn't help that my lovely mom does not see the charm in having such a booth and can think of a thousand better ways to spend my time.  I love my mom, and will gladly sacrifice my booth for her, but I still feel guilty about not going by for almost 2 weeks.  When I finally did stop by, the store owners said they had been all worried about me.  Aw, the love!

I have finally sat down and priced a whole bunch of items for the coming Christmas season, and I plan to give my booth some proper loving tomorrow.  At least when I did go by my booth after such a long absence, a lot of stuff had gone missing - including my beloved red Coleman cooler.  It will be interesting to go through the official sales sheet.

Do you feel torn when visitors come to town?