Fall Forest Life and Crafty Christmas at Farm Girl Antiques

I have some photos to share with you guys from Farm Girl Antiques! My mom and I made it there last week, so there wasn't much Halloween left. I'm going to start with the vaguely Halloween/Autumn displays and move into Christmas. I think you guys will still enjoy the Christmas antiques, because there are some unique, funky items. You might also get inspired to decorate or craft something similar. So, we're starting off with one spooky owl. Those eyes! And it's a little creepy, if realistic, to see that this owl has caught dinner. 

This owl lamp is much less menacing.🦉

The owls here... um. If you think that middle owl in the painting is sleepy, check out the owl candle at the bottom. :) Oh, I just noticed there are more owls on that sugar canister. 

I like these mushrooms. 🍄 It looks like someone rolled some birch-looking material around them. 

These little ornaments look like pumpkins to me. 

This deer area was lit up so well. As I'm looking over these photos, I'm realizing how many forest-themed displays were there. 🦌

You can see a few of the old buildings in this neighborhood from the store windows. The Farm Girl building has large storefront windows going around it. You know, the ones with plenty of space to put displays back in the day. She's filled all these little nooks and crannies with mini displays. I think some of the more interesting finds are in these areas.

Here's a view facing the back of the store. You can see the old tin ceilings being revealed. I try to imagine what it once looked like in here. 

I think every Christmas tree in there had a different shape. Many, like this one, had twisty little branches. Maybe some of you will recognize these vintage ornaments. A few of them are classics. 🌲

I was so focused on these cute pinecone critters, that I didn't even notice the book underneath them. 

I wonder what That's Why is about?

We're entering the retro pink and turquoise Christmas section here. 

I like this rainbow wreath. I wouldn't have thought of transitioning color around a wreath, but I'd like to try it. Think of all the color combinations or different shades that could go around a wreath. 

I have a feeling this doll head was part of a Halloween display before. I may even be remembering it from previous years. I'd figured it was the hat that was for sale, but now I'm not sure if this is all one piece. 

Here's a closer look at that ceiling. I wonder what the purpose of that ceramic couple is? I can tell that they held something. They look sort of St. Patrick's Day themed to me. 

This gives sort of an idea of that window space. As you can see, it's pretty roomy in there. 

The string lights add something festive. I bet this place looks interesting at night. Or it could, anyway. It's not open to the public past 4 pm. 

That glittery Santa sign is similar to the deer sign by the entrance. Now I'm wishing that I would have touched one of the signs to see what they were made of. Probably some type of cardboard. I doubt those large signs are vintage, but they have a definite vintage look. A number of items in this store are vintage-inspired crafts. I noticed that the store's name online has been changed to Farm Girl Art & Antiques, so maybe she's going more in that direction. 

I see another one of those little velvet mushrooms here. I may even like them better in pink. It's looking like she took actual pieces of birch bark to make that stand. I'd thought the stands were wrapped in some kind of birch-looking paper before. 

I like all these reflective objects together. That clear glass under the trees looks almost like rippling water. There are actually a few details I didn't notice before, like that planter behind the ornament. There are so many creative uses for containers in this store. I think every tree is standing in something unusual. 

I feel inspired by this icicle box. I'm sure we all have some sort of wood box like this around. Adding some icicles to the front of it makes a perfect container for whatever winter decorations you'd like to put inside. I see ideas like this online all the time, where someone has designed a centerpiece with candles and some sort of foliage in a box. 

Leaving Farm Girl Antiques now... This building neighbors the antique store and I'm sharing a photo of it because I thought you'd all appreciate the architecture. Look at the date up top: 1883. Someone has kept this building in great shape. I looked up "Lamers Building" and found a bit of history provided by the Grove Gallery which now operates in this building: Lamers Building History

I'd remembered taking this light fixture photo about the same time I took the above pic. I'm not seeing this fixture anywhere on the building, though. I don't get it, because the brick and trim are the same. Where is this light hiding? Maybe there was a twin building next door that I forgot about. Anyway, pretty cool ironwork! Even the lightbulb looks twisty.

We visited the Layton Fruit Market on the way back. Like a lot of places now, it was decorated with a bit of fall and a bit of Christmas. I was happy to see some painted store windows, which I haven't seen in a while. 

How cute is this ghost? 

I'm feeling inspired by those planter designs, and might try something like that with some greenery and a bow this year.

In case you missed that toothy little pumpkin in the corner. :) 

This display has been inside the store for years. I wonder how old this horse and cart are? If anyone has any ideas about this in any way, I'd like to hear them. This is an Italian grocery store, so that's a bit of a clue. I'm going to assume this is an Italian antique. 

There's a mini horse and carriage at the bottom. I'm not sure if I even noticed that little guy while in the store. 

And I can't leave out these guys. :)

I hope you guys enjoyed the virtual antiquing! Maybe you even feel inspired to put together some similar displays? I'd be interested to know if you recognize any of the antiques. 

A Christmas walk on a quiet night

We're nearly to Christmas, and I realize that I have not blogged all through December! It has been a very busy month for me. That's not to say that I've been going too many places, since I haven't. But preparing for Christmas and learning some new things has kept me busy as usual. 

I do have some photos to share from a night time trip to my local village. This is the same village you saw in my Halloween blog post with the jack-o-lantern display. Now you'll get to see it dressed up for Christmas. 

I definitely did not have to worry about a crowd during my walk! In fact, the scenery was bordering on eerie for me. I'm one of those people who doesn't mind wandering alone outdoors one bit and enjoys the quietness of night, but there were a few moments for me on this outing that were a bit spooky!

These carolers are usually part of the spookiness, because in the past they've been uplit by green lights. I guess they were alright this time. 

I thought this scene was pretty. The festive party lights looked neat with the Christmas decorations. You can see a bit of that Santa statue from behind. He's just taking in the view.

The Village Hall:

Remember that Norman Rockwell sculpture? It looks like someone found him a holiday hat.

You might remember that shop with the kites and yard spinners. They had some cute ones out for Christmas. I just now noticed the lantern with the pinecone on top! There are a lot of details going on this one.

I really liked the candy cane effect someone made by wrapping these pillars in what I assume is red tape.

More of those fun string lights! I'm looking at this photo and feeling like there should be some sort of party happening under those lights, but I was very much alone. It was a festive atmosphere, anyway.

I peeked into some of the closed shops to check out their displays. 

I remember this collection being donated or at least temporarily loaned by someone in town. I recognize this Christmas village from when it was displayed in the Village Hall. I wonder if they ran out of room for it. I think you're seeing it in the Historical Society here.

This is some collection, hey?

You guys will probably remember this gazebo. The last time you saw it, there were rows of lit up jack-o-lanterns on bleachers in front of it.

Well, this time there was a whole "forest" of cut trees lining the walkway to the gazebo. They were for sale, although there was no one there to sell them. I was surprised to find myself completely alone in a fairly unlit area.

As I walked the path to the gazebo, I found myself looking left to right checking if anyone was hiding between the trees. They totally could have been and that would have given me a scare! A wicked little part of my brain even thought for a second about how easy it would be to step between the trees and scare the heck out of the next person who walked that path. But even if I had wanted to waste my night freezing my butt off and waiting for some poor person to walk by, well... it would have been a long wait. No one was there. 

Looking up:

Once I made it to the gazebo, I stood there feeling quite peaceful. It really was serene in that quiet winter way. Eventually, I had to turn around and walk that tree-lined path again. 

I even considered for a moment that a raccoon or squirrel could be hiding between those trees. That would be bad enough. It might sound funny, but during these boring times I actually enjoyed feeling mildly spooked (Especially since nothing came of it). Isn't that the best kind of thrill? When there's some small sense of adventure without any real consequences. ;)

Before heading home, I took one last pic of the gazebo's weathervane. I'm not sure how much I ever noticed it, but I thought it looked good half-lit at night. The lighting probably made me notice it. That shadowy tree added something too.

Well, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I haven't been online much to see how everyone is doing, but I hope you are all doing well. Maybe you've even done something more exciting than walking around in the dark of winter hoping a raccoon doesn't jump out at you!