...could it get much better??!?

My family Christmas was at our house this year. When my brother & his wife arrived from out of town, and he came in carrying an unwrapped packing box, topped with another loose box and asked "Do you want any JUNK?" All I could do was jump up and let out a SHINY BRITES! ... and let me tell you, 'Mr. Ultra NO CLUTTER-Stuff/knick-knack free' was WAY more than a little confused!!
Let me give a little background - my sister-inlaws' father died this past fall, they just sold his house in the middle of December and had to have it cleaned for the closing by the end of December. My sister-inlaw and her only sister are less of 'Stuff' people than my brother, and thus their idea of cleaning out this 1950's house, lived in Most of that time by their family, is filling three dumpsters (but I'm NOT allowing myself to think about those dumpster full of STUFF!!) They did ask me to come out and take anything I wanted, but right smack in the middle of the Holiday Chaos I could NOT squeeze in the 4hr each way trip, ~ and with our unpredictable Upstate NY weather it would have been just my luck to have gotten snowed in!!Anyways, it is putting it mildly to say that I was immensely impressed that either of them would have bothered to think anything was worth the effort to pack up and haul out to me!! Not to mention, with their ZERO knowledge of anything old, collectible or dusty - basing their selections only by what they knew of me (we're talking a much older brother who lives 3 hrs away, and a sister inlaw here folks!!) - they nailed it!-right there, on top... SHINY BRITE BOX!!

'There's more out in the car. Do you want them? Where?'

Four packing boxes in total! I'm sure you fellow 'stuffers' can appreciate how difficult it was to control the urge to escape the family chaos and dive into those boxes - especially after I explained to my brother and his wife what the statement 'SHINY BRITES' was in reference to and their response was 'Oh. I think there might be a couple of more boxes of them in there somewhere with some other Christmas junk.'

The next day, after everything was cleaned, laundered, exterior lights taken down, etc., etc., then, and only then did I get to dive in! Talk about a SERIOUS STUFF FIX!! Each and every item was spotlessly clean, No chips/cracks, carefully individually wrapped in layers of paper... This is just ONE box...

Crystal, and carnival glass, and pottery duck planters, and 50's cannister, and copper cookie cutters, and Libbey bar glasses, and vintage red transistor radio, and bar top ice crusher, and binoculars, and, and, and,...

Yes. A WHOLE box of MORE Christmas!!
Hmmmmmmmmm.... Could it Really be??

OH Yeh!

...and how!

...and it just kept getting better, and better...

I Know Christmas is over, but I'm still drooling over this particular box of POLAND ornaments - mostly pastel pinks and blues. I DON'T want to pack them away. I did have a brain storm that I would pack them seperately and use them at Easter on a White tree, since I am SO LACKING on Spring/Easter decor.... DH was rather distraught at this thought... What do you guys think??

(I mean look at those 'Springy' flowers!!)

(...and pastel centers! Looks more like Spring than Xmas to me!)

I WILL NOT THINK ABOUT THOSE 3 DUMPSTERS... I WILL NOT THINK ABOUT THOSE 3 DUMPSTERS... I WILL NOT THINK AOUT THOSE 3 DUMPSTERS... I WILL NOT THINK ABOUT THOSE 3 DUMPSTERS... I WILL NOT...