Monday, January 17, 2011

plastic chic

We all know how bad plastic is - it's too bad it was ever invented. But, if you've already got it - well...

Among our Christmas decorations are quite a few plastic greenery items which my mother had from way back. I got rid of several faded things, but I find that I have a sentimental feeling about some of them.


 This poinsettia looks pretty good from the street - we didn't get around to buying a fresh wreath this year, and my gaudy wreath looks best on the wall, inside the house.

I wouldn't buy this stuff at the thrift store now. However, if I were in severe financial straits, and a plastic decoration was all I could afford and was cheerful, I think I'd rather have that than bare walls, until something better came along. I didn't always feel this way.

                                                                         
Plastic holly hanging in the bathroom. This is all there was years ago - silk flowers were invented in my lifetime!

I can't keep real flowers around here - if it has a scent, it will probably bother me in this small house. And anyway, there are only two surfaces on which to put plants or cut flowers. The front windowsill, where the cats enjoy sitting, and the kitchen table, where Dolly is allowed to go; it would most likely get knocked down.

I am not usually sentimental.

                                                                              
Truly, I have thrown away a majority of this plastic stuff, (where I suppose it will live on in the dump for forever), but for some reason a few of these holiday pieces are tugging at my heart.

                                                                            
Is there such a thing as plastic chic?  Yet??
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7 comments:

  1. TracyJanuary 17, 2011 at 9:13 PM

    Like you said,if you've already got it. If they tug at your heart-strings then they should definitely stay and remind you of happy times and family. There may never be plastic chic but if it is of sentimental value then it is always in style.

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  2. KathrynJanuary 18, 2011 at 7:27 AM

    I don't know about plastic chic, but I wouldn't be surprised for it to become 'chic' again. In the right hands some of the strangest things have caught on!
    I actually have plastic holly garland, and I LOVE it...I don't care how tacky it may seem to others, I see it as fun and kitsch (did I spell that right).

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  3. LisaJanuary 18, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Kathryn, it does seem that the young people with artistic bents do a lot with "trashy" stuff, so maybe it will come back. It's either use it, or it sits in the dump forever.

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  4. asmplelifeJanuary 20, 2011 at 3:56 PM

    I, too, am finding sentimental value in a lot of things from my childhood. Things that ten years ago I would have tossed out quickly. I think Kathryn has the right word, not gaudy, or tacky, but kitschy =] And full of memories. That's the most important part.

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  5. LisaJanuary 20, 2011 at 6:43 PM

    Yes.

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  6. ValJanuary 26, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    I *love* the old plastic Holly!! I actually *looked* for it this year, but the vintage decorations made with it I found online cost more than I wanted to spend. I have some, though, so we had plastic holly wreaths around the apartment. I remember finding a post over at Posy's blog about her own love of plastic holly ( http://posy.typepad.com/posy/2009/12/december-so-far.html ) and knew we were kindred spirits. :)

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  7. LisaJanuary 26, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Did she really post about that? I'll have to look that up!

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