this christmas almost everything i gave came from antique stores. the only non-antique gifts selected were the sweater i found for my grandmother which is a perfect color and style for her and was less than ten dollars from a closeout store...and the items for the "movie night" basket i made for the owners of the coffee shop. and since that was such a creative little idea...i dont feel bad for it one bit.

why would i feel bad for new gift giving? well..because it feels so very...sterile..to me. and so wasteful, too. i LOVE the feeling that i'm giving someone something which is completely unique...that they wont have already been given that year. i love buying things used or on closeout to prevent them from becomming trash before their usefulness is spent. i love the history that looms around old things....like the newspaper clipping that we found in the pages of the book i gave my dad last night. i gave my friend rebekah a flower chocker which god only knows the events it was worn to and on whos neck it was displayed as the latest fashion..and no one else will be wearing this where rebekah wheres it in the comming months...and she wont soon forget where it came from. the american girl books i gave my little sisters may have been read first by someone my age..maybe even me, for all we know...and now they can repeat the process. why should we print new ones when these are prefect?

my mom gave me a set of tea plates with cups which were from a thrift store and i LOVE them. i love that there are 5 cups and 4 plates and i love that it isnt something i can just turn around and see in anyone's home today...i love that there is a history of social gatherings contained within the memory of these dishes.

i suppose i like the thought of ghosts..i enjoy the mystery behind old things...and i hate to see them fall to the side for newer. its no wonder i love the story of the velvetine rabbit.