Hark, what is that? Is it the sound of Canada Day fireworks exploding in the distance? Probably not quite yet, but soon, in just nine days, such will certainly be the case and I couldn't be happier about that point.
As I've blogged about numerous times over the years (such as in this post), I flat out love Canada Day. In fact, it vies with Christmas for my second favourite holiday of the year. We Canadians, in general, aren't overly boisterous about our patriotism, but it runs as deep as the great oceans that flank our mighty nation, and my heart smiles each July 1st when my fellow countrymen and women join together to celebrate the birthday of our treasured land.
In honour of Canada Day and so much that is good and beautiful (and cute!) about the second largest country - in terms of landmass - in the world, with less than two weeks to go until this special celebration, I thought it would be fun to roundup 25 budget-friendly vintage, vintage appropriate, and handmade finds that speak to the soul of this peaceful, vast, animal filled, maple syrup loving nation.
So pull up a camping chair, put on your favourite red and white outfit, pour yourself a Molson (or some SunRype apple juice) and enjoy this thoroughly Canadian selection of affordable items that channel none of than the spirit of my home and native land itself!
1. Nature, elegance and Canadian pride combine in this timelessly pretty mid-century gold tone maple leaf Sarah Coventry brooch, which is bedecked with a single, classic faux pearl. Perfect for Canada Day, autumn, and the whole year round alike! $16.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
2. Oh, how I madly adore this fun, creative 8 x 10 print proclaiming a line from Canada's national anthem. It would be especially fantastic in a summer cottage, family room, or home library. $9.00 from Northern Rustication.
3. Help your pup get in on the patriotic fashion fun with this delightfully cool handmade detachable pet bow tie that would ensure that Fido or Fluffy looked especially dapper on Canada Day. $15.00 from Danes and Divas.
4. Looking for a great way to add a fun hit of red to your Canada Day ensemble? May I suggest this classic 1950s style double layer crinoline - it will also be especially handy for Valentine's Day and Christmas. Available in modern ladies sizes petite - large. $42.99 from Blue Velvet Vintage.
5. I am beyond in love with this modern, thoroughly timeless looking sterling silver Canada silhouette necklace. It would be ideal to wear here on Canadian soil or when traveling abroad to keep your homeland especially close to your heart. $21.35 from Ivy By Design.
6.Gussy up any vintage or modern ensemble with this big, fun handmade maple leaf print scarf that could easily be worn around your neck or head, or tied to a handbag handle. $16.65 from Endure Designs.
7.Whip up a miniature version of Canada's largest land animal when you put this adorable metal moose cookie cuter to good use (be if for cookies, pie crust shapes, fondant cutouts, or anything else you can dream up). $3.60 from Kreative Baking Shop.
8. Crisp, clean, and in very good shape for its age, this c. 1940s half apron features highlights from the Western Canadian provinces and would be especially good choice for both Canada Day and the August long weekend (particularly if you live in this portion of the country). $19.00 from My Victorian Closet.
9. Talk about a serious contender for the cutest set of themed earrings ever: a round faced little beaver - one of Canada's most emblematic animals - and the "log" that it has skillfully whittled down, both represented in a pair of post earrings. Tres adorable!!! $18.47 from Creatureshire.
10. A few months ago I had the pleasure of obtaining a mixed lot of various antique and vintage paper ephemera from the easterly Canadian maritime province of Nova Scotia, numerous items of which I've listed in the shop already. Amongst that fun treasure trove of paper goods, this beautiful Edwardian photo postcard is my favourite piece and I like thinking about where it might end up next in its venerable life. $4.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
11. Handcrafted from genuine vintage 1943 pennies, these eye-catchingly elegant coin cuff links would be the ideal accessory for a July 1st wedding. $15.99 from Subway Cufflinks.
12. Available in various infant, child, and adult sizes, this handmade, wonderfully cute headband would be the ideal way to quite literally top off any Canada Day outfit! $5.00 from Details NS (who also have a cute Canadian themed red and white hair slip set available for the same price).
13. As their name would imply, Canadian geese are a very (!) common sight in this country, and now you can add one more to your own jewelry box flock when you pick up this charming vintage leather bird brooch, which is currently on sale (at the time of writing) for just $4.00 from Morse Code Vintage.
14. Red and ivory 1940s style mesh peep toe spectator heels for Canada Day (or any point in the year)? Yes, pretty please! Available in modern ladies half sizes 6 - 10. $73.99 from Blue Velvet Vintage.
15. Canada's cuisine is incredibly diverse, rich, and enjoyable, melding influences from countless cultures that have helped to enrich and create the wonderful tapestry that is our population. This fun vintage recipe booklet called Cooking Canada Chicken shines the spotlight on scores of poultry recipes that echo those influences and are sure to make for tasty eating on Canada Day and all year round. $8.50 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
16. You simply could not find a more Canada Day perfect pair of fabric button bobby pins than these classic Canadian flag charmers. $6.00 for a pair of two bobby pins from Rachel O's.
17. Canada is blessed with a huge array of animals from coast to coast, top to bottom, including in many parts of the country (especially those where wilderness reigns strong still), wolves, one of my personal favourite wild critters. As such, this darling laser cut wolf brooch is just the thing to make any outfit worthy of howling in delight about! :) $12.98 from Mini Felts.
18. Let this adorable pair of vintage wooden Royal Canadian Mounted Police salt and pepper shakers stand guard on your table. They're practical, patriotic, and sure to spark lots of fun dinner party conversations! $18.00 from Shake That Thang.
19. I think it's safe to say that more souvenir items have been created over the years featuring Niagara Falls than for any other destination in Canada. One such example of which is this charming vintage miniature pink souvenir vase featuring a colour photo of the majestic Falls themselves - it would look so cute and festive as a bud vase on a Canada Day table. $6.00 from Val in the Valley.
20. Looking to brush up on your Canadian knowledge or just pick up some neat facts you might have heard before? Bring home this charming vintage soft cover book entitled Quick Facts About Canada and you'll be covered there big time! $7.50 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
21. I am soooo enamored with fabulously pretty, Canadian themed 1950s faux pearl and gold tone sweater/cardigan clip. Quick! Someone else nab it quick, before I give into temptation! :) $20.00 from Hey Viv! on Etsy.
22. Ever wondered what the big, beautiful province of Quebec looked like during the earliest decades of the last century? Flip through this photo packed 16 page tourist guide booklet from the 1930s and find out! $7.50 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
23.What an elegant, thoroughly darling vintage square scarf! It features a lovely array of Canadian provincial flowers and some of this country's most common song birds, measures 26 inches, and would rock as a headscarf. $12.00 from Little Sewing Bird.
24. Give yourself the gift of an instant collection with this charming group of vintage Canadian wall pennants, which would be great for any Canada Day celebration or used as the classic decor pieces that they are all year round. $28.00 for all seven pennants from Douglas Vintage.
25. And last, but most certainly not least, this strikingly lovely c. 1930s brass and red enamel maple leaf bracelet, which sings so sublimely of the art deco era it hails from. I can't image a vintage loving Canadian lass alive who wouldn't adore adding this beautiful piece to her stylish wardrobe. $22.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.
♥ ♥ ♥
With a bit of luck, I'll be be feeling well enough that day to attend the July 1st fireworks show that our town puts on each year. It's not terribly long, but it is thoroughly gorgeous, thanks in no small part to the fact this festive pyrotechnics display is shot off over Okanagan Lake, the dazzling, instantly fleeting shooting stars tumbling to the glassine water below.
It's no small part of the reason why I enjoy this day so much and is something I look forward to all the more because it's one of only two fireworks shows here in Penticton each year (the other being on New Year's Eve).
No matter what I do or where I go on July 1st, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be decked out in a Canadian themed outfit (watch for a post featuring it later in July), revved up and ready to celebrate all that makes Canada the fantastic, inspiring, marvelous nation that it is. I can hardly wait, eh!
Oh the moose cutter is wonderful! I love it ❤
ReplyDeleteI really hope you feel well enough to enjoy Canada Day. We just got back from a classic car show and I am absolutely shattered! But I got to pose next to a gorgeous pink and white British car from the 50's xxx
Thank you very much, dear gal! I hope so, too. It's such a great day! I really, really adore holidays like Halloween and Canada Day because they're usually so laid back and there isn't the need to spend a small fortunate on them, so there's generally less stress involved - plus, they're great events unto themselves.
DeleteCar shows take the wind out my sails and then some, too (all that walking, all that sun!), so I fully understand and hope that you're able to get plenty of rest this week.
Gentle hugs & joyful start of summer wishes!
♥ Jessica
Happy Canada Day! I hope you have fun celebrating. I love the items you've picked out, as usual (you have such good taste). It's funny how many Canadian brooches and other memorobilia end up over here in the UK, I come across them quite often. My own Grandmother went to Canada in the 1960s to be a teacher (she's bilingual in French/English), and I've often wondered if it was young women like herself that brought such treasures back to the UK.
ReplyDeletexx
Hi sweet dear, oh, how it made me smile ear-to-ear that you raised this point. Over the years I have bought many of the vintage Canadian themed/souvenir brooches in my own personal collection (natch, I have one :D) online from the UK (usually on eBay), including my super beloved 40s/50s totem pole souvenir brooch. Clearly a lot of tourists visited Canada during the early to mid-twentieth century and carted back reams of touristy pieces with them. I could so see your grandma bringing some items back with her. What a lovely thought!
DeleteThank you very much for your great comment. Have a fabulous first week of summer!
♥ Jessica
We just don't have any kind of equivalent day to this here - and wearing patriotic colours has unfortunate connotations of 'football hooligan' in this country, but I feel like it's quite a shame I can't have equivalent cardigan clips! I love the goose brooch too - here we'd probably have to have a swan one as they're the queen's royal protected bird, but swans can be so mean (one gave me a mighty nip when I was a child and I've never forgotten it)! x
ReplyDeleteOh no, that's a shame for sure. Everyone who wants to do so should feel free to sport their country's colours without any trepidation or negative connotations. You'll just have to hope across the pond and spend Canada Day with me one of these years! :) (It's still a Commonwealth country after all, so we're kind of country(wo)men in that sense already.)
DeleteYikes!!! We were always warned to stay far away from swans as kids for that very reason. I was dared at the tender age of 14 or 15 to run up and pet one, which (teenager that I was at the time) I did, and thankfully the sweet dear didn't mind at all - in fact, I think it rather enjoyed it. I do know that many are not so keen on human contact and would likely not repeat that silly antic again these days.
Thank you very much for your lovely comment, honey. You always leave such awesome thoughts here for me (and everyone else) to enjoy.
Huge hugs & happiest start of summer wishes!
♥ Jessica
What a great round-up of items! I am seriously thinking about that bird/flower scarf! When I was younger we would always spend Canada Day up at the cottage, and watch fireworks over the lake at night (assuming one of the other cottages had them, our dock has too many trees for us to launch our own). This year I'm stuck working, but hopefully I can think of something equally festive to do.
ReplyDeleteHello my lovely fellow canuck, thank you very much for your great comment. Isn't that scarf stellar? It is one of the three items that are most tempting me here.
DeleteThose sound like such idyllic, beautiful Canada Days. I love how often fireworks are shot off over the water in this country. The dreamy reflections of their shimmering hues on the still water below is nearly memorizing.
Even though you have to work, I really hope that you're able to do something fun to celebrate and that you have a marvelous July from start to finish.
Big hugs & the happiest of Canada Day wishes,
♥ Jessica
What a nice introduction to Canada Day! Love your selection of vintage (and vintage inspired) items, especially the scarf and cufflinks. I've been collecting vintage scarfs to wear when we go riding in our convertible and it would be fun to get a scarf from each country. And wear it on one of their special days! *Weather permitting of course, I live in the Midwest after all.*
ReplyDeleteScarfs like this look cute pinned on a clothes line type string. I'm considering making a banner out of my scarfs that allows for them to be removed when needed, and then put back. I've already got the white sunglasses...
Thank you Jessica for another informative and entertaining post! Your blog is like a year-round Christmas present. I never know what treasure awaits when you add another post. :)
Hello dear Denise, thank you very for the incredibly lovely compliment and wonderful comment. I can't begin to tell you what a jolt of joy your comparison of my blog being like a a year-round Christmas present brought my way. Truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
DeleteI love scarves displayed/stored in that way, too. I don't have a free wall to string such up on in our wee condo, or I would do so as well. It's by far one of the best and most practical ways to store scarves, IMO. Honestly, I'm thinking about doing it even just on a portion of a wall, as it would be really handy to easily see some of my (many) scarves in one quick go.
I love that you're keen to collect scarves from around the world. I am as well, though don't have that souvenir ones from different countries yet. It's certainly an area of my collection I'll be trying to grow further as time goes on - with the biggest soft spots always being Canada and Italy for me (mine and Tony's respective homelands). I love US ones, too, as there was such a vast, diverse array of them produced and one could collect for life and never run out of new (old!) ones to add to their collection.
Many huge thanks again & my happiest wishes to you and yours for a stellar summer!
♥ Jessica
the beaver earrings!!! weeee!!!!
ReplyDeletepretty and fun collection of patriotic things - unthinkable here in germany - we take ourself to serious.....
hugs! xxxxx
Hi sweet Beate, thank you very much for your lovely comment. Oh, that's a shame - every country should be able to kick back and have fun sometimes. You'll just have to celebrate Canada Day in spirit with me and all the beavers over here then. :)
DeleteTons of hugs & joyful start of summer wishes!
♥ Jessica
oh my goodness! I can't handle it! I want it all..every single one! Great post that just makes my Canadian Heart swell with pride!
ReplyDeleteHappy Canada Day (early) Jessica :)
Liz
Thank you very much, sweet gal! I swear, I was thinking about you soooo much when penning this festive post, as like myself, you're a die hard vintage Canadian history and collectibles fan.
DeleteI hope that you guys have an awesome, sunshine filled July 1st and truly wonderful entire summer!
Huge hugs, eh!!! :)
♥ Jessica
Lovely! xx
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you, my sweet fellow Canadian. I hope that you have a joyful, sunny, terrific Canada Day and whole summer ahead!
DeleteTons of hugs from the Okangan,
♥ Jessica
Great picks Jessica, I loved the sweater guard which got me thinking that of the many items that have made a come back the sweater guard is one I have not seen.
ReplyDeleteTrue! While collar guards/tips have been having a moment in the last few years, sweater guards are still very rare outside of the vintage/retro/repro realm. If they ever come back, I'm going to stock up big time! :)
DeleteBig hugs & tons of happy start of summer wishes, dear gal!
♥ Jessica
really nice finds I really like t his feature on the blog. I of course love that pet bow tie
ReplyDeleteretro rover
Hi sweet Kate, I swear, I was thinking about you when I was browsing that Etsy shop and including that particular listing here. I've learned about so many great pet brands via your blog and hope that I can introduce you to one every now and then in posts like these, too.
DeleteBig hugs & tons of happy start of summer wishes,
♥ Jessica
Great finds!! Thanx for all the lovely choices :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, sweet lady! Have a fabulously fun, joyful July 1st and whole summer!
DeleteBig hugs,
♥ Jessica
The lovely things you showed here! The apron, sooooo lovely, that gorgeous maple leaf scarf, the coins as cuff links, the pins, the wolves, the encyclopedia, everything you showed is lovely! Lovely shoes too! You always show the most beautiful and delicate things! I love visiting your blog, you give me a smile! I hope you are fine, being driven to appointments and bearing some "me-time", it's for s short period, you will see! Happy Canada Day in some days - I love maple syrup, by the way!
ReplyDeleteDenisesPlanet.com
Hi sweet maple syrup loving lady (oh my gosh, there's almost nothing that is massively enhanced by maple syrup - it's practically a food group unto itself in my books! :D), thank you very much for your wonderfully nice comment. You always leave such detailed, thoughtful notes here for me and the other readers to enjoy.
DeleteI hope that you have a fabulous, sunny, blissful summer!!!
Big hugs,
♥ Jessica
Hello Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed, I did not know of this national holiday of Canada ..
I like the way you celebrate it, a very warm and beautiful tribute to your land, according to your style, your personality! You're a Canadian girl wonderful!
I have never been in Canada, but I have an aunt who lives in Toronto, when I want to show her pictures of young Italian girl just arrived in Canada in the 50s!
I love maple syrup and even the magnificent forests of your Country! And then ... I love Bryan Adams;) - !!!
I'm glad you liked them pictures of "my" Tuscany; is actually a region varies: high mountains, forests of fir and chestnut trees, green hills of pastures and yellow corn, or dry, sea and countryside ... but for foreigners exists only the Chianti, Florence and the Leaning Tower! I hope, with my blog, to make known other small Tuscan treasures!
See you soon ... and on July 1, I want to celebrate with lots of maple syrup!
baci •***
serena
Hello dear Serena, please don't worry for the teeny, tiniest of moments, that's completely okay. No one can possibly know of all the specific holidays, even the biggest ones, that exist just in a certain country or part of the world that they've never lived in or otherwise have strong ties to. I'm delighted that I could help introduce you to Canada Day and enjoyed hearing about your aunt in Toronto. It, like Montreal, has always had a large Italian population (I'm assuming that like you, your aunt is Italian, too) and some of the best Italian food to be had anywhere in this country. I still day dream about the scrumptious gelato in Toronto's Little Italy that Tony and I enjoyed while living in that city for six years.
DeleteThrough our blogs we share our worlds and countries and help to teach and inspire one another and that is truly one of the best and most important things about this virtual diary we create month after month, year after year.
Have a beautiful first week of summer!
♥ Jessica
Love the bow tie!
ReplyDeletehttp://inkandlacedesigns.blogspot.com.au/
Love the quirky Canadian jewellery, but most of all I just love the moose cutter!! Very cute.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica:
ReplyDeletethanks for featuring my vintage Canada apron. I saw your blog in my feed.
Dianne
Hi Dianne, you're very welcome. It seemed especially fitting to include here given that you're a fellow Canadian Etsy seller. It's a wonderful piece and I'm happy to shine the spotlight on it in this festive post.
DeleteHave a fantastic July 1st!
♥ Jessica
I am not into Canada day, of course, but I loved this post anyway. I adore sweater clips, they are both practical and cute. I wonder why they are not made anylonger. And I remember I had a "pennant" (the triangular flag) over my bed when I was a child. A yellow one with Kelowna on it. My grandma's sister and her family lived in Canada. I am a little behind with your blog, but tomorrow is my last day at work, then I go on three weeks summer holiday, aah. So you can bet it won't be for long (that I am behind). Wishing you a lovely day, dear. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely to hear - there's so many fun - and often rather adorable - elements of Canada, it's animals and its traditions. It's incredibly cool that you had a pennant for Kelowna, a city just an hour away from us. What on earth are the odds? Yet another fabulous thing that we have in common, my dear friend.
DeleteI'm delighted for you and hope that you have super fun summer holiday!!!
Big hugs,
♥ Jessica
Here are some wonderful Canada Day selections. Every time I think cf your holiday Robin Sparkles' "Let's Go to the Mall" comes to mind. LOL! I get that stuck in my head every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteHee-hee, totally! :D Tony and I are huge HIMYM fans and reference that sometimes, too.
DeleteHave a fabulous day, dear gal!
♥ Jessica
I hope you had a fabulous Canada Day. This is a great selection of items. I love the moose cutter. Have you ever seen a real moose? My friends have just returned from a visit to Canada and they loved it but did want to see a moose!
ReplyDelete