Indoor Lawn Flamingo

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The Trailer Park Special! My very own lawn flamingo.
A rare species, I previously only had cheap knock-offs (see my garden kitsch blog post next), but when we moved to our new house my mum spent the £20 it costs to import these plastic beauties & bought me two for a house warming present.

 It's such an iconic piece that I wanted one indoors & keep one in the large tiki flower pot beside the tv. The flower pot belongs 'to the house', chosen by our landlady as part of the furnishings.

 We are very lucky to have a landlady with classic taste, and I'll dedicate a post soon to some of the amazingly stylish vintage furniture she picked for our house.

 I managed to kill the plant within 2 months of moving in, my husband says I have 'grey fingers' when it comes to gardening. Luckily the rules of floral decoration & kitsch is "the more fake looking, the better".
Think of kitchens adorned with fake vines of grapes & onions and you have the right idea.

 So I used the pot to plant one of the flamingoes & draped him in some tacky, light-up red flowers from Ikea's 2008 Summer Range.
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Claire

Exotic Table Mats

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These are an eBay buy. I think buying kitsch on eBay is a little bit like cheating. To me part of the joy of kitsch is that you found each piece yourself, hoking in a junk shop, or bartering at a car boot sale.

 I'm a bit snobby about buying faux-kitsch reproductions & feel like it would be totally cheating to buy items from a retro shop like the one near St.Annes in Belfast.
That's ready made kitsch, someone else has done it for you.

 When your decor looks odd like mine, it's a reflection on me, and I don't want someone else picking what furniture will make my house look 'properly retro'.

 Of course shops like the retro one & books about other people's kitsch homes are fabulous places to steal ideas, but put your own twist on them!

 Back to the placemats, an eBay buy, so not as much a trophy as if I'd found them buried in a pile of magazines in a charity shop.

 Six separate prints on hard table mats, I remember my own granny having something similar.

 They came in a hard box, so are in as new condition, so I don't use them, just display them.

 My favorite is definitely the 60's orange hued photo of the canal boat.

Claire

Religious Kitsch Continued

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These pair of Christs (unusual phrase) actually belong to my husband.

 He isn't Catholic, or even remotely religious, but he loves a good Jesus statue.

 'Baby' Jesus was bought in the Catholic Wares shop near Castlecourt in Belfast & the bust was a second hand treasure found at Holywood May Day Festival two years ago.

 Incidentally my very own 'Bible', the coffee table book Kitsch Deluxe can be seen in this snap.
Anyone who wants some inspiration of how to get the look right, this book is a must have.

Claire

Light Up Last Supper Rainbow Clock

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Hold onto your hats, people, this by far is one of my worst/best, ugliest/most glorious items.

 Bought in a little cheap shop in Dublin, it's the light-up, rainbow revolving, Last Supper Time Keeper.

 Why anyone would want a purple shiny, rainbow radiating version of the Jesus' final fling with his disciples is beyond me, but I'm sure you agree if I had left this clock on the shelf I couldn't count myself a professional bad taste mogul.

 Religious kitsch is another easily accessible branch of the trend anyone can pick up.
One or two religious statues can bring kitsch to a bathroom without having to go the whole hog (like I would).

 Remember it's not exclusive to ol' Jesus, any religious icon can bring a bit of camp to your decor.

Claire

Weather House & Musical Stag Lodge

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Taking pride of place on the cabinet are my two little wooden houses.

 The one on the left is an old fashioned weather predicting toy, when rain is due the lady comes out of her door, if it's to be dry her colourful hubby will swing out.

 The house on the right was a surprise Christmas gift from my husband; proof he totally understands my bad taste!

 This one isn't a reproduction, it's an actual vintage music box, with ivory stag heads & cute heart patterned window shades. My husband is a fantastic present buyer!

Claire

Fantastic Mister Fox

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Taxidermy, another of the more morbid sides of kitsch.
This creepy pass-time sees our expired furry friends stuffed for all time & put on the wall.

 Original hunting trophies, now taxidermy laws are strict. Beasties must be obtained naturally, eg. you can't go out & catch yourself a goat to kill for your wall. Pieces come with their own papers, which meant an animal lover like myself doesn't feel evil for enjoying my fox head, although I do appreciate for some it is a little gruesome.

 My interest in taxidermy stretches way back to when I was a toddler. I am a city kid, born & raised in Belfast, but in the town centre we have a very old cafe called Delaney's which is cram packed with taxidermy.

 It's still there today & still has about a dozen pieces including a buffalo head & a couple of antelope.
My mum & gran used to take me to Delaney's when we were in town shopping, they do a mean pavalova.
As a toddler I called it, "The Dead Face Shop" such was my curiousity with their stuffed menagerie.

 My father-in-law loved Mister Fox so much, he went out & got himself one from an antique shop.
Spreading the ugly kitsch!

Claire