Countdown to Christmas: Mrs. Grossman

Christmas is almost upon us! Which means the Christmas sticker countdown is drawing to a close. 

Objectively speaking, Sandylion probably made the cutest Christmas stickers (see below), but Mrs. Grossman is the clear winner for prolific Christmas sticker output over the years, and designs that are reliably adorable in a way that doesn't have to involve smiling teddy bears and the like.

So, so cute.

If there are any stickers that communicate stillness and wonder, these are those stickers:

In the late 1980s, Mrs. Grossman used their (her?) own sticker designs to come up with these super-cute package labels:

But I have to end with the holiday mice.

Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hannukah, the Solstice, or are enjoying a Festivus with the rest of us, happy winter holidays to all! 

Recent acquisitions

I like to think of my sticker collection as a museum. A kind of private museum that isn't open to the public and never deaccessions anything. But I do continue to collect, so here are a few recent additions to the collection.

From Mary, these adorable, Japanese-style Momiji stickers:

 

These remind me of old school, Valentine's Day stickers. But now I can practice my German and Italian at the same time that I make construction paper hearts with doilies. 

 It's a declaration of sorts.

Super-cute.

 

I also did some shopping on the Mrs. Grossman's website and found these beautiful, laser-cut stickers for the fall season:

 I think it says something about me that I can look at a sticker with a witch, bats, and a haunted house, and every time think that the "Boo!" says "1300!" Because, you know, the 1300s were a pretty awesome century (just think of the contributions to the Sienese school of painting alone). 

1300!

Hard-to-photograph.

Probably my favorite from the group.

Then I went with some more obviously cute designs:

 

Better for Easter than for Thanksgiving.

After butterflies and dragonflies, ladybugs are the only acceptably adorable insect.

Jazz hands!

Just because.

People who dress like their stickers, part 2

Looove the white pants these t-shirts are tucked into. It is a flattering look for everyone.

I could so rock one of these shirts.

Fall in New England

It's October in Boston, which means the leaves are turning; the Sam Adams seasonal beer is delicious Oktoberfest; Halloween decorations are going up; and City Feed and Supply is making pumpkin lattes. Fall in New England is such an experience that Mrs. Grossman's paper company made this lovely sticker:

Details:

 One of New Hampshire's covered bridges, obviously.

The barn has to be in Vermont, while the white house nestled among the trees is probably Martha Stewart's Connecticut home.

The white congregational church is classic New England college town (I'm thinking western Mass). The suburban house with the gazebo is in...Rhode Island?

One of Maine's beautiful lighthouses on the Atlantic shore.

Retro stickers

There is a big nostalgia factor in collecting stickers, so I've been thrilled recently to find new stickers being made in the old-school style, that is, full-on 1980s rainbows and unicorns. At the time that I first liked rainbows and unicorns (and let's be honest, I never stopped) it never would have occurred to me that they were an 80s thing, rather than just a girl thing. Maybe they're both? In any event, Mrs. Grossman's sticker company has these lovely rainbow shooting stars:

These (hard-to-photograph) rainbows look like they're right out of a 1983 sticker album:

Sandylion came out with these recently:

And Hallmark with these puffy, sparkly rainbows and rainbow stars:

I guess rainbows for the 21st century have to be sparkly or shiny to sell, while back in the day the ROYGBP sequence was enough. The same sparkle factor apparently goes for unicorns:

Where did I get these?! I can't remember but you can FEEL the sparkle on the stickers.

The other thing that has made me happy is that some old-timey sticker companies are re-issuing classic designs, like this butterfly by Hambly Studios:

Hallmark, which has never been a focus of anyone's collecting interest, but which nevertheless was prolific with its designs in the 1980s, has reissued these super-cute frogs through their "stickeroni" series (available at your neighborhood pharmacy!)

You know you traded these!