Tour a Vintage Decor Collector’s Classic Christmas Home

Leben Riebe, creator of Vintage Holiday, is an antique decor collector from Fort Worth, Texas, and lover of all things merry and bright. Take a trip down memory lane with Leben's one-of-a-kind seasonal collection, including metal tinsel trees and handmade ornaments dating back to the 1920s.

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December 19, 2022

By: Rachael Jones

Show: HGTV Handmade

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Photo By: Brandon Thibodeaux / Getty Images

Christmas on My Mind

Fond memories from holidays long ago, even those well before his time, drove Vintage Holiday creator Leben Riebe to start a simple collection that would soon become a fun, festive obsession. “The Christmas I have in my mind is just that golden age of Christmas from the 1950s where Santa was really commercialized," Leben says. " You have all the bright, shiny ornaments, the multicolored lights and the full Christmas trees. The imagery is really rich and very hyper-Christmasy."

Antiques Assemble

They say you always remember your first love, and in this case it's a handmade glass object found originally in Poland. “I started collecting vintage items [for] Christmas,” Leben says. “I had spent several Christmases trying out different styles and nothing really felt right ... until I came across a package of vintage Polish ornaments with the little indents and the teardrop shapes, and that just started everything.”

Sleigh Ride

Leben's holiday flair stuns guests even before they reach the threshold of his Fort Worth, Texas, home. “When I bought this house, that was one of the first things I envisioned: Santa’s sleigh and reindeer in the front yard,” he says.

Kringle Kitsch

“I try to keep [the yard] a little refined," Leben continues. "But it’s Christmas, so it needs to be fun, and I’m OK with it being a little bit kitschy." In addition to Santa and his reindeer, green garland with classic white lights adorn every window. And if you like his retro Santa, see how Leben handmade the yard decor here.

A Mantel to Remember

Once the outside is set for Santa and his elves, Leben makes his way back down the chimney to the fireplace. “In the living room, I start with the mantel,” Leben says. “That’s kind of the most fiddly bit because there’s lots of wiring and the mantel is not very wide. So things are always diving off as I’m trying to get everything done. And I really hate doing it, but as soon as it’s done I love it. It’s just so beautiful.”

Perfectly Putz

And, of course, Leben's Christmas village isn't just any run-of-the-mill Christmas village found on Pinterest. “These are vintage putz houses from Japan from the 1920s and '30s,” he says. “They are made out of card stock. And I didn’t even know that these existed, because I grew up with the ceramic villages, which are great and I love those. But something about these feel a bit rough around the edges.”

Holiday Village People

Traditionally, Japanese putz houses were made of paper, which was then covered in paint and glitter to resemble a snowy winter landscape. Leben also added antique, 1920s German figurines called lead flats. The pieces are molded from lead, double-sided and hand painted. “I like that little detail," he says. "You can’t see [the flats] from across the room, but when you get up close, you can really see that there’s a whole little world living in the village.”

Tales as Old as Time

Leben's inviting, green living room — painted in the green tea-inspired hue Bancha by Farrow & Ball — is designed to be cozy, and that's because he's filled it with items that hold happy memories. “There’s something nice about having things in your home that have lived with many, many other people,” Leben says. “These items were purchased and saved and displayed every year and treasured, and maybe even passed down, too, and there’s something special about that.”

Post to Santa

“These are real, vintage cards,” Leben continues. “Most of them are handwritten and have little notes inside that somebody wrote. There’s a mixture of Victorian postcards and ones that are more midcentury or even newer. I like the variety of Christmas styles that they represent.”

Collector’s Kryptonite

“When I first started collecting vintage Christmas, I was having packages show up every day,” Leben recalls. “The two main things I still collect for Christmas that I can’t really turn down are ornaments and putz houses. Those are the two things that I just can’t get enough of.” Leben puts his ornaments to use on two fChristmas trees, but they're not your average tree.

Setting a Tinsel Trend

“When I was growing up we had tinsel, but it was a plastic tinsel that you just threw on the tree and it made a huge mess,” Leben recalls. Now Leben's Christmas collection includes real tinsel. “There’s a reason why it looks the way it does in old photos and old movies — because it’s not plastic, it’s metal.”

Insta-Approved: Metal Tinsel Tree

“So last year, I put most of the [metal] tinsel on the dining room tree and it just blew up on Instagram,” Leben continues. “I really did not expect for it to have the response that it did. People of all ages are really attracted to this style of Christmas. I had thousands of messages about that tree."

Flocking to Faux Snow

If you look closely, beneath the metal tinsel and gorgeous glass ornaments, the real VIP decorating project is shining. "I think that flocking a tree makes it glow,” Leben says. “Flocking is a way to add fake snow to the tree. And it’s actually just paper — a paper pulp made with corn starch as the glue and some tinting.” To give your tree an artificial snow look, Leben says to wet the tree branches, apply the paper pulp powder to it and then re-wet the branches. Wait until it sets and then enjoy.

The Last Tree

The dining room tree is reserved for all the Polish ornaments in Leben's entire collection — and to think, it almost never was. “It was the only Christmas tree left on super clearance,” Leben recalls. “It had a lot of space and it was kind of sparse. In the store, I think people probably shied away from it because it wasn’t full. But I knew it was perfect for showing off these vintage ornaments.”

Styling Secrets

Leben decorated the dining room tree with large glass ornaments and garland strung with more pieces from his vintage Christmas collection. "They're antique German beads mixed with beads from Japan," he says. "I like the juxtaposition of the antique with a kitschy, vintage look.”

Merry Table Manners

Leben's vintage collections are also displayed at the table. “I set a Christmas table for dinner and [chose] the look of rustic elegance,” Leben says. “I wanted this tablescape to be fun, not ultra Christmas-y, and to have a winter feel. I used some traditional Christmas colors: green, reddish mauve and orange.”

O Transferware, O Transferware

"I’ve also brought in a vintage Christmas element with these bottle brush trees from the 1950s and vintage, Venetian glassware with red transferware plates," Leben adds. Dating back to the mid-1750s, transferware is pottery that features a unique design that is applied via a copper plate and paper transfer.

Sugar Plum Sweets

Even Leben's holiday spread is set to the orange, red and brown antique aesthetic. More vintage dinnerware is displayed on the holiday table with red and green accents.

Secret Santas

“I collect antique Delft Blue pottery from the Netherlands,” Leben says. “This is up all year long, but I decided to pop these vintage [Santa] cups on top and some little vintage bottle brush trees just to Christmas-ify it.”

Plastic Mold Pals

Everywhere you look in Leben's holiday home there's some point of merry interest, from themed plates and bowls to retro snowmen and carolers. “I try to put a little bit of Christmas in every room,” Leben says. “Each space can have a different holiday or Christmas theme. And I think that’s kind of fun because I can use more of my decorations.”

Fairytale Nutcrackers

It wouldn't be a vintage Christmas without hand-carved, lovingly procured holiday nutcrackers. A group of decorative nutcracker figurines stand together beside a smaller flocked tree donned with mini nutcracker ornaments.

Deck the Walls

Leben turns a corner from his cozy, Christmas living room to a subtly seasonal kitchen. “I felt like this big opening here between the kitchen and dining room really needed something to tie the rooms together,” Leben says. “So I’ve added artificial garland along the entire opening and added a variety of vintage ornaments, too. Most of them are teardrop, Polish vintage ornaments."

A Wreath for Every Door

“My intention with decorating the kitchen was to bring a good amount of Christmas in here while still keeping it fairly functional,” Leben continues. “So I added these wreaths on the kitchen cabinets because I really wanted there to be something at this eye line and not have everything just down here on the countertops.”

Vintage Is a Vibe

Ceramic Christmas trees are a vintage vibe — and a super popular buy at many home goods stores. Leben's antique white, ceramic Christmas tree is from the 1960s and has multicolor bulbs from top to bottom.

Seasonal and Sensible

“I wanted to keep my bedroom simple for Christmas,” Leben shares with a laugh. “I still want it to feel like a bedroom because [my] eyes might need a rest from the other rooms, but still have a little Christmas cheer.”

Put a Bow on It

While Leben’s vintage collection extends beyond wreaths and ceramic pottery, even David of Michelangelo gets a merry red bow for the holidays.

Wonderful Christmastime

“I love everything about Christmas,” Leben says. “There’s really nothing I don’t like about Christmas. I love the family gatherings, and I love the food. My favorite part is doing the decorating, and [then] I like to look at it after it’s done. It’s the actual act of decorating that’s just fun. It’s a time to just cherish what you have, who you have and [to] celebrate life.”