The longer we’re married, the more beautiful and quality Christmas decorations grace our home. We have a tree skirt my mom needlepointed, which is just lovely and currently covered in gifts, so no photos, sorry. A couple of years ago I begged her to needlepoint an Advent calendar. I think she may have forgiven me now; the detail work about killed her. Nothing to open, but each date is covered by a tiny (1″x1″) needlepointed decoration that hangs on a teeny tiny jingle bell.
We have a couple of Nativity Scenes, one unusual and one sweet.
I think this was a wedding gift, or maybe our first Christmas together, from Tom’s parents. The pieces slide back together and store flat.
I love this set. We first saw it on our honeymoon, at a Christmas store in Victoria, British Columbia. We couldn’t justify the (not terribly high) expense, as we had just gotten married. After moving to Boulder a little more than a year later, we found it in a small store. We couldn’t pass it up a second time, and that was our gift to each other that year. Isn’t it adorable? Little kids dressed up in their dads’ shirts for their pageant.
This has been my favorite for 12 years, but was knocked off the top of the faves list last spring.
Notice a theme here with all these items? If something is going to be in my house, if I’m going to store it/dust it/care for it, I want it to have some meaning behind it. That’s why we don’t have an angel/star for the top of our tree yet; I haven’t found something meaningful. Kindly remember this is a woman who bought a christening gown in Ireland three years before having children, because she wanted something with a story.
One of our friends at church is an elderly man who is a gifted woodcarver. He can barely walk from age and a car accident several years ago, but his hands still work and produce beautiful works of art. Last spring I asked if he would carve us a creche and he made an heirloom. All handmade, handpainted, done with love.
All by hand. And there’s more…
The detail is just lovely.
Is it obvious that I love this creche? The attention to detail, that it was crafted by a friend, that it is heirloom quality… I’ve had a hard time this season keeping the boys from playing with it. It’s a “LOOK ONLY” set, not a “HANDS ON” set.
And it just makes me happy to look at it. The angel/star for the tree can wait for next year.
These are all lovely treasures. I have my Precious Moments Nativity scene out all year long (up high)> My husband got it for me one year but it took two years to get all the pieces.
What a treasure. I love it.