Posts Tagged ‘nativity’
Elf on the Shelf: where is she now?
A few years ago, I had a lot of fun, exchanging ideas about Vintage Elf on the Shelf with my husband’s aunt. She is gone now, but every time I see Vintage Elf, it reminds me of Millie.
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That year, I brought Vintage Elf out of storage. I have had her since I was a child. She is a little bigger than the modern elves. She has a felt body, braided yellow hair and a sweet smile. Here is Vintage Elf with another Christmas standard, Scrooge.
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Vintage Elf can also tell the story of Jesus’ birth …
First, the empty manger …
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Then, Mary and Joseph arrive because there is no room at the inn …
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Then, the angels announce the baby’s birth to the shepherds …
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And the shepherds visit the newborn baby …
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Then, Elf visits the wise men, as they follow the star to find a king …
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And, at last, they visit the baby in the manger …
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I love the story of the first Christmas and the hope it brings to all the world …
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Hope you have a Merry Christmas season.
All my best,
Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)
decorating for Christmas #5
I have quite a few nativity scenes. My favorite is my set of figures by ™Avon. I collected them more than 30 years ago and it was this set we used when my son was little. We used it to tell the story of the Nativity, starting with an empty manger, putting the angels with the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, moving the wise men ever closer to the stable.
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I actually have three ‘little drummer boys’ for the set; two of these belonged to my mom. I bought one drummer boy each for my mom and my mother-in-law, and gave one to Mom in 1992. Then I forgot I had given her the first, so she got another from me in 1993. I know the years because Mom labelled her belongings with the giver and year. My mother-in-law never did get a drummer boy figure!
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the three drummer boys: one of mine and two of Mom’s 1992 and 1993 (left to right)
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boxes for the drummer boys, carefully labelled by Mom
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One of my favorite parts of the Nativity scene is the white satin cloth with golden stars that make a backdrop to the figurines, reminiscent of the star-studded sky in Bethlehem.
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Merry Christmas from the drummer boys …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #3
Years ago, on a business trip to New Hampshire, I visited an antique store and bought five of the figures to a German papier-mâché Nativity set: two shepherds, two villagers and a wise man. Since then, I have searched eBay to complete the set and last year I succeeded with the purchase of a cow, two sheep and a donkey. Along the way, I acquired several figures from the same Nativity but at different scales. Now I have quite a crowd visiting the manger! And I have two Mary figurines which may be disturbing but I can’t decide which one to keep …
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All my shepherds, villagers, wise men, angels, manger animals, and, of course, the Holy Family, wish you a Merry Christmas!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
villages and vignettes
I love to view bits of the world in miniature. Especially at Christmas, small replicas of human space make me feel comfortable. Perhaps seeing a world fit neatly into a small space is a version of the safety and calm an animal feels in its den. Perhaps looking over a diorama gives me powerful feelings of omniscience and omnipresence. Perhaps I like the impression of a story being told, from beginning to end, confined in space and time.
Our Christmas decorations are predominantly miniaturized vignettes:
our nativity scene, complete with a stable and its donkey, and a star-spangled hillside of angels and sheep…
my collection of Buyers Choice skaters, including a fellow roasting a marshmallow at a fire beside the frozen pond…
Rudolf and Bumbles from the Island of Misfit Toys…
children gathering around a pitiful Charlie Brown Christmas tree…
a frosty forest of bottle-brush trees and silver reindeer …
and a village with an inn, a church, and a park with a pond, a stone bridge and a park bench…
All very cute, but there is something missing.
The best scenes are those with real people. A scene of us sitting by our Christmas tree, talking and laughing. A scene of people in the bookstore, looking for a special book to give someone they love. The scene of a colleague at work, leaving a Christmas card on each desk. A scene of friends walking along a downtown street while the snow falls and the church bells mark the hour.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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still street
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the stillness of this street
its gentle curve
the steady glow of lamps
lighted windows, sturdy gates
a frozen pond, stone bridge reflected
soft snow, unmarked
and a park bench
where no one ever sits
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© Jane Tims 2011
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