On the first day of Christmas......

Here it is, the first day of Christmas and I'm still waiting for my partridge in a pear tree.....lol. A pear tree would be very nice for our home in Oregon. It would go well with the plum and apple tree we already have. I have most of my decorations up, and almost all the gifts ready to send. Now it's on to cards, and perhaps the staff gifts for hubby. We got a beautiful grand fir tree this year and the house smells wonderful. I finally, after 20 some years, made a manger for my nativity set. I'm posting some pictures to share some of our Christmas decor.

I took the plunge and tried my hand at making an angel tree topper this year. It must be the year of "finally" for my decorations. She was created using paper clay over a styrofoam ball. The hair was stitched onto a piece of nylon and then glued in place. The dress was added over a paper mache cone with wire through it for the arms. The arms have tiny clay hands. She was fun to do and I look forward to making more next year for sale.

Here is a Nativity set I hand painted. I bought pieces at a ceramic shop in North Pole, AK way back in the late 80's. I cleaned and smoothed them for firing; then had them fired to the bisque stage and tried to get them painted right away.

Well it took me until 2 years ago to finally finish all the pieces. I still didn't have a manger so last Saturday I got out some scrap lumber and tried my hand at construction. It's nice and rustic as the larger pieces were nicely weathered cedar fencing scraps. The roof is a temporary one made out of cardboard and dried moss but you can't tell the difference by looking at it. I love

how it turned out and can't wait for the extended family to see it. The set sits on a buffet in our tiny living room. I tried to get good pictures of the whole set up and will have to retry later.

Here is a gathering of Santas I have created over the years, at least all except the one on the far left which was a gift from it's creator and some friends at church. I have more and will post tomorrow. I got on the Santa kick in North Pole and haven't stopped.

While you are here take a peek at my new Christmas youtube video I've posted.

I hope your first day of Christmas is pleasant and enjoyable!