What Are Weihnachtspyramide?

A pyramid at the Christmas
market in Mainz

      A Christmas Pyramid (German: Weihnachtspyramide) is a Christmas decoration that has its roots in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) of Germany but has become popular throughout the country. It is suggested that the Christmas pyramid is a predecessor of the Christmas tree; These pyramids themselves are not limited to Christmas: in the Erzgebirge existed a custom of dancing around the "St. John's Tree," "a pyramid decked with garlands and flowers," at the summer solstice.

      It is a kind of Carousel with several levels some depicting Christian motifs, such as angels or manger scenes, and others with more secular motifs such as mountain-folk, forests, and other scenes from the everyday life of people in the Erzgebirge. The spinning motion of the pyramids is traditionally achieved with the help of candles whose rising heat spins a propeller above. Christmas pyramids serve a mainly decorative purpose today, filling children and adults alike with holiday cheer.

      Generally Christmas pyramids are made of wood and based on four- to eight-sided platforms with a long pole in the middle serving as the axle to which the entire apparatus tapers above and which supports any further platforms. Inside in a glass or ceramic support is a driveshaft on to which at least one platform is attached. The figures, which stand on the platforms are also traditionally made of wood.

      Christmas pyramids take various forms from intricately carved miniature houses with pitched roofs, to large multi-level structures that simply serve as a display for the carved figures. In many cities in the Ore Mountains there are large Christmas pyramids on the Market Square at the Christmas Market or in other locations associated with Christmas hustle and bustle.

Left, Christmas pyramids from the
House of Tilgner

      The origins of the Christmas pyramids date back to the Middle Ages. In this period it was traditional in southern and western Europe to bring evergreen branches, for example boxwood into the home and hang them, in order to ward off moroseness in the dark and cold winter months. In northern and eastern Europe traditional candles were used to achieve this goal. The Christmas pyramid would eventually unify these two traditions and become a symbol of Christmas celebrations. The forefather to the pyramid was a construction known as a "Lichtergestelle" (literally: thing on which lights are set) and were very popular in the 18th century. They were constructions made of four poles, decorated with evergreen boughs, tied together at the top and lit with candles. In the large cities, the Christmas tree, now recognizable all over the world, gradually replaced the Lichtergestelle, but in the mountains, the people did not see a simple tree bedecked with lights, rather they were reminded of the capstans, which were commonly used in the mines of the Ore Mountains. To the pyramid shape was added the spinning motion of the capstan and the earliest Christmas pyramids were born.

      The name "Christmas pyramid" came about because the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt at the end of the 18th Century brought pictures of the pyramids back to Europe and eventually to the Ore Mountains, where they reminded the people of the mining capstans and also of the Christmas constructions.

      An important breakthrough in the popularity of the Christmas pyramid came around 1830 with the discovery of kerosene. Previously, people had used relatively expensive candles or rapeseed oil. As the means to light and spin the pyramids became much cheaper, the tradition spread. Now such pyramids can be found in numerous styles and sizes all over Germany as well as in many parts of the United States.

The Toymakers of The Ore Mountains

Painting of Räuchermänner (Seiffen, 1947)

      The history of wooden toymaking in the Ore Mountains is closely bound to regional circumstances. The Ore Mountains are located in Central Europe on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. For many centuries it was a countryside in which the local population eked out a hard existence from the land. Long and harsh winters restricted agriculture; in addition the region had very poor communications. With the onset of ore mining a new line of commerce developed, but the hard labor and high risks involved meant that it was only work for young and strong men. Many were injured or died as a result of accidents. The miners rose early in the morning whilst it was still dark in order to go to work and did not return home again until late in the evening after dark. From those times comes a custom that has survived to the present day, the practice of placing lights in the window. These lights were intended to show the miners the safe way back to the homes of their families.

Räuchermännchen

      It was not long before the winnings of silver ore fell in many parts of the mountains and numerous pits had to close. This hardship forced its inhabitants to look for other work and, thanks to abundance of timber in the region, the manufacture of wooden toys became an important secondary source of income. Entire families were engaged in wooden toymaking, especially in the harsh winters. Child labor in conditions of poor lighting and equipment was the rule rather than the exception. The children often had to work more than 12 hours a day. Families developed a high degree of specialisation. For example, an experienced turner would be working on turning animal shapes (Reifendrehen), another man carved the animal figures out of it and another family took over the painting and the manufacture of small boxes. Earnings from the individual steps in the process were very low. Production was usually bought by travelling merchants who used their position without mercy, to force down the prices. The majority of these products was taken to the toy markets of Nuremberg and redistributed from there. The formation of associations and cooperatives (such as Dregeno) was in order to ensure a minimum level of income.

      Production is concentrated today in the toymaking village of Seiffen and its surrounding area in the middle of the so-called "German Christmas Land" as the Ore Mountains are called. A great variety of products has developed, but they are clearly associated with the Ore Mountains and go by the concept of Ore Mountain folk art. They include many typical wooden Ore Mountain products such as Christmas pyramids, wooden Räuchermann incense smokers, nutcrackers, wooden figures (Christmas Angels, miners, turned animals, etc.), Christmas mountain scenes (Weihnachtsberge) and Ore Mountain candle arches.

Manufacture of Reifentiere (Seiffen, 1929)

More About Reifentiere:

• Treasures from the German Erzgebirge
• Association of Ore Mountain Artist-Craftsmen and Toymakers (Verband Erzgebirgischer Kunsthandwerker und Spielzeughersteller) (German)
• Ore Mountain Toy Museum, Seiffen (German)
• Nutcracker Museum, Neuhausen (German)

Frugal Stocking Stuffers.

Commercial candy stockings from 1918

The following list was updated in 2012

1. Save some of the Halloween candy for the Christmas stocking. Choose the treats that are not marked in such a way as to identify it as "Halloween" treats.
2. Collect small toy tokens from cereal boxes.
3. Purchase small school supplies and art supplies for Christmas stockings while stocking up on school supplies during "back to school sales." Many stores do not charge for tax during this time in some states.
4. Watch for sales and discounts all year long and buy for children's stockings during store wide clearances.
5. Print out paper dolls from the internet and create a paper doll collection for your child for free!
6. Make homemade fudge for your children and top it with their favorite candy treats. Pack the fudge in small tins.
7. Collect small toys from yard sales. Make sure that the toys look unused. Sometimes you can find toys with tags still intact.
8. Often times makeup or perfume retailers/companies will give away free samples of their products. These make perfect stocking stuffers for young teens. 
9. Collect travel size lotions, soaps, shampoos etc... when your on a vacation; hotels give these away to their customers.
10. Customize your own handmade coupon books.
11. Start an ornament collection for your child and slip one into their stocking every year. 
12. Trial sizes of cookies, candies, jams, coffee etc... are available at stores like World Market.
13. Shop thrift stores for items like silk scarves, pocket books and vintage jewelry. 
14. Homemade art supply kits. Mix up some play dough.
15. The dentist gives away free wrapped toothbrushes and I always save these for Christmas Stockings.
16. Include nuts and dried fruits in your stockings; my father always stuffed these into my stocking when I was a child.
17. Record tapes or burn CDs of yourself reading a favorite storybook to your child. These kinds of gifts come in handy when your traveling across country in a car, plane or on a train. Children can look at their favorite book and listen to you read even when you are not there with them!
18. Give small jars full of cookie decorating supplies and a treasure map to the cookie dough hidden deep inside the refrigerator. Make a game of helping mom or dad to celebrate Christmas with fresh baked cookies.
19. Tuck extra toys inside a pair of cozy socks. For teens, you could add some fun nail polish inside a pair of toe socks. 
20. Include mints, gum and sunglasses for teens to add to their stash of must haves.

Mistrot Bros. & Co. Christmas Ad from the Houston Daily, 1898. "...
Let Industrial Houston's Greatest Store Fill Your Stockings
 With Sensible Holiday Gifts"

A Baby Boomer's Christmas Stocking

More Frugal Stocking Stuffers:

• 10 Frugal Stocking Stuffers for Children
• Clutter-free Stocking Stuffers

Medallion Shaped St. Nick

These medallion shaped illustrations of
Saint Nicholas come in green red and black.

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Christmas Clipart or Clip Art Pages On This Blog: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

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The Yule Log in Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria

      In Croatia, Christmas Eve is called Badnjak (Christmas Eve Day: Badnji dan, Christmas Eve night: Badnja večer), after the traditional log that is cut on Christmas Eve and lit in the hearth of the home in the evening. In villages, the father of the family cuts down a piece of wood from a tree at dawn, reciting the Lord's Prayer and making the sign of the cross, invoking God to bless the family. In the cities, logs are usually bought instead of cut down. The log is brought to the home, but left inside until the evening, where it is brought in and placed in the hearth or fireplace. Holy water is then poured on the log, usually accompanied by the Apostle's Creed. It is then lit and the father praises Jesus and welcomes Christmas Eve.

      The badnjak is a central feature in the traditional Serbian Christmas celebration. It is the log that a family solemnly brings into the house and places on the fire in the evening of Christmas Eve. The tree used for the badnjak, preferably a young and strait oak, is ceremoniously felled in the early morning of Christmas Eve. Traditionally the head of the family was sent dressed in his best clothes to cut down an oak, elm, or pear tree. That tree is used as the badnjak. A prayer for forgiveness was necessary before it could be chopped down with three strikes with axe, and carried on one's right shoulder as it is not allowed to touch the ground. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers to God so that the coming year may bring much happiness, love, luck, riches, and food. It would burn on through Christmas Day, whether rekindled or kept burning from the Eve. The first person to visit the family on that day should strike the burning badnjak with a poker or a branch to make sparks fly from it, at the same time uttering a wish that the happiness, prosperity, health, and joy of the family be as abundant as the sparks. The ideal environment to fully carry out these customs is the traditional multi-generation country household. Since most Serbs today live in towns and cities, the badnjak is symbolically represented by several leaved oak twigs that can be bought at marketplaces or received in churches. The origin of the badnjak is explained by events surrounding the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Scholars, however, regard these customs as practices inherited from the old Slavic religion.

      In Bulgaria , it is an important part of Christmas Eve preparations. Traditionally а young man of the family was sent dressed in his best clothes to cut down an oak, elm, or pear tree. That tree is used as the Budnik (bg:Бъдник). A prayer for forgiveness was necessary before it could be chopped down and carried on one's right shoulder as it is not allowed to touch the ground. An indication of the importance of the ritual is that Christmas Eve translates to Budnik or Budnik Eve (bg:Бъдни вечер) in Bulgaria. In some regions, upon the man's return he asks "Do you glorify the Young God?" three times and receive a positive answer "We glorify Him, welcome". After that a hole is bored in one end of the badnik and filled with Chrism made of wine, cooking oil, and incense. The hole is plugged, and that end of the log is wrapped with a white linen cloth before the badnik is festively burned on the hearth. The log is considered to possess special healing powers and the ritual includes songs and uttering of wishes as the log is lit much like the Serbian ritual described above. The log has to burn all night and it is believed that its warmth and light symbolize the coming of Christ as well as providing a warm welcome to Virgin Mary and the family's ancestors who are believed to be guests at the table according to traditions in some regions. Sometimes the fire is put off using wine in the morning. Remains of the log are cherished and sometimes used to make personal crosses, also to make a plough and ashes are simply spread over a field or vineyard to induce better yields.

Bringing in the Yule Log at an environmental center.

History of The Nutcracker Ballet

Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of The Nutcracker (1892)

      The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, 18 December 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera, Iolanta.

     Although the original production was not a success, the twenty-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in the U.S. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda. 

      After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. The opera would be Iolanta. For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would again join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty. The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Alexandre Dumas père called The Tale of the Nutcracker. The plot of Hoffmann's story (and Dumas' adaptation) was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet. Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot entitled The Tale of the Hard Nut, which explains how the Prince was turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be excised for the ballet.

      Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars. The composer did not appreciate having to work under such constraints and found himself reluctant to work on the ballet. The completion of the work was interrupted for a short time when Tchaikovsky visited the United States for twenty five days to conduct concerts for the opening of Carnegie Hall and composed part of it in France.

      The first performance of the ballet was held as a double première together with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, on 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1892, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the libretto was by Marius Petipa, who exactly choreographed the first production has been debated. Petipa began work on the choreography in August 1892; however, illness removed him from its completion and his assistant of seven years, Lev Ivanov, was brought in. Although Ivanov is often credited as the choreographer, some contemporary accounts credit Petipa. The performance was conducted by Riccardo Drigo, with Antonietta Dell'Era as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pavel Gerdt as Prince Coqueluche, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara, Sergei Legat as the Nutcracker-Prince, and Timofei Stukolkin as Drosselmeyer. The children's roles, unlike many later productions, were performed by real children rather than adults (with Belinskaya as Clara, and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz), students of Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg.

      The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success. The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. While some critics praised Dell'Era on her pointework as the Sugar Plum Fairy (she allegedly received five curtain-calls), one critic called her "corpulent" and "pudgy." Olga Preobajenskaya as the Columbine doll was panned by one critic as "completely insipid" and praised as "charming" by another. One audience member described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One cannot understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish."

       The libretto was criticized for being "lopsided" and for not being faithful to the Hoffmann tale. Much of the criticism focused on the featuring of children so prominently in the ballet and many bemoaned the fact that the ballerina did not dance until the Grand Pas de Deux near the end of the second act (which did not occur until nearly midnight during the program). Some found the transition between the mundane world of the first scene and the fantasy world of the second act too abrupt.Reception was better for Tchaikovsky's score. Critics called it "astonishingly rich in inspiration" and "from beginning to end, beautiful, melodious, original, and characteristic." But even this was not unanimous as some critics found the party scene "ponderous" and the Grand Pas de Deux "insipid."

      In 1919, choreographer Alexander Gorsky staged a production which eliminated the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, who were played by adults instead of children. His was the first production to do so. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest (Royal Opera House) in 1927, with choreography by Ede Brada. In 1934, choreographer Vasili Vainonen staged a version of the work that addressed many of the criticisms of the original 1892 production by casting adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions.

      The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934, staged by Nicholas Sergeyev after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952. Another abridged version of the ballet, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was staged in New York City in 1940 by choreographer Alexandra Fedorova – again, after Petipa's version. The ballet's first complete United States performance was on 24 December 1944, by the San Francisco Ballet, staged by its artistic director Willam Christensen. The New York City Ballet gave its first annual performance of George Balanchine's staging of The Nutcracker in 1954. Beginning in the 1960s, the tradition of performing the complete ballet at Christmas eventually spread to the rest of the United States.

      Since Gorsky, Vainonen and Balanchine's productions, many other choreographers have made their own versions. Some institute the changes made by Gorsky and Vainonen while others, like Balanchine, utilize the original libretto. Some notable productions include those by Rudolf Nureyev for the Royal Ballet, Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov for the American Ballet Theatre, and Peter Wright for the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In recent years, revisionist productions, including those by Mark Morris, Matthew Bourne, and Mikhail Chemiakin have appeared; these depart radically from both the original 1892 libretto and Vainonen's revival, while Maurice Bejart's version completely discards the original plot and characters. In addition to annual live stagings of the work, many productions have also been televised and / or released on home video.

• The Nutcracker: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Alternative Nutcracker movie
• The Nutcracker ballet
• Balanchine Foundation website
• Balanchine Trust website
• NYCB website

MP3 recordings of The Nutcracker

• created using the Garritan Personal Orchestra
• mp3 created using Notion Software
• arranged for and recorded on the organ

Additional Links to Christmas theatre, music, and ballet.

Opera Companies:

• Royal Opera House

Theatre Productions About Christmas or Teach Christmas Values:

• Little Women On Broadway
• The Grinch Musical

Choirs young and old, novice and professional:

• Vienna Boy Choir
• Choir of King's College Cambridge
• Antioch Chamber Ensemble Blog
• St. Paul's Cathedral Choir
• BBC Singers
• Los Angeles Master Chorale
• Chanticleer
• Magnum Chorum
• Eesti Filharmoonia Kammerkoor
• Cornell University Glee Club
• Nederlands Kamerkoor
• Harvard Glee Club
• Mattaniah Male Choir
• The St. Olaf Choir
• Phoenix Bach Choir
• Philippine Madrigal Singers
• Tapiola Choir

Nativity Plays and Performances by Little People:

• St. Stephen's Junior School Nativity Play

Craft Froebel Stars for Christmas

Origami Froebel Star by Jo Nakashima

visit his site for more paper folding.

      A Froebel star (German: Fröbelstern) is a Christmas decoration made of paper, common in Germany. In English it does not have a commonly recognised name; it can be referred to as Advent star, Danish star, German star, Nordic star, Pennsylvanian star, Polish star, Swedish star, Christmas star, or Froebel star. It is also sometimes incorrectly called a Moravian star, but the Moravian star has at least 26 tips instead of the 16 tips of the Froebel star.

      The three-dimensional Froebel star is assembled from four identical paper strips with a width-to-length proportion of between 1:25 and 1:30. The weaving and folding procedure can be accomplished in about forty steps. The product is a paper star with eight flat prongs and eight cone-shaped tips. The assembly instructions can be aborted midway, producing a two-dimensional eight–pronged star without cones.

      Crafting Froebel stars originates in German folklore. Traditionally the stars would be dipped into wax and sprinkled with glitter after being folded. The star can be considered a form of origami, because it is made of identical paper sheets and assembled without glue. However, as it combines folding with weaving it is more a "fringe" subject of origami.

      The Froebel star carries the name of the German educationist Friedrich Fröbel (1782–1852), founder of the Kindergarten concept. He encouraged the use of paper folding in pre–primary education with the aim of conveying simple mathematical concepts to children. It is, however, likely that Froebel did not invent this item and that it had already been within the realm of general knowledge for a long time. Froebel did encourage paper folding as an activity for young children and he popularised discourse about children's activities, which is how his name and the folding instructions might have become related.

      Descriptions of how to fold a Froebel star date back to at least the 19th century. In Germany the name Fröbelstern has been the common name for this paper decoration since the 1960s. It is used as ornament on Christmas trees and wreaths, and to make garlands and mobiles. Froebel stars are very common in Germany, although few people know how to make them. 

What Is a Snow Baby?

A 1920s 2-inch snow baby piece.

      A snow baby (sometimes spelled snowbaby) is a small figurine that depicts some aspect of the Christmas holidays or of winter sports. The traditional snow baby is made of unglazed porcelain (bisque) and shows a child dressed in a snowsuit; the suit itself is covered in small pieces of crushed bisque, giving the appearance of fallen snowflakes. However, many other sorts of figures are typically associated with these snowy children: Santas, elves and gnomes, carolers, animals such as penguins and polar bears, adult sledders and skaters, snowmen, and even houses and Disney characters. Collectors in the United States and Europe will sometimes decorate for the holidays using these figures to create winter scenes of varying degrees of complexity.

      Although classical snow babies stand under 2 inches high and were often used in England as cake decorations, there are many variations. Some of the oldest types, made in Germany during the decade beginning about 1905, ranged from 4 to 13 inches tall and were carefully painted by master artisans. Other babies created during this early period were crafted with similar attention to detail. With the onset of World War I, production stopped; when it resumed sometime around 1922, the snow babies were more hastily made, less finely detailed in their porcelain and finish. Yet these newer pieces show children, Santas, and elves in remarkably imaginative poses: a child feeds a seal from a baby bottle; Santa drops toys from an airplane; two dwarves dance atop a psychedelic mushroom. The variations are nearly endless: one estimate puts their number at well over 2000.

Their is also a charming book
 called, "The Snow Baby:
The Arctic Childhood of
Admiral Robert E.
Peary's Daring Daughter"

      Just before World War II, Japan began to produce snow babies, though they were generally of a lesser quality than those made in Germany. In the late 20th Century, a company called Department 56 began producing snow babies in Taiwan.

• Mary Morrison, Mary Morrison’s Big Book of Snow Babies (Tualatin Press, 2003)
• About.com: Antiques - Real "Snow Baby" Started Collecting Trend
• MarryMorrison.com - Mary Morrison's German Snow Babies
• Kovels.com - Snow Babies
• Antique Snow Baby Doll 
• Craft a snow baby from cotton batting
• Story and photographs of the original Snow Baby by Josephine Diebitsch Peary, 1863-1955
• Print and color snow baby gift tags for gifts here.

Silver Bells

 " The Lemon Drop Kid"

       "Silver Bells" is a classic Christmas song, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The lyric is unusual for a Christmas song in that it describes the festival in the city and not a rural setting.

       Silver Bells was first performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, filmed in July-August 1950 and released in March 1951. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, released by Decca Records in October 1950. After the Crosby and Richards recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were called back in late 1950 to refilm a more elaborate production of the song.

• What's in a song? 'Silver Bells' — NPR interviews the author Ray Evans, with audio.
• Lyrics to Silver Bells
• Piano Sheet Music to Silver Bells

Craft Scherenschnitte Christmas Ornaments

Here you can see that I've used a pattern from a book. You may choose to cut and hang the scherenscnitte as single sheets of paper cuts as the book illustrates with the garland samples or you can choose to cut two of the same design and sew these together to create a three dimensional ornament. I have done so with the angel using a waxed dental floss.

In this photo you can see that I am reproducing the patterns from a book onto a thick sheet of plastic in order to work faster with the tracing work. This is the easiest way to transfer scherenschnitte patterns to black papers. Use a white pencil to trace around your template.

      Scherenschnitte which means "scissor cuts" in German, is the art of papercutting design. The art work often has symmetry within the design, and common forms include silhouettes, valentines, and love letters. The art tradition was founded in Switzerland and Germany in the 16th century, and was brought to Colonial America in the 18th century by immigrants who settled primarily in Pennsylvania. 

      Scherenschnitte make light weight, detailed ornaments that can be hung on the weakest of branches. Cutting such delicate work takes patience and practice, but once you've mastered the skill, you will be able to decorate an entire tree for mere pennies!

This video shows "how" to cut and assemble

 scherenschnitte for your Christmas Tree

Links to professional scherenschnitte artists:

• Pamela Dalton's web pages
• Jeri Laner's web pages

Where to find more scherenschnitte patterns online?

• I designed a baby in a manger scherenschnitte for Chrismon trees  
• Here is a Triquetra Knot Chrismon cut from a scherenschnitte

Rocking Horse Clip Art

       Include these rocking horses on: Christmas stationary, gift tags, newsletter and more...

An old-fashioned rocking horse in full color.

The same rocking horse in monochromatic red.

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

More Rocking Horse Clip Art:

• The Santa Claus Express

Christmas Elf Clip Art by Donna Rice

The following elf clip art is by Donna Rice. Please read the Terms of Use before downloading it for personal use only.

tiny elf dressed in green and red

tiny elf dressed in green only

tiny elf dressed in red only

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Christmas Stockings

      A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers.

      During The Great Depression/WWI and WWII, the contents of the Christmas stocking were the only toys  children received at Christmas from Santa Claus in many American families. Both of my parents used to look forward to receiving citrus fruits and nuts in their Christmas stockings because these items were rarely eaten during the cold months where they grew up.

      Tradition in German and Dutch culture sometimes dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a lump of coal. A lump of coal, however, is not always considered bad during the winter, holiday season. Coal is equated with warmth and salt with good fortune and bread symbolic for enough to eat for the coming year in England on New Years Day.

      The tradition of putting out a stocking for St. Nicholas began in the Orthodox Christian churches; the exact date for it's humble beginnings, historians are not sure of. St. Nicholas, who was a real person, a Catholic bishop, had quite a reputation for purchasing the freedom of indentured servants (slaves). In legendary stories written about St. Nicholas, his character is revealed through a series of charitable acts. 

      One of these charitable acts is demonstrated in a story about a poor man and his three beautiful daughters. Because none of his children had dowries (marriage settlements) and he feared they would need to be sold into indentured slavery to keep from starving as was the custom for many poor Roman citizens at that time. Saint Nicholas happened to be visiting the small village where these three sisters lived and overheard the villagers talking about their problem. The villagers warned him of their father's pride, saying he would not eccept Christian charity. So, St. Nicholas kept his donation secret by tossing gold coins for the girls down their chimney at night. 

      What about the stockings you say? Well, it was also the custom at that time and for many centuries afterwards, to wash one's stockings out in a basin and to hang these up to dry over night in front of a fireplace. Some of those gold coins tossed down the chimney at night apparently made their way into the three sister's stockings. With the telling of this particular story, in the Orthodox Church, the popular tradition of concealing gifts in stockings began.

      There are other variations to these stories told in churches about St. Nicholas. So much so that artists have painted symbolic gifts along side or in the hands or pockets of St. Nicholas throughout the history of his depiction in art. 

      The popular retelling of the charitable acts of St. Nicholas according to American television are a far cry from the original stories. St. Nicholas is now Santa who doesn't much resemble his former glory and certainly does not take upon himself the necessity of telling little children about Jesus. St. Nicholas was a very charitable bishop who loved Jesus so much that he gave his family's entire fortune in exchange for the freedom of others; he was a devoted abolitionist. The truth is almost always more inspiring than fiction.

 Make an heirloom stocking.

More Ways to Make Stockings:

• Faux Quilted Stocking Tutorial
• Appliqued Snowman Stocking
• Knitted mini Christmas stockings
• Zig-Zag Christmas Stocking
• Recycled Christmas Sweater Stockings!

The History of Christmas Mince-Pies

"As it's almost Christmas I thought today would be a great

 time to show you how to make Mince Pies. They are delicious!"

      Geese, capons, pheasants drenched with amber-grease, and pies of carps-tongues, helped to furnish the table in bygone Christmases, but there was one national dish—neither flesh, fowl, nor good red herring—which was held indispensable. This was furmante, frumenty or furmety, concocted—according to the most ancient formula extant—in this wise: 'Take clean wheat, and bray it in a mortar, that the hulls be all gone off, and seethe it till it burst, and take it up and let it cool; and take clean fresh broth, and sweet milk of almonds, or sweet milk of kine, and temper it all; and take the yolks of eggs. Boil it a little, and set it down and mess it forth with fat venison or fresh mutton. 'Venison was seldom served without this accompaniment, but furmety, sweetened with sugar, was a favorite dish of itself, the 'clean broth' being omitted when a lord was to be the partaker."

      Mince-pies were popular under the name of 'mutton-pies,' so early as 1596, later authorities all agreeing in substituting neats-tongue in the place of mutton, the remaining ingredients being much the same as those recommended in modern recipes. They were also known as shred and Christmas pies:

'Without the door let sorrow lie, 

And if for cold it hap to die,

We'll bury it in a Christmas-pie,

   And evermore be merry!'

      In Herrick's time it was customary to set a watch upon the pies, on the night before Christmas, lest sweet-toothed thieves should lay felonious fingers on them; the jovial vicar sings:

'Come guard the Christmas-pie, 

That the thief, though ne'er so sly, 

With his flesh-hooks don't come nigh,  

To catch it, 

From him, who all alone sits there, 

Having his eyes still in his ear, 

And a deal of nightly fear,   

To watch it.'

      Selden tells us mince-pies were baked in a coffin-shaped crust, intended to represent the cratch or manger in which the Holy Child was laid; but we are inclined to doubt his statement, as we find our old English cookery-books always style the crust of a pie 'the coffin.'

      When a lady asked Dr. Parr on what day it was proper to commence eating mince-pies, he answered, 'Begin on O. Sapientia (December 16th), but please to say Christmas-pie, not mince-pie; mince-pie is puritanical. 'The doctor was wrong at least on the last of these points, if not on both. The Christmas festival, it is maintained by many, does not commence before Christmas Eve, and the mince-pie was known before the days of Praise-God Barebones and his strait-laced brethren, for Ben Jonson personifies it under that name in his Masque of Christmas. Likely enough, the name of 'Christmas-pie' was obnoxious to puritanical ears, as the enjoying of the dainty itself at that particular season was offensive to puritan taste:

'All plums the prophet's sons deny, 

And spice-broths are too hot; 

Treason's in a December-pie, 

And death within the pot.'

Or, as another rhymester has it:

'The high-shoe lords of Cromwell's making 

Were not for dainties—roasting, baking; 

The chief est food they found most good in, 

Was rusty bacon and bag-pudding; 

Plum-broth was popish, and mince-pie—

O that was flat idolatry!'

      In after-times, the Quakers took up the prejudice, and some church-going folks even thought it was not meet for clergymen to enjoy the delicacy, a notion which called forth the following remonstrance from Bickerstaffe.—'The Christmas-pie is, in its own nature, a kind of consecrated cake, and a badge of distinction; and yet it is often forbidden, the Druid of the family. Strange that a sirloin of beef, whether boiled or roasted, when entire is exposed to the utmost depredations and invasions; but if minced into small pieces, and tossed up with plumbs and sugar, it changes its property, and forsooth is meat for his master.' Robert Chambers' Book of Days, 1869

• Our Joyful Feast!
• Quick and Easy Christmas Placecards

Make a Gingerbread House for Christmas

India Galyean shows you step by step how to make a gingerbread house.

      Gingerbread is a sweet that can take the form of a cake or a cookie in which the predominant flavors are ginger and raw sugar. Gingerbread was introduced to Europe long ago by the Crusaders.

      The town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, UK is known as the "home of gingerbread" and this is proudly decreed on the welcome sign. The first recorded mention of gingerbread being baked in the town dates back to 1793; however, it was probably made earlier as ginger was stocked in high street businesses from the 1640s. Gingerbread became widely available in the 1700s.

      Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger, then to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often translated into French as pain d'épices (literally "spice bread"). Pain d'épices is a French pastry also made with honey and spices, but not crispy.

      As a cookie, gingerbread can be made into a thin, crisp cookie (often called a ginger snap) or a softer cookie similar to the German Lebkuchen. Gingerbread cookies are often cut into shapes, particularly gingerbread men. Traditionally it was dunked in port wine.

      A gingerbread is used to build gingerbread houses similar to the "witch's house" encountered by Hansel and Gretel. These houses, covered with a variety of candies and icing, are popular Christmas decorations, typically built by children with the help of their guardians.

      Another variant uses a boiled dough that can be molded like clay to form inedible statuettes or other decorations. A significant form of popular art in Europe, major centers of gingerbread mold carving included Lyon, Nürnberg, Pest, Prague, Pardubice, Pulsnitz, Ulm, and Toruń. Gingerbread molds often displayed the "news", showing carved portraits of new kings, emperors, and queens, for example. Substantial mould collections are held at the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń, Poland and the Bread Museum in Ulm, Germany.

      The lesser known bread form tends to be a dense, treaclely (molasses-based) spice bread. Some recipes add mustard, pepper, raisins, nuts, and/or other spices/ingredients to the batter. In one variation, the bread omits raisins or nuts and is served with warm lemon sauce. In the United States, the bread is more often served in the winter, particularly at Christmas time in the central parts of Pennsylvania.

More Fun Links to Gingerbread:

• National Gingerbread Competition in Asheville, NC
• Gingerbread House Ideas  
• How to Put Together a Gingerbread House
• The Gingerbread White House
• Students bake gingerbread town
• Gingerbread cinnamon roll pancakes for Christmas breakfast!
• Medieval Gingerbread
• Gingerbread House Heaven