Left, wire ornament detail. Center, antique buff pink baubles. Right, bent metallic chenille stems.
This unique moon themed, Christmas wreath was designed, assembled and gifted by my older daughter for her younger sister last year. She collected antique glass baubles and beads to wire into a tinsel wreath that I purchased from a dollar store. She also purchased the moon ornament online and framed it with chenille stems.
Below are a few nativity sketches that children may work from while sculpting their own religious figures from paper clay or even salt dough. Included in these sketches are Mary, the baby Jesus, a flower, Sarah mother of John the baptist, the three wise men with gifts, and two baby lambs one standing and the other reclining. Use either watercolors or acrylics to paint figures like these and then seal them with three clear coats of acrylic spray or Mod Podge. Let the figures dry completely between coating. Store them in cookie tins to prevent mice or insects from chewing on figures for nesting materials.
Arrange the figures on a wooden platform. Add clay trees and plants. Construct the barn from a cardboard box or scrap wood. Use the illustration above as a guide.
Mini Demonstration of sculpting a simple clay
nativity by YAS ClayCommunity.
Once you've played around with clay to make a little nativity scene,
try drawing a Christmas camel or even an entire caravan!
Left, "Let's use a triangle this time, cut by some straight and slanting lines." Center, "A hump up here, two legs below, and up on top a figure---so!" Right, "Then if you draw your lines quite true, a Christmas camel comes in view."
animated Nativity
Did You Know?
The accounts of the Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear in two of the four Canonical Gospels, namely the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Luke's story takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's story takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph.The two other canonical gospels, the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John, begin their narratives of Jesus' life in his adulthood; both mention him coming out of Galilee,and John mentions the name of Jesus' father, but neither John nor Mark gives any other details of his life prior to adulthood.
The betrothal of Joseph and Mary, and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem appear in both Matthew and Luke. Many events in the Luke account are not in the Gospel of Matthew, - for example, the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem - and others appear only in Matthew, such as the Flight to Egypt.
The Nativity accounts in the New Testament are generally viewed as ending with finding Jesus in the temple several years later, after the family has returned to Galilee.
Christmas morning long ago. The children playing parlor games near the Christmas tree.
Christmas never brings San Francisco children any snow. Santa Claus has to leave his sleigh and reindeer behind him in the muddy roads, and take to his good stout legs in order to bring the little San Franciscans their toys and sweet- meats. Jack Frost makes few calls and very short stops, so that the boys and girls who live in the sunshine that rests upon the Golden Gate find it hard to understand the Eastern tradition of Christmas cold and Christmas snows. The fields and forests in their pure white robes, the cold star-lit heavens at night, the noon-day sun sparkling in a million tiny ice-crystals, the merry skaters on the frozen lake or river, the sleds hurtling down the long coast, the jingling sleigh bells, the images and forts and caves our young builders construct out of the thawing snow, - all these the San Francisco boy has never known.
It occasionally happens that a sudden snowfall on the mountains on the opposite side of the bay robes Monte Diablo and her sister ranges in a shimmering white veil, and the whole population of the city looks eagerly across the water at the novel and beautiful spectacle. And, once, years ago, a genuine snow-storm swept over San Francisco and made its people, young and old, wild with excitement and glee. It was comical to see staid old merchants and other grown-ups rush out, grasp handfuls of the frosty mixture and pelt each other with it, frolicking like a lot of New England schoolboys, while the San Francisco children, at first astonished and half-afraid at the unfamiliar sight, soon caught the contagion of the hour, and entered with enthusiasm into what would probably be their only opportunity to know the joys of a real winter. With shouts and laughter the boys tumbled about in the snow, improvised sleds, piled up mimic forts, pelted each other and the passers-by; in short, behaved much like the children of more frigid latitudes. The girls were quite as excited as the boys, romping and shouting in their glee, and snow-balling each other and their friends. The few workers who ventured out had a hard time of it. They were pelted and rolled in the snow-drifts until they looked more like Eskimos than Celestials.
But this was one experience in a life-time for a San Francisco child. In all its recorded history since the white man became a dweller by the Golden Gate this was the only occasion when a real snow-storm visited it, while it has never known a snowy Christmas. In December as in mid-summer the rose-bushes are covered with blossoms white and red, the climbing fuchsias swing their purple bells, smilax, heliotrope, geranium and calla lilies bloom in the garden. The poet E. R. Sill, looking at the floral loveliness of such a winter from his Berkeley windows fronting the Golden Gate, sings his wonder:
"Can this be Christmas? - Sweet as May,
With drowsy sun and dreamy air,
And new grass pointing out the way
For flowers to follow everywhere.
O wondrous gift, in goodness given,
Each hour anew our eyes to greet,
An earth so fair - so close to Heaven,
'Twas trodden by the Master's feet."
Once upon a time, a number of us, teachers in the Pilgrim Sunday-school of San Francisco, sat in conference and planned our coming Christmas festival. We had some four hundred children to provide for; as bright and happy a lot as ever were gathered within a Sunday-school.
Every year, a great Christmas festival was held in a public hall, to which the children and their friends were invited, and the proceeds of which paid nearly the entire expenses of the school for the ensuing year. We had about completed our arrangements. The tree, the gifts, the music, the tableaux, the addresses, the supper, all had been assigned to efficient committees. Only one feature remained for discussion, - the proper entrance and introduction of Santa Claus, who had never yet failed to appear at our feast. We had well-nigh exhausted, in previous years, the various possible methods of introducing the good old saint. One year, we had him pop up suddenly through a trap door on the stage; once, he came tumbling down a great chimney-piece; and, once again, he arrived just in the nick of time, and stood waving us a welcome high above our heads, from whence he climbed down nimbly on a rope, hand under hand, to the screaming delight of the children, but to the serious derangement of his pack and his stomach. But, now, we were at an end with our devices.
"I have it!" said Fred Gummer. "Let's stick to the old tradition, and have him dragged into the hall in a sleigh drawn by deer."
"But you forget," rejoined our wise-headed and devoted superintendent, Horace Davis, smiling behind his glasses, - "you forget that Santa always leaves his turn-out behind him, and trudges to San Francisco on foot."
"Very true," answered Fred; "but I know a mountaineer who has just brought to town two live deer. They are quite tame, and we can obtain their use for the evening. A neat sleigh, with little rollers hidden under the runners, can be built, and fitted up with buffalo robes, bells, etc.; thus equipped, Kriss Kringle can for once enter the hall in a state becoming his dignity."
All declared this to be a capital suggestion, and it was at once adopted.
"Now, if we could only arrange as easily for a snow-storm that evening," said Elizabeth Easton, one of our most loyal teachers, "the thing would be complete."
"And why not?" cried Charlie W.
"Leave that to me. I have a notion on the subject, and can promise you a genuine snowfall."
And to this also all agreed.
The next day, two or three of us, who had been let into the secret, went to a book-binder, and arranged for a large supply of the long and narrow clippings of paper which are shaved off in the process of making up a book. Then, at a Chinese employment office, we hired two stout gentlemen, who were set to work in an upper loft of a friend's store. Each person was furnished with a large pair of shears, glittering and sharp. As neither of them could understand a word of our language, with many gestures and grimaces they were instructed to sit by a huge heap of the paper clippings, and cut them into little pieces, or flakes, letting these fall into a packing-box before them. Both Hop Lee and Wo Fun stolidly set to work. They patiently snipped away all that day and the next, until their hands were too weary to hold the shears. It was not an inspiring task, but they performed it with religious exaltation and awe. For it is their custom to prepare such small bits of paper inscribed with sacred Chinese characters by their priests, and to throw them by handfuls into the air or burn them, in order to ward off the evil spirits which they believe are ever hovering about to do them harm. So our temporary employees felt they were assisting at a religious ceremony of sorts; and who, re-recalling what our Christmas celebration is, shall say that they were not?
The afternoon of Christmas day came at last; and Piatt's Hall was filled with a large and noisy company of little ones, romping, dancing, shouting, and trooping down to the cavernous-looking supper room below. On the stage, behind a huge screen, stood the Christmas tree, a tremendous specimen of its kind. As the day wore on the older folk arrived, and presently the exercises began. The children lustily sang their Christmas carols, the young men and women surpassed themselves in tableaux and shadow pantomimes, and between the acts the children danced to merry music. In the meantime, a half dozen of us, each with a bag full of paper snow-flakes on his shoulders, found our way up over the ceiling of the hall, and crept, candle in hand, across the slender rafters. The space was so low we could not stand upright. A single misstep, and our foot would go crashing through the lath and mortar ceiling, and hang like a signal of distress over the heads of the audience below. "How hot it is up here!" grumbled Charlie Murdock. "My snow will melt before I get to my position." "Be careful that you don't set fire to your snow with that candle," cried another. So, with laughter and retort, we each crawled to one of the great ventilators through which the heated air escaped from the hall below; and, dumping our pile of flakes conveniently near it, we stretched out on the rafters, peered down at the spectacle beneath us, and awaited the signal at which we were to begin snowing.
It was a pretty sight we gazed down upon, the great hall glittering with lights and filled with a brilliant and ever-shifting company, the children circling in the merry dance or standing in eager groups awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. Surrounded by a company of friends and parishioners, stood the minister of the church, stalwart Horatio Stebbins, then not long arrived in California, but already a conspicuous figure.
On the fringe of the crowd, a slender, dark-haired man with laughing eyes stood nervously twitching his glossy mustache, or bent to listen to his children's prattle. Who among all that great company would have dreamed that this shy and as yet little known man, Frank Bret Harte, was in coming years to confer such luster on his adopted State, Immortalizing in tale and poem the beauty and romance of California, even as Starr King embodied for us in his brilliant oratory and martyr life the patriotism and loyalty of that land of sunshine and gold. And there, too, the central figure who brought order and purpose Into all the confusion and noise, was our genial superintendent, even more at home among the children than on the floor of Congress where, in after years, he made for himself an honorable record.
All this and more we gazed down upon from our high perch. But, now, the music came to a sudden stop. The children eagerly crowded up to the front of the stage, the screen was drawn aside, and there stood the giant Christmas tree, glittering with lights, strung with goodies, shining with its mimic silver and gold, and loaded with gifts for all. The general "Ah!" that greeted its glories soon swelled to shrill cries of delight as with cheery shout and jingling bells old Santa Claus came driving into the hall in his well-stocked sleigh, drawn by two pretty, bounding deer. The children gathered around their old friend as he nimbly descended and gave them a hearty greeting. But wonders were never to cease that happy night. As the orchestra struck up the Sleigh-bell Polka, the very heavens above seemed to open, and for once at least in the annals of a San Francisco Christmas it snowed. Oh, how it did snow! At first, a few flakes fluttered down furtively, then more and faster, and faster and more furiously still, till the whole room seemed full of the tiny messengers of purity. They settled down on the tree with its glittering lights, on the beard of the good old saint, on the merry children who jumped up to catch them as they fell and sought to press them together into snowballs, while the old folk declared: "Yes, this reminds us of the scenes of our youth. This is something like what Christmas used to be." Meanwhile, we, having finished our task, brushed the dust and cobwebs from each other and descended, well pleased at having increased the festival joy of the children, and given San Francisco her first Christmas snow-storm.
Painting by Sigismud De Ivanowski and decorative border by Edward Edwards.
The whole life of Christ overflowed with love, and yet there never was a time in His thirty-three years on earth when He did not see the Cross. In His baby eyes was the shadow of Golgotha: His curls were tangled in a ghostly crown of thorns. The "way of the cross" certainly seemed to lead from the stable-door in Bethlehem. But the Divinity within Christ magnified and glorified Him, and fortified Him to bear up under the tortures that were meted out to Him. This Christ-child of the manger is the image of thousands of children of today born to suffering and poverty as was He. With this difference: they are human and have not the Divine fortitude to carry the burdens on their little shoulders as did He. And today while we are celebrating the birth of the Babe thousands upon thousands of His little blood-brethren are suffering because of cold and hunger. And other thousands of little ones will survive the rigors of the winter only to wither under the fearful assault of the seething summer. In every community today-close to our homes wherein we have warmth and light and plenty-these little brethren of Christ wear their thorns and the shadows of dark on their little hearts. What, then, can we all do that is more in the truest spirit of Christmas than to reach out our hands to these little brethren of Christ: to let a little warmth into their cold bodies: a little light into their dark souls: to bring light of happiness into their sad eyes: the smile, and the laugh, into their stern little faces? What greater honor can we pay to Christ than to see to it that every little soul is given a decent environment into which to be born and in which to life his little life? Is this to give too much? To begin to do this on Christmas Day and then to continue doing it all through the year: that is indeed Christlike, for as we do it unto the least of His little ones, so surely we do it unto Him.
There are many fine streets In this good town of mine. There's Walnut and Willow, Persimmon and Pine; And Broad Road, and Broad Way And High Street and Main- But none I love better Than Christmas-tree Lane.
You'll seek it in vain In all seasons but one. When snow-clouds are hiding The pale winter sun, And winds of December Blow cold at the pane- 'T is then you'll be finding This Christmas-tree Lane.
They come with their branches Of holly so gay, With garlands of ivy And mistletoe spray; And dozens of pine-trees They bring in their train To make the old market A Christmas-tree Lane.
The sight and the scent Of the sweet-smelling pine, They set me to dreaming An old dream of mine: I'd buy all the pine-trees, The high and the low, And trim them with presents For children I know.
Yes, deck all the branches With candy and toys, And send out a message For good girls and boys. I fancy I hear their Glad carol's refrain As slowly I wander Down Christmas-tree Lane.
I crafted this little lion for a child's tree using left-over notched popsicle sticks and just a few other supplies...
Supply List:
notched craft sticks
pair of googly eyes
scrap wooden round and heart
acrylic paints: yellow, white, brown, burnt sienna, pink and black
wood glue
Mod Podge
scrap cardboard
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Cut a circular shape to glue the pieces of wooden scraps and tips of notched popsicle sticks too.
Glue a circular wooden shape in the center to begin with.
Glue the first layer of notched sticks around the outside of this center piece.
Glue a second layer of faux 'wooden' mane using the notched pieces on top of the first layer to make the hair look full.
Glue on the heart shaped wooden piece upside down between two medium sized googly eyes to create a mussel.
Cut a small end from a popsicle stick for the lion's tongue. You will need to shape the end of it in an inverted V shape to fit it snuggly between the heart humps.
Using acrylics paint the lions head with similar colors and shades shown in the photo above.
After the paint drys cover the ornament with a layer of Mod Podge.
Glue a twine hanger to the back of the lion's head.
Here are photos of my Welsh cupboard decorated for a crowd of family members coming for egg nog and gingerbread. I made the gingerbread earlier in the day so that little ones can decorate these quickly before their movie night begins. The egg nog will be prepared just before serving it to our older guests. The kids prefer milk with their cookies.
Left, fill up a glass container with vintage blown glass ornaments; it's an easy way to decorate! Right, a retro glass egg nog service set; it has adorable old-fashioned ladies and gents dashing through the snow to Grandma's house!
Somethin' looks like egg nog... Tasty Recipes by Tasty!
Left, a retro glass cookie jar with vintage graphics. Right, paper chains mimic white icing and gingerbread, plus vintage peppermint candy picks.
Left, vintage Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer gummies for fun. Right, vintage glass containers for sugar, cinnamon and spice.
Left, a vintage looking candy cane sign, real retro milk bottles and candy canes decorate the second shelf of my Welsh cupboard. Right, apothecary jars stuffed with spice gumdrops, chocolate candies wrapped in tin foils, peppermint pillows and marshmallows.
A cardboard display of a gingerbread house, tree and boy are behind the cutting board set up for decorating gingerbread cookies.
Premixed white icing, sprinkles and gum drops are prepared in advance to make cookie decorating easy for the youngest guests at our house this year.
Jar lids are certainly the kinds of recycled supplies that just about anybody can afford to use to decorate a Christmas tree with. The key is to find or have supplies that will make them stand out, give them a bit of old-world charm. If children are choosing to make crafts like these, adults should watch them diligently while they handle items like hot glue guns. It is best that they not use glue guns altogether. White school glue will work just as well but they must have some patience to let each application of white glue dry as they go.
Supply List:
clean, unused jar lid
scrap for gluing to the inside
white school glue
twine
hot glue and hot glue gun
one cotton ball
tiny toadstools (my sample has cotton batting ones)
faux fir tree branch
transparent glitter
masking tape
Mod Podge
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Clean the lid, removing every trace of food and any stickers that may be stuck to the outside of the surface.
Place the jar's lid on top of a picture and trace around it with a pencil.
Cut out the circle making it just slightly smaller so it will fit snugly inside the jar's lid.
Apply an even coat of white glue to the inside of the lid and press the cut card on top of this, pressing firmly until the picture adheres completely.
Mod Podge the card and set it aside to dry.
Cover the outer ring with masking tape prior to using the hot glue gun. Do not touch the surfaces of the metal tip directly to the metal lid, for this will heat up and could burn you seriously. The masking tape will keep the metal cooler, just long enough for the quick application.
Take your glue gun and twine and carefully apply the string to the surface of the outer ring. Cover this completely with the twine and also glue on a hanger for the tree made from the same material.
Repeat steps: 2 through 5 for the backside of the lid.
I cut a tiny piece of faux fir tree branch for the boy to hold in his arms and attached it with hot glue.
Also attach the cotton for snow to the bottom half of the lid's rim using white school glue and let this dry completely. I did this with white glue because I wanted the metal surface on the interior of the lid to show.
Then I squeezed and puddled a generous amount of glue to the crevices of the interior lid to hold the tiny white and red cotton toadstools. Let this glue harden and dry over night for a strong hold.
Paste on a dusting of transparent glitter and hang the ornament.
"It is good to know that out there, in a forest in the world, there is a cabin where something is possible, something fairly close to the sheer happiness of being alive." Sylvain Tesson
Above is the entire display for cocoa with friends including: cake, candy, and a cast iron cabin or two to display candle light within.
I'm decorating my dining room cupboard this year using several different themes for parties among friends and family. This decor needn't cost much, just 'shop' your own collections and add a few key pieces to represent the theme for a coffee bar, tea party or in this case - cups of cocoa and a delicious, rich bunt cake for a cozy reunion with old friends. I cut the pine sprigs from bushes on my front lawn and unpacked a plaid blanket from the linen closet to use in this woodland display. My adult children gathered pinecones from a walk in the woods to fill-out the empty spaces between the dishes.
Left, a cup of hot chocolate or cocoa with marshmallows on top. Right, chocolate and peppermint stirring spoons for those who like an extra punch of flavor in their hot drink.
Left, on display is one of two cast iron cabin, candle holders. The bouquet is of cotton plant stems inside of an old, vintage tinware pitcher. Right, are two cut glass apothecary jars filled with chocolates and spice gum drops.
Left decorative lettering spells "Noel" on a sign, dead center of the woodland display in my cupboard. Right, is the chocolate bunt cake on top of a galvanized metal cake stand.
Detailed photo showing apothecary jars with gum drops, marshmallows, peppermint pillows, and candy canes. I've used a old plaid stadium blanket to cover the wooden counter top of the cupboard to protect it from spills.
Left, vintage silver leaves, pine cones and evergreens decorate the top shelf. Right, the middle shelf has enamel white stars that light up in the dark and a Santa pitcher filled with autumn berries.
A close-up photograph of our family sized "cocoa bar." Here I have also included shakers filled with cinnamon and sugar and flavored stirring spoons.
These angelic gift tags will print in blue. Customize them with gold or silver ink pens and a bit of glitter for a heavenly effect! Then gift wrap your presents in solid blue, gold or white to compliment the tags.
Download, print and color this gold fish in whatever colors that you would
like. Layer the cardboard that the design is pasted to and also Cover it
with Mod Podge. This process will give your ornament strength so that
perhaps you can hang it on your tree more than once.
Above is just an example of how I painted my goldfish. On the right is the pattern of the fish that you can print, cut-out and color for your own Christmas tree.
Guests may download and print these religious Christmas gift tags for coloring and labeling their presents. Color them, cut them out and punch a hole in each tag at the top where indicated, in order to string a ribbon onto each tag. Every gift tag also includes a place at the bottom for writing the name of the person the present is for and who has given it.
Mary and Baby Jesus gift tags with halos for coloring.
Download, print and color sleepy cat in whatever colors that you would like. Layer the cardboard that the design is pasted to and also Cover it with Mod Podge. This process will give your ornament strength so that perhaps you can hang it on your tree more than once.
Above is just an example of how I painted my cat. On the right is the pattern of sleepy cat that you can print, cut-out and color for your own Christmas tree.
Eight holly tags for coloring. Write to and from labels for presents.
Color these simple holly and Christmas tree gift tags. Use your own pens, crayons or colored pencils to match the colors in your gift wrap this year. Punch the hole where shown and tie a colorful twine or ribbon to match your choice of gift wrap too.
Eight gift tags of Christmas trees for coloring. "Merry Xmas" on the labels.
Description of Coloring Page: A Santa paper doll, Santa's suit, moving parts, bag of toys, snow white beard, big black boots
Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image
as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question
about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located
directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I
can.
A Holly Song by Mary E. Butts
Oho! for the holly, the shining holly, Green when the year is old; Brave and bright in the winter light, Glad in the storm and cold. Oho! for the holly, the faithful holly, Like the heart that is true and bold.
White are the drifts in the bleak December; Red is the holly fruit; Deep in the woods in the Christmas splendor When the noisy winds are mute, We gather the holly, the shining holly, For its joy doth the season suit.
Then oho! for the holly, the brave, bright holly; Oho! for the winter cold! May we never forget our due and debt To the Christmas Day of old; But warm with love the patient earth Wrapped in the snow's white fold
Hey kids, here are kids from WhatsUpMoms making three great Christmas cookies on their own in the kitchen! Learn how to make the holidays delicious all by yourself, well... maybe you will need a little help from Mom.
Description of Coloring Page: the little Santa Claus, his bed becomes a snowdrift, window, sleeping, Christmas Eve, bed curtains, toys playing on the bed, dancing blocks, parading ducks, toy soldiers and dolls, rocking horse, toy train
Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image
as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question
about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located
directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I
can.
Here is another fun thing to make; a paper chain depicting a very old-fashioned kind of a toy called a jack-in-the-box. Crank a handle round and round until you hear a clicking sound . . . then pop! Jack is out of his box!
Download and print out the pattern below. The dotted lines
indicate where the image will be folded to continue the tree silhouette
seamlessly after it is unfolded. The number of images "linked" together
in one continuous chain is determined by the length of the paper being
cut. Use a very thin paper to make your cutting easier. Cut away the
areas indicated by the design. (see image above and read text on the
pattern below. This paper-cut may be used as a border around a Christmas
bulletin board in a classroom or as a paper chain for the Christmas
tree if you like.
Pattern for a jack-in-the-box toy chain.
Olivia is longing for Santa to bring her a special Christmas toy. You can have a peek at what St. Nick has stuffed inside his bag for her by printing the mystery puzzle, cutting out the pieces and putting them back together again!
Description of Coloring Page: candle light, toy drum, stuffed elephant, three children, toys and dolls hanging on the tree, sharing her wealth with little friends
Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image
as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question
about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located
directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I
can.
Below are two bookmarks one with carolers and the other with text, "Joy." Include them inside a book you may wish to gift to a friend this Christmas or just color them for yourself...
So many reasons to be joyful this Christmas, remember this whenever you read!
"We Three Kings", original title "Three Kings of Orient", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol that was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in 1857. At the time of composing the carol, Hopkins served as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he wrote the carol for a Christmas pageant in New York City. It was the first widely popular Christmas carol written in America.
Illustration of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" sheet music, CC.
At the time he was writing "We Three Kings" in 1857, John Henry Hopkins Jr. was serving as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Although he originally worked as a journalist for a New York newspaper and studied to become a lawyer, he chose to join the clergy upon graduating from the University of Vermont. Hopkins studied at the General Theological Seminary in New York City and after graduating and being ordained a deacon in 1850, he became its first music teacher five years later, holding the post until 1857 alongside his ministry in the Episcopal Church. During his final year of teaching at the seminary, Hopkins wrote "We Three Kings" for a Christmas pageant held at the college. It was noteworthy that Hopkins composed both the lyrics and music; contemporary carol composers usually wrote either the lyrics or music but not both. Originally titled "Three Kings of Orient", it was sung within his circle of family and friends. Because of the popularity it achieved among them, Hopkins decided to publish the carol in 1863 in his book Carols, Hymns, and Songs. It was the first Christmas carol originating from the United States to achieve widespread popularity, as well as the first to be featured in Christmas Carols Old and New, a "prestigious" and "influential" collection of carols that was published in the United Kingdom. In 1916, the carol was printed in the hymnal for the Episcopal Church; that year's edition was the first to have a separate section for Christmas songs. "We Three Kings" was also included in the Oxford Book of Carols published in 1928, which praised the song as "one of the most successful of modern composed carols." The carol centers around the Biblical Magi, who visited Jesus as a child in a house (Matthew 2:11) sometime after his Nativity and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh while paying homage to him. Though the event is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, there are no further details given in the New Testament with regards to their names, the number of Magi that were present or whether they were even royal. There are, however, verses in the Old Testament that foretell of the visitors. Isaiah 60:6:..."The wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you. The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord." New American Standard Bible, and two selections from the Psalms- Psalm 72:10: "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts" and Psalm 72:15: "...and may there be given to him gold from Arabia", New American Standard Bible. Hence, the names of the Magi—Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar—and their status as kings from the Orient are legendary and based on tradition. The number three stems from the fact that there were three separate gifts that were given.
"In England, more than in this country, I think, little troops of children go around singing Christmas carols under the windows of their friends. And for those of the Readers who live in countries where it snows I will whisper that there is no better fun, when the holidays come around, than to go down to the best stable in town and whisper to your friend who manages it that you want on Christmas Eve the biggest sleigh he has, with two horses or four, as he thinks best, and all the furs that can be piled in, and then start with the best of the drivers and pick up a sleigh load of young people -- boys and girls. Let it be five or twenty-five, according as the size of the sleigh suggests. But be sure that Joseph Haydn or Luke Tenor, or some one who can lead them well, Is tucked in-with the rest. Then spend the hours before ten o'clock in the evening singing carols under the windows of their friends.
Under the full moon, on the snow still white, with sixteen children at the happiest, and with the blessed memories of the best the world has ever had, there can be nothing better than two or three such hours.
"Oh, we went to twenty places that night, I suppose! We went to the grandest places and we went to the meanest. Everywhere they wished us a Merry Christmas and we wished them a Merry Christmas. Everywhere a little crowd gathered around us and then we dashed away far enough to gather quite another crowd. Then we would go back, perhaps, not sorry to double on our steps, if need were, and left every crowd with a happy thought of 'The Star, the Manger and the Child.'"
A very tender and unselfish friend and companion of mine, living in a large city and without any bank account which enabled him to go into Howland's stable, or Hobson's, and give an order for four horses and twenty-live bearskins, used to take an evening walk as the sun went down before Christmas Eve, and take note of the boys or the girls who were flattening their noses against the windows of the toy shops. And after standing a minute or two he would select his boy and lead him in. "Which of all these things in the window would you like to have most?" he would say. And then that particular thing would be bought and paid for and wrapped up in a parcel and given to the amazed child, to whom this was much the same thing as if Santa Claus had driven his reindeer over the roof and had come down through the chimney.
Yes, and as I write I remember another of the princes among men, who looks in at the post office every day of the week before Christmas, and with his own eyes sees the unfortunate parcels which have been left for Uncle Sam to carry by mail and which should arrive on Christmas morning. They should arrive, but alas! the postage is deficient, and here they are stranded d. p., which means "deficient postage." Then is it that this Santa Claus without a reindeer bids the clerk make up the deficiencies, and in his way helps on the belated present." Generous Hearts.
Retro campers are not only popular these days for camping in, they are also very popular in textile design, home decor, children's books etc. so I've decided to make one for the Christmas tree as well!
First, you will need to download and print my template for the camper. The link is above in the supply list.
Trace around the cut template on top of cardboard with a pencil.
Cut out the cardboard and begin to brush on a light coat of white school glue to the backsides of thin craft sticks.
Line these up, side-by-side, allowing for some of the longer lengths of the sticks to hang off to the side of the cardboard template.
Clamp down the craft sticks and allow the glue to dry.
Clip off the excess wooden parts with utility scissors. (see photo below)
Once you have covered the entire cardboard piece with craft sticks, sand the edges.
Glue on more craft sticks vertically to make the door of the camper.
Glue on thin slices of cardboard to make a frame for the window and door.
Cut extra craft sticks short for the awning of the window frame and the wheel well.
Cover the bootle cap with masking tape and then layer glue and brown wrapping paper on top.
Paint the wheel and hot glue it under the wheel well from the back side of the ornament, just beneath a short craft stick. (see photos below)
Hot glue a tow bar made from left over craft sticks and paint this gray and black.
Now add more paint details like: curtains inside the window and another window inside the door panel.
Hot glue on floral beads below the window awnings to look like there is a flower box there.
Paint the window awnings in stripe pattern.
Hot glue on twine for a hanger.
The first part of this craft begins with a template and with gluing on long narrow craft sticks. You can see that I used clamps to prevent the craft sticks from warping while these dried.
Left, the finished wooden, retro camper prior to painting. Right the wheel is a bottle cap that has been painted. See also the details added to my camper's window.
Left, is the backside of the ornament. You can see how I attached a bottle cap wheel. Right, the ornament is ready to hang on a Christmas tree.
