All Is Calm,

…all is bright. Now that the powdered sugar dust has settled, following the very messy, very tiring cookie caper, it is a silent night. Ahhh, peace on earth. Christmas eve upon us, but for now, feet are propped and snow is expected.

The images featured below are from my personal collection of Christmas ephemera. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of my favorites from the stash.

Origin:

1670–80; < Gk ephḗmera, neut. pl. of ephḗmeros, taken as sing.;
ephemera (ɪˈfɛmərə)
n , pl -eras , -erae
1. a mayfly, esp one of the genus Ephemera
2. something transitory or short-lived
3. ( functioning as plural ) a class of collectable items not originally intended to last for more than a short time, such as tickets, posters, postcards, or labels
ephemera
late 14c., originally a medical term, from M.L. ephemera (febris)  “(fever) lasting a day,” from fem. of ephemerus , from Gk. ephemeros  “lasting only one day,” from epi  “on” + hemerai , dat. of hemera  “day,” from PIE *amer-  “day.” Sense extended to short-lived insects and flowers; general sense of “transitory” is first attested 1630s.

I have collected some really nice pieces, such as these Leyendecker covers above. However, this Christmas, baby Jesus post card, out shines them all. I love it!

Throughout the year and now at this holiday season, I’m feeling very blessed with an overflowing cup. My prayer is that you are too.

Now, time for “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Merry Christmas everyone!

Feather Tree Fences

Treasured Tuesday – My friend Melissa made a recent comment about one of my feather tree, Christmas fences so, I’m sharing them all today. I have three that I like to incorporate into the holiday decorations. They’re too nice to pack away afterward so, I try to keep them displayed all year long in a variety of ways.

I found one article that offered this bit of information:

Antique Christmas Tree Fences

Fences for the Christmas tree were made of a variety of materials. Some of the earliest were made of wood or cast iron, then later versions introduced sheet metal and plastic. The cast iron fences mimiced the elaborate detail of the Victorian fences surrounding people’s homes. Wood fences were constructed of twigs, feature tree branches, or the more common wood planks. One can also find fences that were pre-wired and contain sockets for lights on the fence posts.

Some fences came in sections allowing the consumer to create any lenght of fencing that they desired. Many fences had one section that contained a gate for “entrance” into the enclosure. Inside the fences people included small cardboard houses, composition animals, Erzgebirge pieces, dolls, toys, or any other items that they wished to use as decoration. Some built elaborate putz scenes or Christmas gardens, with the fence enclosing these wonderful creations.



The one above needed a lot of restoration when I discovered it. My brother-in-law Paul helped out in the putting back together process.

Thanks Melissa, I really like them too.

This one landed here and doubles as wall art in the guest bedroom, off season.

Snowy Impresions

Woke up to snow today, both outside and in, that is, on the Christmas tree. I decided yesterday afternoon, to go with the cut paper snowflakes for the decorations once again. Notice, it resembles the tree in my illustration of the 2000 Theme Tree –  “500 Years of the Christmas Tree” program.

Still snowing (12:00pm), although only three inches are expected. Enough to inspire me to finish unpacking the last of the holiday trimmings, the snowmen.

In keeping with the week’s cookie theme, pictured above is a feature I clipped out of the magazine surplus, on traditional springerle German Christmas cookies. Included in the photo is my snowman ice cream mold and an unusual bottle that I stumbled upon in a a local antique shop quite a few years ago. The same is the case for these two sets of vintage snowmen salt & pepper shakers.

Snow, snow beautiful snow.

Cutting Clay

I still haven’t found the right time for trimming our main tree. Maybe today! I’m not altogether sure, how I want to decorate it this year. For someone who was formerly dubbed “the ornament lady,” surprisingly I always lean toward our simple paper snowflakes, the kids and I cut when they were little.

The alternate choice of course, is none other than, the original, hand painted, made in America, signed by the artist, glazed and fired ceramic ornaments!  Chuckle. Here are some of the last produced that I managed to hold on to before Tidings of Great Joy moved into art licensing. You can see how the cookie cutters were utilized to make them and why I began collecting the cutters.

With all of the cookie cutter collection talk on Tuesday, I was reminded of my treasured time and handiwork of years gone by. I unpacked them today. Maybe this year they will make it on to the tree. I’m still trying to find a way to get them back into production. I’ll keep everyone posted.


On each of the Tidings of Great Joy ornament hang tags it reads:

…for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

It was the Christmas story read by Linus in Charles M. Schulz’s ” A Charlie Brown Christmas,” that inspired the (then holiday ornament producing) company’s name. Est. early 1980’s.


Tuesday’s Tree Treasure

It’s been a long time since I posted a Treasured Tuesday. First up, cookie cutters, one of my favorite collections just right for the holiday season. During the twenty years that Tidings of Great Joy manufactured Christmas ornaments, I collected dozens of cookie cutters, used to cut shapes into the clay. I love using them now, as they were intended, cutting cookies! Most are vintage in many unusual shapes and a variety of sizes. I was able to utilize them again in a recent Christmas fabric line called “Cookie Cutter Christmas.” When not in use, they are perfect to double as ornaments for a decorated kitchen tree and door wreath.

This year I placed these fun tin toys underneath the tree. They are a child’s full set of cookware (c1950’s), including tiny red cookie cutters. When I spotted them in a shop (still in the box) they reminded me of some that I may have had. I remember spending an over night at my Gramma Wecker’s once, when she actually let us bake in our muffin tins. I thought at the time what a special treat, one of those grandma indulgences.

Moving Mountains

I mean moving magazines! Some to a new holding area, some out the door. In between the tricks, the treats, the turkeys, the collection tweaks the battle of the studio clean up, continues. I look forward to the reveal, hopefully before the end of this year.

You've Gotta' Love Lucy

How did I let things pile up to this degree? Today, I tackle the catalog build up! This close to Christmas they are coming in faster than I can carry them out. Yikes!