Nativity Scenes Part V

I have looked for the perfect large or full nativity set for years.  I couldn't commit.  I'd see them at Costco and wouldn't want to spend the money so close to Christmas.  I researched Fontanini, I could possibly collect a piece per Christmas.  But I didn't love any of these sets.

Last week Hubby and I were flying through the local thrift store on another errand when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large nativity set.

I stopped in my tracks, it wasn't priced, so I grabbed a few pieces, zipped to the counter to ask for help and ran back.  To stand guard, just in case another shopper thought they were meant to have this set instead of moi.

Because, let me tell you, this one was  the  one!  The colors were perfect in our living room.  Our drapes are from Pottery Barn and honestly, Pottery Barn couldn't have come up with better colors to match.

Help was found, calls were made, a price was set.

Eighteen pieces for $10.99!

I could hardly wait to get home and set it up.

But first we had to go to Best Buy and get a TV mount so that I'd have the perfect spot for it. 

 In my mind a sweet, little Grandma made this set in ceramics class.  She did a beautiful job of painting, choosing Pottery Barn colors(GO Grandma), embellishing with metallic gold paint and keeping any pieces from getting broken over the years.  I imagine this Grandma going to ceramics with her friends on Wednesday night to paint, drink coffee and visit.  It must have taken hours and hours.  God bless her.

Oh, and when I plugged it in the light went on in the stable!  

I am so happy I didn't settle for another set or collect some expensive pieces.  

I love this beautiful nativity set to remind me of our dear Savior's birth.

Nativity Scenes Part IV

I have a glitzy. glittery nativity set.  It is one piece and it shines.  I put in a low trough container with a string of beaded lights, glittery snowflakes, beaded ornaments and a lot of bling.  I know this isn't how the story goes, but it is pretty.  It sits on our dining room table and since we sit around the table a lot it is front and center for us.  A beautiful reminder of a beautiful story.

Years ago I bought our stockings at a drug store in Quincy.  They were sewn together but each one needed to have the stitching added.  I'm not really very handy with a needle and thread but I muddled though and completed the project.  I added our names free hand using a needle and thread.  I ironed on the stars, trees and candy canes, then I stitched an outline around them.  I used  most of the stars on Hubby's stocking.  I sewed on embellishments, including a nativity set made of buttons on Hubby's stocking.

Again, our nativity sets remind us of our dear Savior's birth.

Nativity Scenes Part III

Some of our nativity sets were gifts.  A simple painted wood set was given to me by my parents.  I got it for my birthday one year in the 1980's.  I love the little star above baby Jesus.

 Hubby's Mom gave us a ceramic set when the boys were little.  She wanted them to have it to play with, and they did.  Which is why some pieces are chipped, horns are missing and the donkey is missing an ear.

The guys grew up and I moved it to higher shelf, it survived.  I loved it and could not watch it get broken.  Even though my Mother-in-law made some ceramics, I think she bought this nativity set at a craft fair.  I picked up the stable at Joann's Fabric.

 The wise men came from the East and they still do today.  At least at my house!

 My Aunt Shirley moved to an assisted living apartment this Spring, I got a wood set from her garage sale.

It's just the stable, a forest, Mary and Baby Jesus.  My Aunt and Uncle lived all over the world.  My Uncle was with the U.S Army military police.  They had several deployments to Germany.  The trees are stamped on the bottom with 'Made in German Democratic Republic'.  It is a simple but beautiful set.   It reminds me of Aunt Shirley and her family.

These three nativity sets remind me of the gift of family and of our dear Savior's birth.

Nativity Scenes Part II

The clear plastic nativity that is on the window sill in the bathroom is about four inches tall and has a tint of purple in the plastic.  It was a Christmas gift from Sam.  It has the least monetary value of my nativity sets.  That doesn't lessen its value though.

When the boys were little and we lived on Cherry Street we had neighbors, a married couple with two boys.  Our kids played together.  Their Dad had issues and tried to take their Mom's life.

I read it in the paper and was shocked.  The boys and Mom stayed living next door, Dad went to jail.  Hubby and I tried to help her with the boys once in a while.  The boys went with Hubby and our guys to our church's Cadet program for young boys.  They spent time at our place when their Mom had commitments.

One afternoon during Christmas vacation they were staying with us.  The subject of Christmas gifts came up. The boys were worried about getting a gift for their Mom.

It wasn't a high budget Christmas for us.  But I knew they needed to feel good about giving gifts.

So after lunch I loaded up five boys and drove to the dollar store in Bellingham.

I told them they could buy a gift for whoever they wanted to give a gift to and that we would wrap them when we got home.

I remember them asking me if they could get a gift for their uncle.  Sure.  Grandpa and Grandma? Yes.

Could they get a gift for each other?  Absolutely.  On it went...

The pile on the counter grew. We had so much fun picking and choosing each gift.

A lot of thought went into those gifts.

I never had to ask anyone to pick another gift because it was too expensive, after all,  

everything was a dollar.

My guys shopped too and found something for everyone.  Sam picked out this Nativity for me.  It will always remind me of that fun shopping trip with five little boys.  We've lost touch with the family that lived next door.  We moved.  They moved.  Hubby has run into the boys, they haven't made the best choices in life.  Then one Sunday after church a girl with a baby came looking for help.  It was the girlfriend and baby son of one of the neighbor boys.  I don't think it was a coincidence that we were there having lunch and were able to help.

God kept putting this family in front of us.  I won't forget them.  I pray they have a blessed Christmas and that they too remember the birth of our Savior.

Nativity Scenes Part I

I am planning to write a series of posts about our nativity scenes that we have set up in our home for Christmas.  Each one is special in its own way.

The first is a small wooden ornament that I bought in Leavenworth, Washington.  In August 1977 three high school friends and I went camping in Leavenworth.  We had graduated from high school in June and we were all leaving to attend college out of state.  My folks let me drive.  No cell phone or GPS, just a map and inexperience.  We camped at the Leavenworth KOA.  It was a special adventure.  We had a fun time.  When I unpack the small wooden ornament I remember old dear friends, being ready to leave for college, how young I was and our dear Savior's birth.

 The spun glass and gold nativity ornament was bought when Hubby and I were just married.  I got it at Mervyns in Everett.  Though very fragile it has survived almost 25 years, many, many moves and new homes.  We now live in our ninth home and pray to stay.  I wouldn't want to move all my Christmas collections!  It reminds me that  home is where Hubby and I are together, that our marriage is a blessing and of our dear Savior's birth.

A Weekend in December

It was a fun, busy Christmastime weekend for me.  On Saturday I went on the Bethany Christian Services Christmas Home Tour.  Shelly, Nelia and I always go and this year Deb joined us.  We ran into Holly touring and she posted here.  We had a great time, it is always so inspiring.  It was fun for me to see Marv and Linda's Ranch since I graduated from high school with them.  It was gorgeous!  I swooned.  Linda is very creative and I could see in their home that God and family are their daily focus.

 Sunday evening our church hosted a Christmas Cantata, a 70 voice choir and 23 piece orchestra.  The music gave me chills it was so beautiful.

After the Cantata, Hubby and I hosted a little party, a light supper for 16 guests.  We had fun preparing, cooking and baking.  I used my  new old  place card holders to label the buffet.  One of the recipes was called, 'Oh-So-Retro Swedish Meatballs'.  I loved the name and the meatballs weren't bad either.

 I haven't started my Christmas baking so I decided to bake two layer cakes for the dessert buffet.  The Coconut Cream Cake recipe came from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook.

 I mixed the sweetened condensed milk and coconut cream and began to have second thoughts.  This is a lot of goop.  Where would it all go?  Well, if only I could follow a recipe I would have baked the cake in a 9x13 pan and the goop would have stayed in the pan.  Right?

 But I wanted layer cakes so I baked the cake in three 8 inch pans.  It got a little overdone, but I figured it would be a goopy mess anyway so it could be a tad dry.  I put down saran wrap, waxed paper and the cakes and then I poked holes and poured on the goop.  I have no photos of what happened next...  I spread and I poked and I pressed that goop into the cakes.  It was a MESS.  I wrapped and put them in the fridge on Friday afternoon.  On Sunday I poked some more and spread the leftover goop into the cakes.  I made the whipped cream and glued it all together, I added a bit of cream cheese to the whipping cream to make it more like glue.  I needed glue at this point, or cement would have been helpful.  After I had the whipped cream sticking everything together I wrapped saran around the outside of the cake, left the top open and put it in the fridge.  Oh, and I said a little prayer.

 The tough part of serving  a layer cake is that you have no clue about it's taste or texture until you serve it.

It was good, creamy, not soggy and lots of coconut flavor.  Make it in a 9x13 inch pan and it will be an easy holiday dessert.  Make it a layer cake and you will have trouble.

After the guests left I went in the kitchen and the coconut cake was gone!  They must have liked it!

Oh wait a second, there is a wedge of cake laying on the counter.  It slid right off the pedestal and was hiding  behind.  Sneaky, slippery cake.

I also baked Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cream Cake.  It wasn't pretty either.  It was tasty though.  My plan to have a gorgeous dessert buffet didn't really happen but it was a tasty dessert buffet.

If you'd like the recipe for Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cream Cake the book is available at the Lynden Pioneer Museum Gift Shop. Yes, that is a shameless plug for the store.  Hah!