I have lots of Santas to be displayed at Christmastime, but two are very special ones. They both belonged to a very dear aunt and I am so glad that I have them today.
I remember this roly-poly one on display in her home every Christmas. She painted it and I remember asking why the fur on his hat was black. She said it was so that you could see it since it was right next to his beard. I guess that satisfied me, but when Noli asked the same thing she insisted that it should be white and "of course you can tell his beard from his hat!" Can you believe it -- some 50ish years later, she asks the same question!
As you can see, he has a very round tummy! He's heavy so I guess he must eat a lot of Christmas cookies! He's made of a solid plaster -- I imagine my aunt painted him back in the 40s or 50s. She would spiff him up and repaint where necessary every few years but I have left him as he was when she gave him to me. I don't want to paint over her art!
I was thrilled when she gave him to me after I had married! She knew how precious he was to me and now he brings back lovely memories of my aunt.
This Santa, on the other hand, has been on a diet so he's not so chubby. The same aunt painted him in the 60s or early 70s and gave him to me sometime in the 80s. At first I wasn't so wild about him but, over the years, have grown to love him. Sometimes I put Christmas cards in his bag, but lately I've let him hold some poinsettias.
He has sparkly glitter on his fur, and I love his blue eyes and cute bald head! Oh yeah, questions from Noli on the bald head too!!
Now I need to get these two guys put up in their rightful Christmas places. I kind of stopped on the decorating after Noli put the ornaments on the tree!
She decided that those yellow ornaments (another favorite thing by the way) should all be clumped together and there was nothing I could say that would change her mind! We ended up with a big area with nothing, not an ornament in sight, and those yellow ones all clumped together -- that girl can really decorate a tree! LOL! (Not to mention that red bead garland -- her idea of draping and mine are two different things!)
I don't care -- I'm just thrilled that this has become our little tradition each year. Doesn't matter that the tree isn't perfect! Because Noli is.
The yellow ornaments were made as a Christmas gift by my sister-in-law for her mother -- her house at that time was decorated in yellow and green. So Jan made six yellow and six green ornaments. After my mother-in-law's death, Jan asked me if I would like to have a set -- of course I did! -- and chose the yellow ones.
Aren't they beautiful? She wrapped styrofoam balls with ribbon and created the design with gold rick rack, gold sequins and pearl pins. I love them!
..... but I'd prefer them to be spaced out a bit on the tree.....
♥♥♥ Linking my Santas to
A Favorite Thing over at Mockingbird Hill
♥♥
