Christmas Nativities

My mother-in-law has been collecting nativity sets since the 1960's.  Her collection includes sets from all over the world.  Some have great sentimental value while others have great stories to go along with them. This year she has them on display all over her house.  I thought I would share some of them with you.

This set is from Mexico

This is a set that was sold by AVON

This set has a Native American Theme

This set is carved from volcanic ash from the Mt St Helen eruption in 1980

This set was purchased on a trip to Germany

This set is made from blown glass

This is a wall hanging by Willow Tree

This is a large Jim Shore piece

This is a Jim Shore nativity Set

This nativity is made from a laser cutter 

This beautiful hand painted nativity came from Russia and stands about a foot tall 

This nesting doll nativity set also came from Russia

This small hinged nativity stands only a couple of inches tall

This set is actually ceramic but the glaze looks like pewter

This nativity is one of my favorites.  Each piece is about a 12" tall

This set is from Mexico

She made this nativity in a ceramics class

This is one of her first sets from the 1960's

This set was purchased on QVC

These metal figures stand over 1 foot tall

This is a large ceramic tile that has been engraved and sits on a easel 

This large ceramic nativity stands over a foot tall and was a gift from her daughter

This acrylic nativity stands about a foot tall

This piece is a handmade music box from a friend

This snowman themed nativity has a matching table runner and matching place mats

This nativity is very small and came from Russia

This small bell is carved from Myrtle wood which only grows the northwest United States

This nativity came from Peru

The paper mache set had a great story and the pieces stand almost a foot tall and it dates from the late 1970's.  The set was a display at a drug store.  Her husband was in a horrible automobile accident and each time she want to the pharmacy, she would admire the set.  After Christmas, she went in to pick up a prescription and saw that the set was gone.  The pharmacist gave her the prescription and a large box.  He said, "I noticed you admiring this set.  Merry Christmas"

This is actually a large snow globe

My daughter brought this nativity back from a mission trip to Tonga.
It is made from coconuts, palm tree parts and sea shells.

This nativity is actually a glass block filled with Christmas lights.

🎄 It's Christmas Time in the Studio🎄

I thought I would share a few of the decorations in my studio this year

Christmas Village 2016

We had a fun time setting up the Christmas Village again this year.  

One of the things I enjoy about our village is that it is different each time.

This year we combined the "tree village" that was debuted last year, and the sloping hill from previous years. 

Here are a couple of in-progress photos.

 To see a detailed post on how I set up the village click on the Christmas Village label below or the links on the top right.

I glue craft sticks to the bottom of the street lamps.  (I also paint them white)

This helps them stand up all season long.

Here are a few different views  

Click the links below to view prior years:

2015

2014

2013

To view posts on how to set up a village click here

It's That Time of Year

Its time to put up our Christmas village again.  How the year has flown by!

Here is a sneak peak!

The village that we use is called Village Square , and was sold by a department store called Mervyn's that is now out of business.  It kind of makes the pieces more fun to collect.  

I have picked up two new pieces this year

I came across the Toy Store which dates from the early 1990's at a local antique mall.

I found the Court House on Ebay and shipped from Sacramento California.

  More Pictures to come.

Recent Acquisitions

I have acquired a few new things here and there.

I found this Sonia Messer living room furniture on Ebay.  The rocking horse and mirror are Christmas tree decorations that I picked up at an estate sale.

As it turned out, a fellow blogger was selling the living room furniture and she recognized my name.  She was nice enough to throw in a few extra things and some missing parts that I needed on another project!

The pieces all still have the Sonia Messer Block House labels

To see my other Sonia Messer Block House pieces click here

The rocking horse and mirror are both plastic, but look like wood

I am considering the hobby horse in my Kage house ?

The mirrow might work out in the Kage house too - 

I like it here or perhaps as a ceiling medallion?

To read more about my Kage house click here or on the Kage label 

In other news, I came across this plastic dollhouse from the late 1970's.  As it turns out, it is the house that goes with the furniture I uses for my Star Wars figures in my youth.  

To read more about that click here