QUEST FOR THE PERFECT CRECHE!

THE CRECHE

For many years I searched for a creche that wasn't like the typical ones you see. I wanted one that was old and handmade.
 One day I was searching Ebay and happened to see what appeared to be a set of hand carved wooden figures from someplace in Europe. As I carefully looked at the pictures, I was reminded of a picture of a creche I had seen a long time ago, that was set up in a little village church. It had a wonderful cast of characters and it looked like a village scene, with a mountain background and a little town. The figures were carved from wood and really wonderful.
 This set of wooden figures were not in the best condition but it had many and I mean many pieces.
There was an elephant, camel, donkey, bull or cow, dog, horse and many sheep and lambs. The figures also included several shepherds, village people, the three kings, Mary Joseph and of course the baby Jesus. Also there were two angels.

 Of course I bid immediately and aggressively! I won!  Unfortunately, the seller sent it to the wrong buyer and by the time I got the package, it looked like it had been in a war zone.
 I carefully unpacked everything and realized that a couple of the figures needed glue and all needed some careful paint restoration. Someone long ago, it looked almost childish, had repainted the faces of the people and it was not good. I carefully restored the faces and re-glued the necessary parts.
 It was worth it and I love love love my little wooden creche! So do my little granddaughters! I realized one Christmas, that the sheep seemed to be moving around the tree. My little granddaughter had been at my house a few days earlier and I think she moved them around every time she came over!

THE SHEPHERDS AND THEIR FLOCK

I really couldn't blame her, since they are all very tempting. I especially love the little sheep.  The little fenced "Paradise Garden" was another lucky Ebay find. Perfect for the feather tree and creche.

                                                                       

THE BABY JESUS AND FAMILY

                                                                       

THE THREE KINGS

     

SHEPHERD LOOKING FOR THE STABLE

ANGEL ANNOUNCING THE BABY JESUS

ANGEL GIVING MESSAGE OF GLORY!

          I hope you enjoy this post and seeing my creche!                                                                                                            

CHRISTMAS IN THE OLD KITCHEN...

The old kitchen

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time, is to decorate the old kitchen of our 18th century house. I love princess pine roping and when I can find it, I buy it . Next a few homemade ornaments mixed with a few antique ones, feather trees, dried spiced orange balls, and a basket full of dried pomegranates.
 Did I also mention the cranberry  roping? Still have to do that .

The spice balls are something I actually made a couple years  ago and by some miracle they have managed to last through a  humid summer.

Orange spice ball and peeler

  It is a really fun thing to do and with the right tool, can be easily done.  The tool I use is called a citrus peeler. You score the  skin of the orange into a design and then press whole cloves into the white flesh . Sometimes I just go all around the orange ( you  can use lemons too) in a kind of swirl design or other times I  just go on a diagonal or striped design. When the cloves are  pressed into the white flesh, it looks amazing.

I let the oranges dry and they look so pretty arranged on the mantle with greenery or in a bowl or basket on the table. I used to make dozens of these and give them as gifts with baked goods.

Happy Holidays from Peggy's old kitchen!

Mantle decoration

Table decoration

In my next post I will show the fabulous creche I found a few years ago on ebay!

Keep tuned in....