Yes, Elizabeth, There is a Santa Claus

So, the story goes...

There once was a young girl named Elizabeth who dreamed all her long life of celebrating Christmas in the traditional way. She longed to enjoy the sounds of Mommy baking cookies in the kitchen. Her dreams were shattered one cold winter morning when snowflakes filled up the skies and covered the mountains and she realized that Mommy was at work. She stared out into the white morning and wished upon a snowflake that Mommy would get home in time to bake cookies. It was Christmas Eve and all the day long, Elizabeth walked back to the window, closed her pretty blue eyes and wished on the snow flake, just one more time.

As the day drifted on, Elizabeth played with her baby, she watched a movie. She even danced to the tunes of Christmas Carols played over the radio. In fact, at one point during the day, she stopped having fun just long enough to remember that she hadn't written her letter to Santa. But, she had everything she wanted, if Mommy could just get home in time to bake those Christmas Cookies with her. Elizabeth stopped by the computer for a moment and looked at the keyboard. She knew she sent Gramma messages on the computer sometimes. Sometimes Gramma sent back pictures for Elizabeth to see.

But, that was always when she sat on Mommy's lap. She didn't even know how to turn on the computer. She sat in the chair for a moment and stared at the screen. Nothing happened. Elizabeth climbed down off her chair and ran to the bedroom window. She could stand on her toy box and look out past the trees to the road beyond, high into the sky, and up clear to the mountains west of her home.

"If I shout real loud, I bet Santa will hear me," she whispered to her baby. "I'm going to try it."

She pushed open the window and let the cold air come rushing into her apartment. Then she took a deep breath of the cold winter air and with every thing inside of her, she screamed out, "Santa Claus, all I want for Christmas is for you to bring my Mommy home."

Elizabeth closed the window and stared at the trees. She stared at the road. She stared at the sky. She stared at the mountains looming high on the western horizon. She put her baby in the cradle, covered her up and went back to the living room to wait for Mommy.

She danced to the tune of Jingle Bells, and listened for sleigh bells. She watched her favorite Christmas movie, and listened for sleigh bells. She watched the lights blinking on the tree, and she listened for sleigh bells. Snow flakes kept falling and the after noon faded away.

She fixed herself a sandwich and settled down with her blanket to watch another movie and wait. The skies outside grew dim. Lights twinkled on all over the city and she listened for sleigh bells to ring. Elizabeth struggled to keep her eyes open, but slowly they drifted closed and she slept for a while.

Then, outside she heard reindeer hooves, sleigh bells ringing, and the sound of Santa's "Ho, Ho, Ho" and she opened her eyes. Right there in front of her with a big platter of Christmas cookies, Mommy stood before the fire place.

"Mommy!" Elizabeth cried.

"I made it home, just in time to make Santa's cookies," Mommy gave her a giant hug and squeezed her tight. "I missed you, Baby Girl!" Mommy exclaimed as she set the cookies on the table and picked her up to swing her wide in her arms.

"Mommy, you're home to be here when Santa arrives." Elizabeth chattered on about her day and how she'd opened the window and exclaimed as loud as she could to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.

"So, little miracle worker, what is it you want for Christmas?" Mommy asked Elizabeth standing there in the light of a full moon glistening off the snow.

"I told Santa, I just wanted you home in time to make Santa's cookies." Elizabeth announced delightedly.

"And here I am," Mommy smiled.

The room began to sparkle and glow, a little at a time and then a whole lot as the Merry old Elf appeared with his pack. "Your mommy is home, where she belongs Elizabeth. And now, I have something very special for you and your mommy." He pulled open his pack and brought out a pair of matching boxes, one small Elizabeth sized box and one bigger Mommy sized box tied up with bright red ribbon.

Elizabeth pulled the ribbon free and opened her box to find a pretty white apron. Inside Mommy's box was another pretty white apron - mommy sized of course.

"Wow! Mommy, look at what I got!"

"Elizabeth, that is so you and Mommy can make cookies any time of year. Just put on your aprons together and you'll always have enough makings for cookies, and milk to drink with them." Santa Claus smiled back at her and with a nod and a wink he rose up the chimney and disappeared.

As he drove out of sight, she heard him exclaim. "Yes Elizabeth, there is a Santa Claus and he wishes you a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year."

Christmas Wall Décor with Panache and Style

Entry halls often don’t have a lot of space to decorate, and most of our homes lack the distinction of a foyer big enough for a Christmas Tree, but there’s nothing that says you can’t hang something fun and exciting on the walls. These ideas will bring Christmas to your home, without a lot of high cost.

1 – Music

An old violin found in a yard sale inspired the first decoration. We used soft chenille wire to connect the violin and the bow, then added a hook to the back, using the same chenille wire. A pair of brass candle sconces we used year round were already decorated with miniature silk poinsettia, and tall red candles. Frame three pieces of tea stained Christmas sheet music in gold gilded frames (or sprayed over black frames)and tie a few poinsettias onto the violin handle and curl a few gold pipe cleaners through the leaves , tie with a perky Christmas ribbon and you’ve got a nice wall grouping.

Place a basket on the hall table to collect Christmas cards and you’ve got a delightful entry.

2 – Evergreen Boughs

There’s nothing like fresh evergreen that says “Welcome” to guests. But, if you’re allergic, you may have to substitute fake greenery. Outside, tie in real fruit and seed pods for the animals. Inside tie in a few strands of colorful ribbon, some Christmas bulbs and maybe a few gilded pine cones. Add a big red poinsettia and you’ve got an entry hall fit for kings (and the in-laws).

3 – Snapshots of Christmas Past

Always welcome at Christmas are memories of Christmas Past. Post them in the front hall in a series of frames, or even one big frame with many small portholes. Tie a red ribbon on the top of each photo frame and add sprigs of greenery where possible. On a table or shelf underneath, place a crystal bowl of Christmas Ribbon Candy and you’ll have an enticement that can’t be resisted.

Jan Verhoeff writes creative articles to share values, principles and concepts that bring good cheer to the neighborhood around the world. Visit her site at http://janverhoeff.com and find out how you can enjoy the holiday celebrations, or any day with more verve and style.

Decorate Your Christmas with Colorado Country Flavor

In Colorado there are many different cultural basics, but one stands true through them all. We all love the decorations of winter. In fact, we love them so much that we often leave them up through January, and if we can get away with it February too.

So, when you realize your decorations may stay up for a while, you go that extra mile to make sure they’re seasonal, appropriate and more than the neighbors!

Start out with the basics:

Lights, outdoor displays and several bails of straw to create the backdrop for an amazing nativity should take you through the essentials. You probably have crosses of various sizes saved from previous years, but if not, you can make some simple nativity forms by making crosses with 18 to 24 inch cross pieces and various height 2 X 2 sticks. I usually use about six from 4 – 7 feet in height. (I do stick at least a foot or two in the ground, so it’s nice to have a nice point on one end.)

All summer long, we search the yard sales for appropriate robes and sheets to make the nativity. I’ve never paid more than about four dollars for all of them (usually at ten cents each). Select dark or drab colors, or plan to throw them all in a vat of dark blue die before the season. Different colors and fabric will accept the dye differently, so you still won’t have all one color. Use some straw to fill up the fabric, and wrap the cross figures to make them look like a nativity. A strip of cloth wrapped around the top of the cross acts as the head, draped with about a quarter of a sheet and tied with a cloth to appear as a shepherd, Mary, or Joseph, and a much smaller form in the “manger” wrapped in sheet tails makes a perfect baby Jesus. (Don’t put the baby in the manger until Christmas Eve.)

Post various yard displays in different parts of the yard, centered by the nativity. Don’t forget to pile any snow toward the back of the yard to form your own version of the Rocky Mountains, my favorite part of a Colorado Country Christmas!

Jan Verhoeff writes creative articles to share values, principles and concepts that bring good cheer to the neighborhood around the world. Visit her site at http://janverhoeff.com and find out how you can enjoy the holiday celebrations, or any day with more verve and style.

How to Decorate Your Christmas Tree

Did you ever look in the windows of those grand department stores and wonder how they got their Christmas trees to look so perfect?

It's not nearly as difficult as it looks. And I'll share the secret here.

1. The tree - not that it matters a whole lot what the tree is, but my favorite tree is the fat rounded kind with branches that allow a bit of space between, but not so much that you can see through them. I love the smell of fresh pine. But in my particular case, with an allergy to pine, I find the most adorable fake tree I can find and make it look as much like a real tree as possible. I've even been known to tie pinecones to the branches as I wrap them with lights to make the tree appear more realistic.

2. The lights - Whatever kind of lights you choose, get enough to cover the tree well, but if you are going to add ornaments, you need less lights and more sparkle. I like to bury the lights just a bit inside the branches, so I add the lights as I put up the branches a couple of rounds per layer, so there's some depth to the tree, a few glowing lights hidden inside the branches. Wrapping the lights into the branches as you assemble the tree is great for a fake tree, but a real tree needs to have lights buried just inside the branches so you can stll see the ends of each light.

3. The garland - garland offers color and style to the tree. Add a garland that compliments your tree decorating style. After the lights are on, the tree is up, walk around the tree with the garland in your hand and drop generous swags of garland between the branches of the tree, allowing them to fall freely and gracefully. My favorite garlands are thin ribbon with a nice satin sheen to reflect the lights, beads, or for a natural look, some popcorn and dried berries strung on a thread. Jute or hemp lengths tied into loose bows at junctions make a nice natural drape on your natural or southwestern style tree.

4. The ornaments - A wide variety of ornaments depicting a specific theme work very well. My ornaments are mostly gold and white with some dark red or Christmas red and Navy blue thrown in for accent. I have angels, drummer boys, toy soldiers, glass orbs, stars, sleighs, a rocking horse or two, some crystal bells with carved ornaments inside, and some crystal ornaments with imprints of the nativity. When I look for ornaments, I look for things that say "Christmas" to me, and fit in the color scheme I've chosen for my tree.

Occasionally, my kids get the better of me and we use colored lights instead of white lights on the tree. Those years, anything goes on the tree branches, and we've done everything from stuffed animals and hot wheels cars hung in the tree to paper ornaments cut out of colored paper. Spirals, paper chains, and glued ornaments with glitter all go in our collection.

5. The topper - Whatever you want to put on top of your tree - make sure it's big enough to be seen. Our tree usually gets an angel or a star. I have a selection. My tree is 7 feet tall, and my star is well over a foot tall. My angel on the other hand is not so big, because she's always competing with the angels on the tree - so she can't be too huge.

If it's a color year, we make a new star out of colored paper or fabric and attach all kinds of shinys to it with glue. Last year, we had a bright yellow star with silver glitter and gold braid along the edges of a six pointed Star of David. It was awesome.

6. The tree skirt - Under it all you need something to hold the packages, and the finish it off. I have a white braid and ribbon skirt this year. It started out as a circle of cloth and I was just stitching some ribbon along the edge - I ended up with layers of ribbon spreading out around the base of my tree. The best part is, I don't have to put many presents under a tree that has a great skirt.

I've found a great adornment for my Christmas tree is a nativity that I can set under the edge of the branches, in plain sight. The star on top is a special touch - and the boughs of the evergreen protect it. Everyone notices the nativity under the tree, and I have a special place where children look and ask questions, so I can tell them the story of Jesus birth.

Of course, there's another nativity on an end table, another in my dining room, and another in each of the bedrooms, because I love nativities.

After all, what is Christmas all about?

Merry Christmas!

Share the season of giving! Enjoy the blessing that is yours for the taking, by giving to others.

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