The hand painted Christmas stockings are 21 inches long including the 3 inch, dark pistachio green, ribbon, hanger loop. There is a 4 inch dark royal blue, velvet cuff with the words Merry Christmas in white paint with silver glitter. There is a band of red, green and blue braid trim below the cuff with 6 green, red and blue, 2 inch tassels hanging from it. The body of the stocking is a winter scene with a midnight blue sky and white snow at the toe with iridescent white paint to represent fresh fallen snow. There is an 11.75 inch snowman in the center, holding a cardinal. He also has accents of white glitter paint snow. He is wearing a black top hat with a red band and a red scarf. His jacket is dark blue with white stars and a red button placket down the front with two yellow crescent moons shaped buttons. There is a tan birdhouse next to the snowman with a strand of green holly garland down the pole and decorating the bird house. Select this link to view our Christmas stockings.
Yule: The Olde Norse word jol representing the winter solstice celebration. It began 12 consecutive days of celebration for ending the old year and the beginning of the new.
Yule Log: Traditions around the Yule log:
The Yule log today is a chocolate cake rolled like a jelly roll. Select this link to view our artificial prelit christmas trees.
Christmas Tinsel: From the French word sentinels meaning to sparkle. The English shortened it to tinsel where it became a kind of cloth made of silk or satin woven with strands of gold or silver. The legend is that spiders loved to decorate the ch4ristmas trees, but their cobwebs could only be seen from the ground, so they covered the entire tree with cobwebs. When the Christ child came to bless the tree, he touched the webs and they turned to silver.
Wassail: In the American Christmas tradition, Wassail relates directly to the Christmas punch bowl. From the English ritual of “Wassailing” or partying, we derive the festive atmosphere of our own Christmas parties. Originally an English drink related to the apple harvest, it quickly evolved into a mid winter ritual, with a great deal of noise made, to signal the partying to begin. From Olde English, o waes hael meaning “good health”. Select this link to view our Christmas tree skirt.
Mincemeat: The word itself comes from Middle French nincer “to cut in small pieces”. These pies were originally called mutton pies made from lamb that represented the treasures of the Three Wise Men. They were baked in a loaf shape to resemble a manger. Select this link to view our artificial christmas trees for sale.
Christmas carols: The Catholic Church valued music greatly and the early Christmas songs date from the 4th century. Mediaeval Christmas music followed the Gregorian tradition. In Renaissance Italy there emerged a lighter, more joyous kind of Christmas song, more like the true carols, from the French word caroler, meaning to dance in a ring. These songs continued to be religious
The most famous of all, Silent Night (Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) was written by the Austrian parish priest Joseph Mohr and composed by Franz Gruber, church organist, in 1818. In 19th century and later many popular songs were written. The themes of songs surpassed religion and found its way to carol music. Select this link to view our gold ornament and red Christmas ornaments.
Angels: Bodiless, immortal spirits that appear to mankind at important moments. The angels appear to man as messengers of God, bringing messages of comfort, warnings, tests of belief, and deliverance. They are also bringers of peace and goodwill. The New Testament tells how the Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks to bring them good tidings of great joy, The Birth of Christ. And the multitude of angels proclaimed: glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Select this link to view our unique angel gifts.