Thursday, December 16, 2021

Merry Day #16....

 ~ Welcome to my ~


Merry Day #16!

Well with the stand reviews done and 10 days before the big event that I wait for all year long, I thought I'd share our family traditions with you each day until Christmas Day is here!

As I know it is for all of you...
Christmas is a time of memories. One of the *best* memories of Christmas I have is the ones of my maternal Grandma. Her name was Eileen Campbell Weber and I loved her with all my heart, and she loved Christmas as much as I do. When I was a young girl, every feast of St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) we would get all dressed up and my Mom would drop us off at Granny and Pap's house. The house was always lit up with Christmas lights, but inside we ate in candlelight and then we would get to open one gift. I can remember the excitement I always felt when I was little going to our "fancy" party on St. Nick's day. It brings back warm memories and smiles remembering my grandparents. 

My grandma...
was a very "fix-y" lady and would always decorate her house to the nines each year. One of my most favorite decorations she had was of a large, painted ceramic set of Santa and Mrs. Claus. Oh I loved them! I can remember standing by the buffet she always put them on and just staring at them, taking in all the details of the painting and what Mrs. Claus had in the large bag at her feet and the twinkle in Santa's eye. When my grandmother passed, I always hoped I'd get that set, but my brother inherited the house and Santa stayed with the house. 

As an adult...
I always thought about those ceramic pieces. Did they still make them? Was ceramics even a thing anymore? So one summer I had time on my hands (hardy har har!) and I started searching for them. Through my research I found that they molds were made by Atlantic and that the ones my grandmother had (the very large ones) were hard to find (well at least they are hard to find for me). But I could find a set that stood about 15 inches tall - the Santa was the same, but Mrs. Claus had a different pose. But it was close enough so I bought the set. Now here is the dilemma....Remember I couldn't paint! So...I got the set and sat out to do what I could to make that set look like what I remembered my Granny's to look like. I was successful! Here they are....setting on my "buffet" in my own entry way! (really mine is just an antique dresser from my husband's grandparents)

Untitled

The Antique Ceramic Christmas tree....
was from my paternal Grandmother that I inherited. Her name was: Frances Eleanor Epperson and I loved her with all my heart too. The table cloth the pieces are sitting on is from my Granny (Weber) too and is from the late 1950's - early 1960's. Very different ladies - in terms of style and demeanor - but both had character and charm - I learned lots about keeping home, hearth and family traditions from these fine examples. As I sit here writing this, I'm crying a bit because I love and miss them. But it is my hope, that through me and my memories they remain alive and their traditions and values are passed on to my children. Family was *very* important to both of these women and I have tried, with all my might, to instill that in my own family. I think I've been successful because although we are not without our own struggles - I have a very tightly knit family. We do (literally) everything as a family - even those of us that has left the nest, still fly home to do our traditional things and as my chicks fly the nest - I hope that our traditions are stitched in their DNA to pass on. 

Between us....
I am again searching for a set of the ceramic Santa and Mrs. Claus. I would like to paint a set of the Santas and a ceramic tree to gift to my daughter, Katie, next year in her first year as a married woman. I feel it a way to bridge her childhood home and her new home - as well as remembering her ancestors. We will see how that goes - I'm nothing but ambitious when it comes to these sorts of things - and I have a huge wedding to plan and execute as well as help with a second one. And we are planning a trip to Washington DC in July. HA! Big Ideas....that possibly could come true. Tenacity. See this is why I don't sleep at night. Thankfully I can share all of this with you because Katie doesn't even realize I have resurrected this blog. 

OK so that does it today for Merry Day #16!

Thank you for sharing these days with me!

Merry Christmas!

All my love, 
Vonna xxxx

8 comments:

  1. Like you, I was blessed with wonderful Grandmothers/Grandparents. I have a few of their things and they are treasures. When I am struggling I look at the pieces they have given me and remember the challenges they had in their lives and how deeply they loved their family (warts and all) and find my inner strength to carry on.

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  2. I loved reading about your memories of both your grandmothers, Vonna. And thank you for sharing them. I hope you find what you are looking for and can create for Katie. Psst...you might want to pick up 4 sets if you can. Happy Thursday!

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  3. I love your Santa and Mrs. Claus. That's so nice that you were able to find them. Giving your daughter a set for her home sounds wonderful. My mother did some ceramics, but I don't have any of them. My sister in law painted me a tree, and I have that.

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  4. Hope you find the Santa. A very lovely thing to do for her.

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing Vonna - grandparent memories are the best! I have a beautiful set of 8 small angel figurines made of white Dresden china. Six are playing various instruments and two are singing. They were given to my maternal grandmother by a dear friend of hers and they were always displayed with pride on her mantel; they were her favorite Christmas decoration. When she passed, my mom and my aunts were originally going to divide them up, but then they decided they should stay together and gave them to me, knowing I would cherish them. I look forward to getting them out every year, and sometimes I get them out at Easter just because I miss them! ;)

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  6. What lovely memories and tributes to your lovely Grandmothers. I
    love the Dec. 6 "dress up and celebrate St. Nicholas" idea. A great way to usher in Christmastide while leaving space around the
    actual holiday for sharing time. You are so very special, Vonna.
    Thank you for the inspiration....

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  7. Vonna, you brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my heart! What wonderful women you had as your examples of family life and love. My mom did ceramics and I have a large Christmas tree like yours that she fired and painted, it is a treasure to me to this day. She, also did sequin and bead dolls that I have under glass domes that will be past down to my daughters one day. Thank you for the inspiration and the memories, hugs and love to you from Arizona.

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  8. I'm very glad you came back to blogging!

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