Christmas Countdown Day 12

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Miniature Display of Cards

Today's post will be quite brief, as I have had a few technical problems this evening, and have only just got back online fully!

I wanted to display a few of my miniature cards in an interesting way, and remember how my mum always used to pin her Christmas cards to lengths of red ribbon. and hang them on the wall.

I've created a miniature version of this, complete with the little red bow. The cards were free cut outs from a miniatures magazine (last year's Christmas number!). I realised that the inside of the cards was visible, so I thought I would try writing in them.

You can see the result above. The pen was really too big, but at least the Merry Christmas is almost readable!

This little display is now safely pinned up in The Swan, and I promise that you will all be seeing it, and everything else very soon!

Christmas Countdown Day 11

Christmas Countdown Day 11

Christmas Crackers

Regular readers may remember that I posted about Christmas crackers last year, but I thought there was no harm in posting about them again as they are a big part of the traditional British Christmas dinner!

Christmas crackers are another Victorian innovation which became a part of our seasonal celebrations. A gentleman called Tom Smith was in Paris and noted how some shops were selling sweets (bon bons) in small twists of paper. This was something of a novelty as sweets were usually served loose from jars back in England. He bought the idea back to the UK and sold his first Bon Bons in 1847. 

Over time other trifles and novelties were added, such as small gifts or trinkets, paper hats, motos the all important snap. Some say that Tom Smith  was inspired to add a snap when he heard a back from the log on his fire. The snap is similar to that use in pop guns, and is released (or not as is sometimes the case) when the cracker is pulled in half. 

The moto developed into the jokes we know and groan over today. Where do they get these jokes from? I once read that some are sent in from the general public, but many are thought up at the factory, what a job! One thing seems certain, the lamer the joke, the more likely it will be used!

Tom Smith's company still makes millions of christmas crackers each year, and they provide the crackers that grace the table of the Royal Household at Christmas.

And here's a little Christmas cracker for you all, The Good Life Christmas Special from 1977, which has some Christmas crackers in it (all be it homemade ones!) - Enjoy!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 10

Christmas Countdown Day 10

Wassail

Love and joy come to you

And to you your Wassail too,

And God bless you and send you

A happy New Year

And God send you a happy New Year.

OK, there are several Wassail songs about, and they are often heard at this festive time of year, but  what is a wassail, and how would you go wassailing?

There seem to be two main types of wassailing, one has evolved into a festival to bless the cider apple orchards in southern England, the other has developed into what we would now call carol singing.

The term wassail derives from the old Saxon words waes hael which translates roughly as, be healthy.

So it is a toast to good health. 

In the cider producing counties of southern England, wassail refers to a mulled cider, a hot, spiced, sweetened cider which has pieces of toast floating on top. The wassail cider is carried from orchard to orchard, often by a wassail king and queen, and is used to bless the apple trees in the hope of a good harvest. The toast from the wassail cup is placed into the boughs of the apple trees, sometimes by teh wassail queen, sometimes by a small boy. The customs vary from region to region. These blessings are often carried out between New Year and Twelfth Night (and are often extended to 16-17 January, the old Twelfth Night on the Julian calendar).

Twelfth Night was traditionally the time for parties and celebrations, with Christmas Day reserved for religious observation. Everything has become mixed up and condensed these days, so much of what was celebrated at Twelfth Night is now part of Christmas. In the Royal Court, plays and masques were often performed on Twelfth Night, and that's the time of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was first performed for Queen Elizabeth I. 

The other type of wassail, which is the origin of carol singing door to door, evolved from the custom of peasants visiting the home of the Lord of the Manor, singing songs and asking (not begging) for food and drink. Think of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which dates back to the 16th century, where the singers bring glad tidings and call for 'figgy pudding'.

So there you have it! Wassail is a toast to good health and a spiced hot cider; wassailing is a blessing to apple trees and an early form of carol singing. 

Christmas Countdown Day 9

Christmas Countdown Day 9

Miniature Wrapping

Oh Dear! Another post a day late, I am sorry, but I was so busy with RL preparations for Christmas that I simply forgot about my blog until late last night when I was just too tired to continue.

Anyway, here is my post for day nine. A miniature Christmas scene may well need some miniature Christmas presents, I know mine does, and so I have been wrapping up tiny little gifts for the Swan Inn.

The 'presents' themselves are various suitably sized oddments, small scraps of wood, a rubber, some bits of foam board, anything clean and square seems to work best. The wrapping paper comes from various sources too. The purple one is tissue paper, the holly came from a magazine and the blue and white paper is actually the inside on an envelope! I've stuck it all down with tiny pieces of tape, but they could have been glued too. A length of thin ribbon tied around some of the parcels adds a finishing touch.

I have done more than three presents of course, but I don't want to show off too much of what's inside The Swan Inn just yet!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 8

Christmas Countdown Day 8

Scrooge in Miniature

Whilst searching for some suitable images for my previous post about A Christmas Carol, I came across these delightful little miniature scenes by Anne Thomas, from Cumbria, which are currently being displayed at the Dolls' House Emporium's shop at Houghton Hall Garden Centre in Carlisle. I wish I was closer so I could see them close up, but will have to make do with the pictures! 

The scenes show various events within the book, the picture above is when Marley's ghost, complete with chains and safe boxes, appears before Scrooge to warn him of his fate!

This scene shows the Ghost of Christmas Past, the first of the three spirits to visit Scrooge, notice the light on the spirit's head, a nice little detail from the story.

And this scene is, of course, the spooky Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, showing Scrooge his lonely tombstone. 

If you are lucky enough to live near Carlisle, do drop in and see this exhibition at Houghton Hall!

Christmas Countdown Day 7

Christmas Countdown Day 7

A Christmas Carol

One of my pre-Christmas treats is to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I am sure that everyone reading this blog knows the story well, but just in case you don't, here is a brief summary;

Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old gentleman who makes no bones about his hatred of Christmas. He begrudgingly gives his poor (literally and figuratively!) clerk Bob Cratchit a day off for Christmas, but that is about as good as he gets. Until...

An old business partner of Scrooge's pays him a visit on the night of Christmas Eve. Said business partner, Jacob Marley, has been dead for several years, so to say that Scrooge is a little upset by this is an understatement! Marley tells Scrooge of his terrible fate after death, and he may only redeem himself of his miserly ways by being haunted again by three other spirits that night. 

The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present (my favourite spirit!) and Future (the scary one!) lead Scrooge on his life's journey. I won't spoil the ending, as most of you will know it quite well enough anyway!

But it does all end on a happy note!

Dickens first published A Christmas Carol in December 1843 (the same year as the first commercial Christmas card was published!) Many people credit Dickens with creating much of the tradition we associate with Christmas. In truth he captured the spirit of the age, many Victorians had more money to spend, more free time and a willingness to celebrate at Christmas. Dickens had already written about Christmas in The Pickwick Papers, published in 1837, and published further Christmas stories between 1844 and 1848, The Chimes, The Cricket in the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain. These books were not so well received by critics, and not such a great commercial success. The Chimes is a book set at New Year, another story of redemption, which I have read for the first time ever this year. 

Though Dickens was part of a general restoration of interest in the Christmas holiday, the popularity of many traditions we now include at Christmas may be attributed to his book A Christmas Carol; Turkeys for example, Scrooge chooses a turkey to give Bob Cratchit and his family not only because of its huge size, but also because of its luxury. Tradition had seen beef or goose eaten at Christmas, turkey was an unusual choice at the time, now we seem to eat almost nothing else! Charity, and a feeling for others less fortunate has strong associations at Christmas, and there was a marked increase in charitable donations in the years after the book was first published. The traditional ghost story at Christmas may also have something to do with the Spirits who visited Scrooge. Interest in Spiritualism was growing during the early Victorian era and Dickens tapped into this. 

The very image of a Victorian or Dickensian Christmas, with crinolined ladies in muffs and snow covered bow windows owes more to illustrators and movie makers than Dickens himself, but it's still all part of the Christmas tradition set up around A Christmas Carol. Perhaps the best attribute of the book was its gift to the English language; A Scrooge, a miserly old sinner, and of course Bah! Humbug! on the lips of all Scrooges the world over!

One other treat I always allow myself (there are so many I know!) is to watch A Muppets Christmas Carol I challenge anyone to watch this without having the odd tear in their eye at some point in the film!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 6

Christmas Countdown Day 6

Candy Canes

Another polymer food make today, this time it's candy canes. These are a fairly recent visitor to British shores from America, though we have similar peppermint sweets and sticks of rock, these candy canes are now becoming popular at Christmas. 

To make them is fairly easy, just take two thin sausage shapes of red and white Sculpy or Fimo, and lay them next to one another on a clean, smooth, flat surface. Slowly roll the two together and they will become one long stripy stick, which you can then cut to size. Curve one end over to look like a cane. Bake in the oven as instructed. Once cooled they can be used to decorate Christmas trees, or fill stockings!