Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Today, two Christmas firsts in one hit!   Warning: You may not want your children or grandchildren to read this post - it may shatter Christmas beliefs....  The firsts featured today are the FIRST store Santa Claus or if you want to be really brutal, the first Santa Impersonator and the first store to employ a Santa impersonator .  Logically, this would be the one and the same story, but this, like many other claims to Christmas firsts, is contentious. The first “Santa” - Many sources, verify that James Edgar, in  Brockton, Massachusetts, commonly known as “Colonel Jim was  the first department store Santa Claus in 1890 .   Edgar, the store owner, had a Santa costume tailored especially for him ( he was certainly the right build for a Santa figure) and a few weeks before Christmas 1890 he made his first appearance. Many years later a man who’d been a boy that day reminisced: “ My parents had taken me over to the Boston store [Edgar’s] on Main S...

No prizes for guessing that today's S celebrities include the jolly man himself,  but wait, there's more...    S is for Santa Claus  and Suzy Snowflake  What do these two have in common - nothing much except a  tentative Christmas link, a reference to the same era, and  I think they look good  in a snowy scene together.  I am sure I do not need to add  much to the profile of Santa Claus  because many of you are most likely experts on the subject. However,  in Australia, I often see images of Santa in beach board shorts or even wearing a bush hat with hanging corks to keep away the summer flies and I wonder how it came about that red flannel and white fur are still the preferred attire for Santa.    Did you know that red and white became a tradition after Santa appeared in a Coca Cola advertisement in 1931?  Coca Cola Company deny that they "invented" Santa Claus as we know him - plump, jolly, frien...

Christmas Countdown ... 16...  In American folklore, a Christmas elf is a diminutive creature that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks. They were first introduced by Louisa May Alcott in 1856. The association of Christmas presents with elves has precedents in the first half of the 19th century with the Tomte in Scandinavia.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been struggling to find new inspiration, so this week I referred to a new book. Here is a dragonfly cache I made this week, all stitched and beaded by hand. It is a small hold-all for cosmetics, jewellery or just little trinkets.  My inspiration was this lovely book I got for Christmas - so appropriately named "Handmade Treasures from the Heart". It only arrived last week, as my husband bought it for me online, and the seller sent the wrong book . This one is so much better than the anatomy book sent by mistake! I am also inspired by my friends. I spent an afternoon recently with my very creative and productive friend, Bobbi from LamboArt. She has been making sumptuous Santas. These beautiful  art doll creations are certainly enough to inspire anyone.   Spending time with my family is not only relaxing it is also inspiring and motivating. A couple of days ago, we took our older grandchildren fishing ...