The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Santa’s List
Inside: It’s the mother of all important Christmas compilations–Santa’s list. We take a closer look at the tradition.
Making a List . . . or Two or Three
The other day I was pushing my cart around in the grocery store, close to the checkout lane, when a man turned to me.
“Are you in line?” he asked.
“No,” I said, glancing down at the items scribbled on a scrap of paper. “I’m just looking over my list.”
“And checking it twice,” he quipped.
I heard a smile in his voice, even if I couldn’t see his face properly. “Right. Exactly,” I said, returning the smile and chuckling.
What’s the deal with Christmas and lists?
I admit to being a person who makes lists, even more so this time of the year. To-do lists, lists of food, gift lists. I blame it on Santa.
Oh, I’m not keeping track of anyone’s behavior, mind you, but I have this insatiable urge to take inventory. To keep on task, stay sane when December gets crazy.
Santa’s List
But what of Santa’s List? No one seems to know exactly when the idea of Santa’s list came into being. According to a legend most of us are familiar with, Santa Claus keeps a record of all children’s behavior in his “naughty list” and his “nice list.” As a child, those lists held lots of clout. Parents often reminded kids their bad behavior would promptly remove their names from the nice list and add them to the naughty one. Horror of horrors!
And how did I know this to be true? The song, of course! The 1934 Christmas song, “Santa Clause is Coming to Town.” In it, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie penned these words:
“He’s making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!”
By the way, after being performed on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in November of ’34, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” became an overnight hit with more than 30,000 records sold and orders for 500,000 copies of sheet music within 24 hours.
Kids never had a chance!
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: Clothespin Stars
Inside: A versatile little craft, these Clothespin Stars are a great project to make with the kids this Christmas season.
How to Make Clothespin Stars
Oh my stars! Clothespin Stars, that is. It’s day 4 of our marathon 12 Posts of Christmas, and we have a great little craft project for you. Making star ornaments from ordinary clothespins. Mom put together a couple of these last year, and I liked mine so well that I left it out all year long. So when she suggested this for our ornament project, needless to say, I was all in.
What You Will Need:
- 6 – 8 clothespins (the kind with metal springs) per star
- cardboard to make 1 3/4 inch circle (cereal or cracker boxes work great)
- materials for decorating the stars: raffia, ribbon, buttons, wooden cutouts, Christmas card cutouts, pine cones, paint, tea for staining. Editor’s note: Not all of these materials are needed. Get creative! Choose the materials you want.
- glue gun and glue sticks
Making the Stars
- Remove the metal spring from the clothespin by grasping the ends while simultaneously twisting and pulling them away from each other (like you’re forming an X with the sticks) and pull off the spring.
- Paint or tea stain sticks and allow to dry before gluing. You can also choose to leave them plain, as we have done with one of the stars.
- Glue the flat sides of the sticks together to form the points of the star.
- Take your cardboard and cut out a circle about 1 3/4 inches in diameter to make a base for the pins. (You don’t want this to show. Mom suggests coloring it was a magic marker to match the color of the sticks.) Note: A variation of this step is to make a larger circle (2 3/4 inch diameter) from some other material, such as the galvanized steel circle Mom used for one of the stars, in which case you want it to show. This might take the form of plain or painted wood, colorful cardstock, painted cardboard, Christmas card cutouts, tin, galvanized steel, etc.
- Glue points of the star together on circle base. (See photo.)
Glue pins together as shown. - Decorate the star. Here’s where you want to unleash your creativity. We like the natural look, so I formed a bow out of three strands of raffia and glued it to the center. Then I chose a thin piece of red ribbon to glue on top of that bow. I finished up with a tan wooden button glued to the center. (I was actually inspired by Nordic ornaments I have seen with splashes of red on straw-colored materials. Picture above.) If you like glitzy and shiny things, I’d suggest painting the star and applying glitter. Or use a wooden cutout, which are easy to find in hobby stores, to glue in the center as in this 6-point star Mom also made last year ( picture below).
- Attach a hanger to the back by making a loop from jute or ribbon that matches the look of your star and hot gluing it to the back of the ornament. Make sure it’s centered properly so your star will hang right.
Simple 6-point star with wooden cutout. Easy peasy. Now, post-haste, go find a tree on which to hang your masterpiece. Stand back and admire the work of your hands! Happy Christmas decorating!
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: Pursuing Joy
Inside: There is no better time for pursuing joy than the season of Advent.
Waiting for Joy
I remember one particular Christmas from my young married days when our daughter was small. Mike worked long hours, more gone than home, and the demands of the dairy I ran with my dad kept me busy, too. Tensions were high, arguments far too often, and my plans for a Hallmark Christmas fell by the wayside. Seeing my disappointment, Mom took me aside to impart some wisdom. “Christmases come and go,” she said. “You’ll have some good ones and some bad ones, and lots in between.”
Was she ever right!
For most of my life I thought of joy as something you happened to catch–like a cold or a pop fly. If you randomly caught the feeling, lucky you.
Birthdays and Christmases your chances of finding joy were increased, though not guaranteed! A stroke of bad luck, like sickness or an argument might derail the elusive, fragile emotion before it took hold. Even favorite activities could be joyless with mood and temperament in the mix, and if you happened to clutch your joy tight enough to keep it from escaping, a day with a sad friend or angry relative could send it packing.
Pursuing Joy
I’d like to think I’ve grown up, put away childish things. When it comes to joy, I now realize it’s a choice. For years I saw that message on signs and T-shirts but never really understood it, much less practiced it. Nowadays I’m more proactive. I part the curtains, looking for joy. Search through cabinets. Turn over rocks. I’ve got a prescription I follow, one that serves me well: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV.)
What does that mean in a practical sense? It means directing my attention on things that bring joy. This Advent season I’ve been listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies. I’ve been giving to those favorite charities of mine, putting money in the bell ringer’s kettle. I’m writing cards and handing out candy bags to Amazon drivers when they drop off packages. I’m smiling at people and giving out encouraging words. I’m holding on to every scrap of good news I hear–mine or others.
But there are things I’m not doing. I’m not immersing myself in news media. I’m not watching negative programs, and I’m trying not to complain. Trying. I know this could be a bad year, if I embrace that. Instead, I choose joy. In fact, I’m chasing it down, tackling it to the ground like a football player in the playoffs.
I’m allowing myself to hope for better things, yet being grateful for the myriad of blessings right under my very own roof.
I’m fine tuning my ear, listening for those ancient angel tidings. I’m focusing on the real reason for the season, the babe in the manger, pursuing the joy that can only be found in Him.
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Hearing Christmas Bells
Inside: From hearing Christmas bells to writing a poem, this lesser-known Christmas carol is appropriate for our times.
Hearing Christmas Bells: The Story Behind the Song
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” isn’t one of the more common carols we hear this season, but the story behind this hymn is quite compelling. It starts with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet and proud native son of Pilgrim ancestry. Our first American poet to receive widespread notoriety, he chose American history and traditions as his subjects, with such poems as “The Courtship of Miles Standish” and “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
His poem “Christmas Bells” was written after a particularly difficult period in his life. In 1861 his beloved wife and mother of their children was burned in a freak accident when her dress caught fire. She died a day later, leaving him a widower with five children to raise alone. In the spring of 1863, his son Charles left home, without Henry’s knowledge, to join the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. In December of that year word reached Longfellow that Charles had been severely wounded when a bullet entered through his left shoulder, traveled across his back, and exited under his right shoulder. He left immediately to bring his son home to nurse him back to health.
During what would have normally been a happy time, his heart was weary from the loss of his wife and so much death from a war which divided the country he so loved. In his deep despair he penned these words upon hearing the church bells ring on Christmas Day.
Christmas Bells
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
(Emphasis mine.)
Longfellow’s words seem especially appropriate this year, in particular the sixth and seventh stanzas.
Do you agree?