CHRISTMAS IN JULY: EPILOGUE
THEN: probably about the 11th of January
I closed the door on the last guest for my 2017 Nativity Festival on January 10th. Whew!
It had been an exhilarating seven weeks since I had begun to decorate the house with over 350 Nativity sets and a very spiritual Christmas celebration as I lovingly put everything into place and welcomed the first guests on December 2nd. All totaled there were 224 people who signed my guest list, and many others who forgot or I had forgotten to invite them to write their names so I could remember their visit for my special holiday celebration. No matter....that so many more people came than last time...and the time before that... and the time before that, etc. made all the effort worthwhile.
NOW: more than six months after I wrote the above introduction of my wonderful 2017 Christmas celebration
So, that means I obviously am not going to write with the exuberance I felt while I was still close to the experience. And it is going to be abbreviated. Well, at least the narrative is. I will have to tell you in person about some of the individual experiences--particularly with non-members like my hairdresser, the man who works for Billy Graham Ministries here visiting his daughter and family, local doctors, people from out of town visiting families who had come other years, some of my United flight attendant friends, old Bookclub members. That really made Christmas special! And I wanted to share the pictures which are easier to do than write a lengthy background at this point in time. The pictures took a long time coming. And that is why I waited to write the rest. Then when the pictures did arrive on a flash drive, it has been another three months before I sat down tonight to share them with you. Hence, Christmas in July!
I think I mentioned before, the Town of Johnstown contacted me in 2016 about being one of the houses on their Christmas tour. Someone had told the head of the committee about my collection and suggested our house might be a nice addition to the many other houses with showcased lights and elaborately decorated yards. When the man called me, I told him I would love to! Except that my deal was an every-other-year deal, and I wouldn't be displaying the Nativities again until 2017. He agreed to call me the following year.
When I got word from him again in November 2017, I was a little surprised that the date for the tour was December 2nd. I was expecting sometime later, perhaps mid-month. Luckily, I had not bid for December yet, and I had some days off the end of November. It was going to be a full-on effort to get everything ready and hope that my December schedule would give me that first Saturday off. I got to work.
It wasn't long after that, however, that I got a call from the Johnstown Historical Society telling me that the annual Christmas tour had been cancelled. Two other houses had withdrawn from the event, and they didn't feel like there was enough participation to go ahead with their plans for 2017.
I was pretty disappointed. I had already put up about half of the decorations and began to wonder if I wanted to go all out. But I had already committed to myself two years before to have my biennial Nativity open house in 2017. And the Young Women had already been invited, as in the past years. Why feel any differently about it just because Johnstown wasn't going to traipse through my house? I decided I would set December 2nd as the date for my own open house and welcome any and all visitors with generous helpings of Christmas music, Christmas fragrance, and eye-popping displays of that ONE WONDERFUL NIGHT presented in so many, many diverse ways.
That's when I also decided that in addition to sending the flyer to my neighbors and friends in my ward and stake--and people from United this time around--I would put a flyer into the storefront windows in downtown Johnstown--all four blocks! Maybe SOMEBODY in Johnstown would see the flyer and be curious enough to come and see. I also listed other dates in December I would open my home for people to come and also invited them to call me if they would like to come at a time other than those dates I had listed.
One day early in December I got a call from a young woman who is a reporter for the Johnstown Breeze Newspaper. A "Christmas angel" had called and put a bug into her ear that she might want to write an article of local interest about a woman in Johnstown who invited people to see her collection of Nativity sets every year that she displayed them. It turns out, the Christmas angel was none other than my daughter Brittany Wilson who knew this open house was part of my missionary effort and wanted to make sure my effort got maximized. Boy, did it ever!
We set a date for this young woman to come on a Sunday after Church to interview me and take pictures. Her name was Brittany Legg, who told me later she was expecting something a little "ho-hum", but she would check it out. With Brittany's first steps onto the porch and into the house she was enthralled. She went around the house "oohing and aahing" as she admired the extensive array of sets in various sizes and mediums. Everywhere she looked, she said, there was something else she hadn't seen before.
Then she began the interview and afterward took copious pictures. The article was published in the newspaper the following Thursday with the picture of the original homemade Nativity we made as a family in 1972 on the front page. More of the article followed on an inside page with a picture of me and Louis in front of the big tree by the piano. I told her some of the sets were new, some had been gifts, and some were from thrift stores as sets, and some were sets made from bits and pieces from other sets and thrift store finds. Brittany described that in the article as "repurposed". I like that...it's a really genuine description of what I like to do.
Anyway, the newspaper article generated a lot of visitors I wouldn't have had otherwise--and I was SOOO pleased! Too many details and now too many months since the interest of Christmas has faded. It was a lot of work. Hard work in some cases with the unpacking, climbing up and down ladders and stools. Tedious work finding just the optimum spot for display, the right poses, adjusting, etc. The long hours and long days--that literally flew by as I savored the wonderful opportunity I had to bear testimony of Christ's birth in such a unique way. The memories of how each set or ornament was added to my collection. That's really a big part of it for me. And the true Spirit of Christmas that permeated the whole house!
Just let my last sentence above written in January suffice to cover the entire experience....IT WAS WORTH IT!
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An eclectic display of both sophisticated and purchased items as well as the ONLY completed project I ever did at a Relief Society Homemaking Meeting. White and color together made a nice complement to each other. This year I added the stable on the top right of the cabinet, a three-piece Holy Family I have had for years, and the wire tree from the thrift store. With the Wise Men on the left, a great scene!
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This is the view of the alcoves from the kitchen area. The upper and lower left and right alcoves are pretty much the same for every display year. . This is where it is most conducive to make village dioramas with several sets.
This picture is duplicated down below. I had this set, whose each piece is on a metal pick, for several years, It looked like it was for use in a floral arrangement. Never been used. So, I scrounged around in the boxes down the basement and found this huge garland with the price tag still on. Scrunched it into the wooden box from the R.S. Super Saturday last October which I had Burgandy finish for me--and, voila! A nice outdoor set complete with the wooden sign I attached--also purchased sometime or another. All separate but totally repurposed!
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| The tree is decorated with only Nativity ornaments and gold balls with a beautiful Nativity set under the tree peeping out from under the branches. The piano has a variety of "gold sets". |
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| Brittany Legg loved this one I purchased in Sweden--made in Italy, the joke was on me! She liked the way I displayed it on navy blue taffeta with the "diamonds" scattered about and reflect in the cabinet's back-mirror. |
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Detail of upper left alcove. This is two sets together with all the findings like straw and plants to make it "real".
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This is a "repurposed" item. I bought the Nativity set at a Christmas store in California. The glass terrarium I bought for $1 at Deseret Industries in Salt Lake City. I set it on a gold charger plate from the thrift store on top of a gold placemat from Dollar Tree. The gold wire trees are items I picked up separately over the years from drug stores, and other places just because I liked them when I saw them. A dollar here. A dollar there. And together they look terrific. The other items fill in the nooks crannies of the secretary desk. This was a favorite with many.
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Three very different depictions of the Nativity in a variety of materials
Top: Martha Stewart set bought in Utah. Never saw this anywhere else online or around the country. MS knows her demographics. The table skirt is a beautiful white velvet tree skirt embroidered with "jewels"
Middle: Another favorite with the visitors. Purchased at Kohl's years ago, but it's the red that makes it attractive.
Bottom: Over the front door. Made out of tin. Priced new at Hobby Lobby years ago for over $100. I got it for 80% off after Christmas because some of the pieces were damaged. And NO baby. So, I did the repair work. One King got a new crown. Another got a new gift to present, and Baby Jesus is really a soft chenille rabbit wrapped in a gold lame cloth. And since no one gets up close to this one, from far away nothing looks amiss.
Simple presentation on a dining room chair covered with a gold napkin trimmed in glass beads bought in Morristown NJ. Draped Nativity bought 2015 in a gold wood tray I had for years. You can tell the timeline on some of these as to what was popular at the time. Draped figures showed up within the last few years. A different dimension.
And on top in the middle....the Nativity that started it all! I wanted a real Nativity so much after I taught that RS lesson so long ago. Ross made the stable from tree twigs in the back yard and backed it with bark. I made the cardboard cone figures topped by painted face beads. Harold and Brice's little hands "helped" dress the people from scraps in my sewing box. Everyone loves the originality and use of materials: bouillon cube, gold cardboard, a screw for the Wise Men gifts. Now attached permanently to the tray and displayed year round in my china cabinet. Lots of memories in this one. The rest of the table is International.
This is the American Indian set that I won in a lottery at the Western store that used to be at Denver International Airport. I had seen it on display and asked about buying one. The owner said that it wasn't for sale. He just put one on display every year--already on the board--and then held a lottery for it at the end of the season. Was I interested? You bet! When I got a phone call several weeks later that I had "won the lottery", I thought it was a crank call. It's about the only thing I've even won in my life. A little rabbit's fur from Hobby Lobby, beaded placemat from somewhere years ago, and a couple of vases from the thrift store make a really nice presentation.
This is a shot from the Kids' room, otherwise known as "Please TOUCH these!" It's kind of dark, but you can see there are several little sets here for the kids to play with--and several more in other places around the room. One little five year old girl in my Primary had a great time rearranging the animals, people, and the props from one set into another all around the room. Her dad was sitting there with her while her mom visited the displays in other parts of the house. It took me a LOOONG time to sort everything out that night after everyone had gone, but I hope the little girl remembers with fondness her delightful evening.
This was a present from one of the sisters in our ward in Berlin. The style with an embroidery hoop was a popular way to showcase the beautiful lace panels so prevalent in Germany that tell a story .
Here is one of my personal favorites--and it always goes INSIDE the cabinet on the lower right hand side of the alcove. I saw this Black Nativity while on a layover in Indianapolis shortly after Louis and I got married. I hauled it around on the plane for four days after I purchased it. The stable, the light in the background and the rocks enhance its uniqueness.
There are WAAAAAY more Nativity sets than I have room to display singly, so in this case I encased the plant on the kitchen table with four very different sets with stables that have come from any number of places.
For some reason this display always elicits a lot of comments. No stable but a long metal tray that came originally with candles in the shape of apples--obviously from our Secrest Court house where apples were the motif in the kitchen/family room. I guess the secret something was to place them one before the other with the baby at the front.
This is the west wall in the kitchen. A few years ago I ran out of space to display the Nativity sets on tables and in cabinets around the house, so I took everything off the tops of the kitchen cabinets and started to display some there. It's evolved over the years. The set on the right also has NO Baby Jesus. I got this one from the thrift store, and it is a lovely set. The funny thing is no one seems to notice there is no baby. Until Louis tells them to see if they can tell what is different about it.
Can you believe people steal the baby from the stores?! Store clerks have verified that fact for years. I often see signs that say something like "Santa will put you on the Naughty List if you take the Baby Jesus!" The set in the middle is in a jewelry cabinet. Burgandy helped me by lining the cabinet with suede paper and installing the lights at the top. The sheep reside in the pulled-out drawer.
The "Silent Night" plate is one of a set of four made by Oneida I saw at a thrift store in Calgary. I didn't buy the other three and could kick myself. The other sets are mix and match people, stables, animals etc. All go together well.
THE FOLLOWING PICTURES I TOOK MYSELF. I ALWAYS LIKE SOME KIND OF GUIDE TO GO BY THE NEXT TIME I PUT UP THE NATIVITES. NOTHING IS SET IN STONE. JUST HELPS TO SEE HOW I DID IT BEFORE.
On the fence even--looking out my kitchen window! This was Louis' favorite this time.
All the homemade ones the kids gave me over the years.
Under the tree up in the loft--also decorated with ONLY Nativity ornaments.
The loft is where the "Lamanite" Nativities are. This is just part of them. Kids especially love the
Eskimo one with the snowflakes around the mirror with the little grey seal on it.
More of the Lamanite Nativities. Also in the loft.
 
Nothing but Wise Men, in sets, doubles, singles, and several other depictions, too. I like this display.
This is the top of the dining room table. This has stayed pretty much the same display since we got to Johnstown.
 This set I also purchased while on a trip for work. This time in Seattle, and carried it around for days. It is sitting on a lovely lace cloth with part of the Nativity story in every corner. Also ranks up there with the favorites. 
This set was a gift from a recent convert a few years ago. I have displayed it several different ways. I like this one.
This is a total "repurposed" set. The figures are Italian. The arch is from the hardware store--part of a garden dwarf scene. The copper bucket from a find when I was in Orlando, the gold tray, which I covered with burlap,
was purchased in Calgary at a thrift store. I also bought at a floral shop the low greenery bushes that same day in Calgary.
This was my year round display a few years ago. It was on the piano.
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THOUGH I SAID I WAS NOT GOING TO DO THIS CHRISTMAS THING AGAIN, I AM ALREADY PLANNING IN MY MIND HOW I COULD MAKE IT EVEN BETTER NEXT TIME!
WE'LL SEE.....
