Monday, September 19, 2005

Proof that Santa was here

This post strays a little from the art of collecting just the right Santa figures for your home. When originally published in 2005, there was a web site that sold a Santa-was-here kit and this post had a link to it. It has since disappeared and so I came in today (Nov 2006) to bring it up-to-date.

When my kids were small, I could fill out forms at the local upscale department store, pay a small fee for postage, etc. and get a personalized letter sent to each one of my tots and it really did tickle them. The first time was a huge wonder; after that they watched for their mail from the North Pole.

The gimmick was that you could get indisputable proof that Santa Claus was at your house. The box contained detailed instructions which you might need to set the scene. There's a torn scrap of red velvet and a plastic "Sleigh" license that Santa apparently dropped while forcibly entering your home.

The reindeer spend their down-to-earth time snacking, and they're not very neat or greedy about it - they leave some reindeer food on your lawn. There was a parchment Thank you card that Santa was willing to leave in exchange for a snack and best of all, are you ready for this - you also got a plastic reindeer hoof and instructions for using it to leave hoofprints on your lawn.

So - even though I no longer have an invalid link to a non-existant store here anymore - you could set the scene at your house by using the description above - if you have a houseful of little ones - it might make a great photo op for Grandma.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Thousand dollar Santa

The $1000 Santa

I found this Santa at Russian Legacy which is a store I really love, but the price tag means I'll have to admire him from here.

If you're an art lover (probably should have put that in CAPS considering the price), this Santa could be right for your collection. Every piece I see at Russian Legacy is truly a work of art and since I'm a little bit of an artist myself, I really want to honor that hard work in some way.

There are hundreds of pieces in the $50-$100 range, many even less and those are the ones I'll add to my collection this year. But I had to show you this one. They have some that cost more, but if you want those, you probably have already seen them.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

I collect Santas

I guess this is as good a place to start as any. It's late Friday night in mid September. Summer's all but gone, the Fall season is coming on gray and wet. I have to start thinking about Christmas to keep my head in the game.

I love Christmas. I used to actually make NEW stockings for all the people who would be here for Christmas EVERY year. I'm not quite that nuts anymore, but I do have quite a Santa collection that threatens to take over the house all through the year.

I try to keep my three large storage tubs of Santa figurines tucked away when it's off-season, but almost without fail I see a Santa I have to have during the Spring, Summer or Winter Vacation (Jan or Feb) and I bring it home. I have a tiny Hawaiian Santa surfing in his board shorts (it's an ornament) and I have a Grateful Red hippy Santa with his beads and sandals that came home with me from Missouri outlet malls last road trip.

I love Santa in so many media and formats that it threatens to overtake my obsession with lighthouses of the world.

Anyway - I saw some incredible artistically painted Santas in a catalog yesterday. I'm going to try and find the picture and maybe even the store and post it here Sunday or Monday. Hope by then you've found this blog and if you love Santa, too - join me! Let's find them all.