Tag: Kissing Santa and Mrs Claus

Another Mom Memory

Friday before work, my son Andrew was asking me about something that we had put in the basement. I took him downstairs to look for whatever it was and I stumbled on a wooden chest which was in a box of things I have been meaning to go through. I opened it up and was surprised to find a few things my mom had made for me.

My mom, for those who may not know, was a big crafter. One of the earliest hobbies she had was ceramics. I don’t recall if she took a class or not, but she enjoyed it and made a lot of things for people. I have blogged about her ceramics hobby before and so that you are up to speed, here is that blog from 2020:

Mom Memory – Ceramics

Did you read it? Ok, I can continue.

In the blog I mention that I still had a few pieces she made for me somewhere. Well, “somewhere” was that wooden chest. In it were 3 of 4 pieces that she made me. They aren’t in the best shape, and all of them are covered in dust from years on a shelf. The Frog had an eye busted off of it and is probably not something that can be repaired. However, there were other pieces.

First, she made my brother and I baseball mitts. These may or may not have been made before she really got into ceramics. Mine is kind of beat up, and there are some chips on it, but it always meant a lot that she made it for me.

All of these pieces are about the size of the palm of my hand. I make a mess painting a wall, so how she was able to get some of the detail on these baffles me. I did find the snail mentioned in the previous blog.

Despite the dust, you can still see some of the shine on this. From what I remember, by the time she got to making some of these pieces, she’d paint them and then they put them in an oven or something to dry and make them shine. I’m clueless of the process, but you can see the difference between the mitt and the snail.

Probably my favorite piece she made for me was a begging puppy. I’m not sure why, but it always made me smile. It was the first piece that I saw in the wooden chest.

I love how she painted my name on it.

In the previous blog there was a picture of the “Kissing Clauses” that mom made for Christmas. Over Easter, my brother sent me yet another piece of holiday décor my mom made. I remember she made these for both my grandparents, my aunt, and for us. My brother still has these Easter Eggs and it was so nice to see them again.

I’m almost positive that there were “grandma” and “grandpa” eggs that she did for the grandparents. I’m glad my brother has these, I’m not sure they’d still be around if I had them.

It is amazing how something so small and so trivial can mean so much to a person. As I opened the chest, I experienced surprise, happiness, and sadness all in about 5 seconds. I’m so grateful to still have these gifts from my mom.

Mom Memory – Ceramics

My brother was decorating for Christmas today and sent me a picture. That picture is the inspiration for this blog. I don’t recall blogging about this specific topic, but if I have, please forgive me.

My mom had many hobbies. I know I have mentioned them in the past. I can always remember her crocheting things as a kid. She made blankets, vests, and yes, even Christmas ornaments. She also was on a fabric paint kick for a while. She made sweatshirts for everyone in our family and friends, too.

Aside from quilting, I believe the longest hobby she did was ceramics. The work she did was amazing. I recall she had a table set up in the basement where she worked. She had one of those desk lamps with the swing arm on them to help her see. I remember it was a bright yellow lamp.

I remember two pieces she did for my grandma. One was a ceramic “praying hands” and another was a bust of Jesus. She did both of these in a “Mother of Pearl” paint and they came out white and shiny. I have no idea what became of them, but its a good bet that one of my aunts have them.

Somewhere I still have a few of the pieces she made for me. I have a snail and frog that sat on a shelf in my room for years. She made mugs, statues, busts, an Easter village, Halloween village and trick or treat bowl for candy, and Christmas ornaments. One year, our tree was loaded with so many of her ceramic ornaments, we had to tie the tree to the wall so it wouldn’t fall over!! My brother and I joked that it was because of the “angel band” ornaments. She must have had 40 ornaments with angels all playing a different instrument (they were hideous!).

She made ornaments for every family. Each one had their last name on it. My brother still has the one that was on our tree. I’m not sure if I lost when I moved in with Sam, but my mom made an ornament with a dog sleeping by the chimney. She painted it to look like our beagle, Daisy. I didn’t see it when I unpacked the ornaments this year, so I am not sure if still have it. I hope so.

One of the things my mom made (and I wish I still had) were ceramic Christmas trees. From what everyone tells me now, these are very popular and the older ones are worth some money. They had a light in the bottom that lit up the lights that were glued into the tree.

My grandma loved these little trees so much, she had my mom make her a large one. It was two pieces. My mom did the tree in the “Mother of Pearl” paint that she used for the pieces she made for my other grandma, and I remember it was just beautiful. My grandma used to put it up in her front window.

If you look closely, you can see where the base and top come together on the tree above. It probably was 3-4 feet tall.

I write all of the above to get to the picture my brother sent me today. I had all but forgotten about these pieces, which came to be symbolic of our Christmas decorations. I don’t recall them having a specific spot among the decorations. As a matter of fact, I believe they moved around from year to year. Sometimes they were on the table in the front room, other times they were on the mantle. Sometimes they were among the buildings of the Christmas village, other times they were in the front window. Mr. & Mrs. Claus were always there.

I don’t know if they were my mom’s favorite pieces, but she always made sure they were displayed prominently somewhere each Christmas. My mom told me that Santa was kissing Mrs. Claus goodbye before heading out to deliver all of his toys.

To be honest, I probably knew my brother had these, but I forgot. Every Christmas, I miss my mom a bit more than the rest of the year. Maybe it is because of the ornaments. Maybe I miss her singing along with Johnny Mathis. Maybe I just miss her smile and laughter. I’m grateful that a bit of mom still shows up at Christmas.