I have a thing for nativities.
Kinda like they’re potato chips, and you can’t have just one.
They’re all so different…each beautiful for different reasons.
I am hesitant to say I officially “collect” them though.
I had this friend in high school who loved Donald Duck. She made the mistake of telling people that she collected Donald Duck stuff. Because before she knew it, every gift, every trinket had that angry fowl on it. T-shirts, sweatshirts, light switch covers, mugs, mugs, mugs…you name it…the girl somehow managed to own it.
I’m not sure if it bothered her, but I know that it would have made me start to hate good ol’ Don after a while.
And because there are probably thousands of different nativities out there, I don’t want to become the Crazy Nativity Lady.
Who, by my estimation, is only about 2 steps removed from the Crazy Cat Lady.
I’m too young to be that close to the Crazy Cat Lady.
Give me ten more years.
I call this my Catholic Nativity. I don’t know why, it just reminds me of the Catholic Church I grew up going to.
Each piece is pretty big…it’s ornate…all gold leaf and such.
I love it. It would have cost me a small fortune if not for the 75% off after Christmas sales and blowing all of my Christmas gift money on it back in our broke, newlywed days.
I distinctly remember Andy thinking I was insane for wanting to spend the entirety of my gift money on a decoration…that would be immediately boxed up for a year.
I don’t know why I insist on putting it on top of a blanket of “snow”. I’m not a geography buff, but I’m fairly certain that it doesn’t snow in the Middle East.
Then again, blonde Baby Jesus and Caucasian Mary and Joseph look more like they’re from Minnesota anyway. Where it does snow.
So there.
My grandma gave me this little Mexican nativity.
All hand painted and made out of clay.
I can almost hear Maria (she’s Latin, hello!) whispering Spanish sweet nothings to little Jesus (pronounced Hay-zeus in this case).
And the lambs with their weird red faces.
Darling.
One of the ways I might safely be able to say I collect nativities is to have the collection be from around the world…rather than, you know, whatever WalMart has for sale that year.
Andy went to Munich on business earlier this year and while I usually tell him to save our money and spare me the souvenir magnet, I specifically asked him to look for a German nativity.
He had to do some asking around, but finally found this itty bitty hand carved wooden set from some local German artist.
Tiny.
Look, there’s Jesus by a quarter.
This set is my new favorite.
All the different wood tones…just perfect.
The kids have a few sets too.
The quintessential Little People nativity
A cuter baby Jesus there has never been.
Those little chubby cheeks and bitty little eyes.
Just pinchable!
Is that blasphemous? I don’t know. But probably.
They also have this Veggie Tales set
Because nothing says ‘Thank you Lord for giving us your son to die on the cross for our sins’ quite like a baby carrot in swaddling clothes.
My latest acquisition is the Melissa & Doug Nativity Set
We love all things M & D.
This is no exception.
It’s gonna be hard to part with these whenever the kids grow up and want to take them with them.
I wonder if they’ll fight over who gets which set?
Or if they’ll each have a different favorite?
At this rate, I definitely need at least one other kid nativity…because I am not giving up Maria and Nino.
Do you have more than one nativity in your house? Or am I the only crazy one that thinks you can’t have enough manger scenes?
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I can safely say I have more than one. You can’t ever have enough nativities. You are not crazy. Love the new one from Germany. See you soon!
I have several as well. I have the one we bought for our first Christmas as a married couple and realized we didn’t have a Nativity set. Than I have the playmobile one for our kids as well as the Fisher Price one. We also have a magnetic one for the fridge. My grandma passed away last year and I also now have her set that she brought back from the Holy Land. I love your collection!
Love your collection, they are beautiful.
Debby Pucci´s last blog post ..CHRISTMAS TREE PARTY
We have the little people and the veggie tales set too….but I do need a grown up one at some point. Adam loves to set them up and it’s so funny how we find them sometimes. Baby Jesus ends up in some funny places.
We don’t have a mantel at our house, so once we get that project tackled, I’ll have to get one for myself to set up :)
Kirsten´s last blog post ..Long time coming…or cutting I should say!
I am loving this so much!!!! First of all congrats on the blog being okay! I had asked my husband if he could help – he does web page back office programming along with his civil engineering gig – and when I described your problem, he said you would need someone who had a difference expertise set than his. I couldn’t bear to let you know that and discourage you until it had been fixed!
Now the Nativities. The way you describe them my my heart smile! I’m so tickled that you can’t part with Nino and Maria! You could just say that you collect Pottery Barn or Melissa nad Doug if you were concerned about the collection becomming too Donald Duckish.
Lastly, yes you should have 4 kid sets, plus another toy set that is reserved for staying at Grandma’s house years from now! It would take way more Nativity sets to put you in the running for crazy cat lady! (Get in line, BTW. I’m holding strong to my position there, especially with the development that my newest cat Daphne may not actually be a Daphne at all, but more of a Danny Boy. I just forgot to check…and now we’ve had her/him for a month…)
love these! and no, you can’t have too many nativities … says me, who only has 2, one of which was received last night from friends as a gift. But it’s my *intention* to have more, and I’m thinking I shouldn’t have talked myself out of the Melissa & Doug one a few months ago. I reasoned that the kids were too old for it … but it could be just for me – and the someday grandkids, right? ;)
ps – but i do have to draw the line at the veggie tales though. just say no to swaddled carrots.
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Nine and counting, one play mobile. These are my favorite decoration. Need a fp one, maybe after Christmas…..
I love nativities. And I have more than a couple. You know what I like to do? I put a nativity under each tree (ones that I don’t mind my kids getting into. In fact, when they were little, I encouraged them playing with the nativities under the tree). So, instead of presents accumulating under the tree, we have nativity scenes. Then, on Christmas eve after the kids go to bed I bring out the presents. Anyways, that’s what we do, thought I’d share. // Also, very smart to tell people that you aren’t collecting them. I have a friend who has way too many precious moments figurines because she made that mistake. A nativity set, too, prolly.
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I bought my first ceramic nativity scene but baby Jesus is missing, so now I am on the hunt for him. Poor little guy …
thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com
I too, have more than one…actually more than I want to count. Maybe I am becoming the crazy nativity lady! See you Saturday!
I wouldn’t say I collect them . . . I’ve never even bought one! But, I have ended up as the repository for all of the nativity sets from all of the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles! I love them all–especially the one my uncle made, as a child, from bark, moss, and aluminum foil, lol!
The german one is so cute!! Thanks for sharing :)
Linda´s last blog post ..December Daily 2012: Days 16 & 17 Pages Without Photos
What a great collection! Do you keep any out all year-round?
I love how you showed the quarter by the baby Jesus. I saw it and thought,..He is so small yet so big! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I have three (almost four). The little people Nativity is one of Selah’s Christmas presents. :)
I am super jealous of the M&D nativity. Perhaps I can find it on sale after Christmas…
Beth´s last blog post ..Selah’s Advent- Day 19
The tiny German set it gorgeous. I love nativities too. I drool over them at the store. Sadly I only own one (two if you cout the Little People set). My nativity is ceramic and was made by my grandmother. My dad built her a large wooden stable and it sat in her dining room. When I was a kid I would rearrange the hay and the statues. You could always find me on the floor either rearranging or just staring at the manger scene. When she passed away it was the only thing I really wanted. We’re not sure what happened to the stable so all I got was the statues. They’re looking a little rough with missing fingers but I don’t care. This year my 4 year old daughter has discovered nativities too. I found baby Jesus on the coffee table surrounded by the people. I asked what was gonig on and she said “they are praying for Baby Jesus’ birhday.” It doesn’t get much sweeter.
Love the nativity scenes! They are so cute! You can never have too many!
Rachel R Adams´s last blog post ..Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
LOVE this post! When I realized this year I had 4-5 nativity ORNAMENTS (from around the world!) , I decided I would start collecting those. That quickly expanded into obtaining the complete Willow Tree natvitiy via craigslist. I love the idea of multiple natvities in the house – a way to help remember the Reason for the Season. And when the babies come…Little People and M&D will be their first Christmas gifts!
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I am late to this party, but it is the Feast of the Epiphany, so it’s still relevant!
We have 2 nativities. One is the grown-up one, it is crystal, but smooth, if that makes sense. And the other my mom got for my kids, it’s all unpainted olive wood and it’s just Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, no guest stars.
My mom keeps the Fisher-Price set at her house for my kids to play with when we visit them. Last year my then 3 year old daughter announced that Mary would rather marry one of the 3 Kings than Joseph. Oops.