Whimsicall nativity figures

The child in Carole really likes the whimsical and fun nativities. When displayed they are put with the toys and nativities that use children.

One Christmas Carole was given this cat nativity by her secret pal. That same Christmas her brother-in-law, Harold, told her he had found a nativity that he was sure she had never seen. It was a duplicate set. Carole had seen both the cat and the dog nativity in the Collections catalog so she was able to trade the second cat nativity for the dog nativity, pictured below.

And then there were the bears...

Bear nativity ornament found in an after Christmas clearance sale.

Bear stocking holder

Snowmen are becoming popular nativity figures.

This is whimsical because it is the only time Carole has seen Mary wearing pants. She and Joseph are "shelf sitters" meaning they sit on the edge of a shelf with their legs dangling. Carole found this set in a dollar store.

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Carole swapped for this in a "Chinese auction" Christmas party

Rubber ducks

Tiny bears tea set. The head lifts off the shepherd tea pot and the hen off the camel pitcher. Sheep are the cups on the hay saucers.

Tiny bears found at the Amish market in Hughesville, MD

Acquired 2018 but not sure where from-I know I did not pay full price

Collectibles

Jim Shore's parents were artistic and his grandmother was a master quilter.His love of Americana and folk art plus his quilt collection inspired his creative juices. He began Designs Americana to produce and maraket his sculptures. When it got too large he joined with Enesco in 202 and markets his products under the Heartwood Creek label. 

Our first Jim Shore nativity.

Emmy got this ornament from the McBride Gallery where whe works part time when she is home. It is a signed and numbered piece. The authentification is below.

Founded in 1952 by Bob and Jan Simpich, Simpich Character Dolls Ltd. created iconic Americana-style figurine dolls including carolers, angels, Santas and even storybook figures like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The couple made their first dolls from found materials because they couldn’t afford store-bought gifts. Jan and Bob retired in 2006, closing down the business in 2007. Jan Simpich died in 2014. You can still buy these dolls on ebay.

Snow Angels are made by Dept 56 and are similar to Snow Babies. 

Fontanini nativity basic set. Many people add many other pieces  to make an entire Biblical scene.

 Emmanuele Fontanini, a trained Italian artisan, opened the doors to his first shop back in 1908 in Tuscany. It began as a family business and remains a fourth generation family business. In the beginning the figurines were made of papier mache. They changed to plastic figurines with its  invention plastic  in the 1950's. Now they are made of an unbreakable high polymer resin. They are hand painted by individual artisans in their homes. Each artisan only paints one part of a figurine and then it is passed on to another artisan. They became readily available in the US in 1973. Each year some pieces are retired and new ones introduced.

Personally, I find the basic figures pretty drab when compared to other nativities. The beauty of Fontanini lies is the accessories including figures and buildings. There are limited editions of these accessories- some are retired and others introduced each year.

On September 11, 2016 First Baptist Church of Edgewater merged with Riva Trace Baptist Church. Some years ago a large set of Fontinini pieces was given to First Baptist, but there was not a good place to display them. When the churches merged the set was displayed in Riva''s foyer. The following pictures are of that display. (Our personal set only consists of the basic set-we do not have room for any other Fontinini pieces.)

Precious Moments

Three piece porcelain Avon set new for 2013. We bought it at the Farmer's Market (aka Amish Market) in Charlotte Hall,  MD  We display it with other porcelain pieces on one of our over the door shelves.

Plastic canvas nativities

A napkin holder

When in "waiting situations" or on trips Carole enjoys plastic canvas needlepoint. She scours the stores and internet for plastic canvas nativity projects. Because of space limitations she can no longer do large pieces.

This was a 2018 Anne Arundel County Fair entry. It got second place. I didn't expect any ribbons because of the mistakes I made. I put nativity into the fair to remind people of the real meaning of Christmas, not for the ribbons.

This plastic canvas picture has magnets so it can go on the refrigerator along with other nativity magnets. 

Each of the plastic canvas figures as well as the stable outline are individual pieces glued onto a felt background.

Set of three plastic canvas ornaments

Large plastic canvas ornament

Double sided plastic canvas ornaments. Below are the reverse sides.

Heart shaped piece of plastic canvas with the Holy Family cut from it.

Plastic canvas wreath. We hang it in our powder room.Carole has always wished that there was an accompanying wreath pattern with the Holy Family

Individual plastic canvas figures glued to our outdoor wreath

Plastic canvas figures that hang from our wagon wheel chandelier 

This was one of the hardest plastic canvas projects. All of the figures are supposed to be free standing but several need to be propped up.

These figures are more dimensional than others

These are the largest and simplest plastic canvas nativity figures. The bodies are basic cones and the heads are papier mache balls.

This was a fair entry.

This was made as a door hanger but the one side got broken. Now it is tacked to a wall.

Tissue box covers made by Carole