Advent Calendar Day 24

The pocket for Day 24 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained the angel for the top of the Christmas tree. So the pocket picture of Father Christmas gave no clue.

Day 24 pocket

I made the angel from an old brown t-shirt, it has pipe cleaners in its arms and legs and between the head and body, so is somewhat posable. The dress is golden fabric (the same fabric I once used to make an ice skating dress for a Gotz doll) overlaid with tulle which is flecked with gold. The wings are made from short pieces of gold ribbon which came off crackers one year, I stitched them with golden thread onto a doubled over pipe cleaner.

The hair was black wool knitted, dampened, ironed then unravelled to make it wavy. The headband is a scrap of fabric left over from my wedding dress and both the Christening gowns of my daughters (which I made) plus some beads which came from an old hair tie my elder daughter used to wear. She recognised it immediately.

The angel Gabriel

The angel's face

Close up of the angel

The angel's wings

Back view of the angel's head

Back view of the angel

Back of the angel dress, showing the opened fastening

Back of the dress showing the wings stitched to the dress

Undressed angel, wearing the headband

She had guessed that the final pocket would contain something for the top of the tree, The package was too big to fit the pocket so was one of those which had a numbered card. She examined all the details of the angel then carefully placed it on the top of the tree.

The angel at the top of the tree

The tree was shared with her landlord and landlady, so also has some of their decorations on it, including the former Archbishops of York (++John Sentamu) and Canterbury (++Rowan Williams).

The angel at the top, above the choral scholar with the two archbishops

The fully decorated Christmas tree topped with the angel from day 24 pocket

So the Advent Calendar is empty and Christmas 2020 has arrived. This project, first planned in September 2020, has been a helpful way of getting our family through a prolonged separation in a year of turmoil and anxiety for many people whose lives have been changed and disrupted by the global pandemic. The planning and secret making of many new pleasant surprises has helped me and my younger daughter channel our anxieties and love into some tangible lasting gifts, while our nightly video calls to watch the next pocket gift be opened has helped all four of us connect, discuss, laugh, cry, and cherish our time together. 

Merry Christmas.

Advent Calendar Day 21

The pocket for Day 21 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained a cherubic angel playing the violin, so the pocket picture didn't really give a clue about its contents as it showed a Nutcracker. The decoration came from our family Christmas tree and as we had two of the heavenly violinist, and both daughters are string players, it made sense for this angel to fly to a new Christmas tree to be with our elder daughter.

Day 21 pocket

The cherubic violin playing angel decoration

She instantly recognised the decoration as soon as she unwrapped it and went to find a place for it on the tree.

The cherubic violin angel on the tree

Christmas in Norwich

This year we had a few days away from home over Christmas as we were visiting my elder daughter in Norwich where she is currently fulfilling a singing role. We took a potted Christmas tree, some lights and decorations to use in the Air BnB we had booked for our stay. I also took the Kruselings because they are small, portable and pose-able.

Sofia was very excited about Christmas

On Christmas Eve we attended the Christmas Procession (nine lessons & carols) service during the afternoon in Norwich Cathedral. Sofia and Michael came too. After the carol service (which was wonderful - the music was glorious), the Kruselings explored the Cathedral.

Our view of the Choir area and organ just before the Christmas Procession service on Christmas Eve

Michael and Sofia in the choir stalls

Michael and Sofia walking along the choir stalls

The Nativity scene in the nave of Norwich Cathedral on Christmas Eve

Michael and Sofia peered through the railings at the Nativity Scene

Sofia and Michael with a Christmas Floral decoration and an angel in Norwich Cathedral

The Christmas Angels were much bigger than Sofia and Michael 

The Advent wreath, Christmas trees and Nativity scene in the nave of Norwich Cathedral

The advent wreath suspended from the ceiling of the Cathedral was so pretty 

The Advent wreath was decorated with lots of beautiful baubles

In the cloisters Michael and Sofia stared up at the floodlit spire of Norwich Cathedral on Christmas Eve

At the AirBnB some Christmas tree decorating had been happening. The Kruselings family had grown somewhat(!).

The original 6 Kruselings consist of 4 girls (Luna - dark hair, Sofia - brown hair, Chloe - red hair, Joy - darker skin and curly hair and Vera - blond hair) and a blond boy (Michael). In my view there are never enough boy dolls made. It worries me that toy manufacturers perpetuate the idea that dolls are only to be played with by girls, stereotyping the types and genders of dolls produced along the lines of 'only girls will play with baby or child dolls' and the only time boys will be interested in dolls is when they play with 'action man' (the complement to Barbie or Sindy dolls), therefore most dolls made tend to be girl dolls and are sold in 'pink' aisles in toy stores. Some manufacturers are starting to realise that this creates a very unrealistic view of the world and limits the story lines which children can create with their dolls (the real world is not one gender only) so are starting to add boys to their commercial collections, but there are still are not enough boy doll characters made in proportion to the range of girl doll characters.

In a previous post I explained how I turned a Luna Kruseling into a boy for the Myanmar trip by cutting his hair.

I've gone further though - I subsequently bought the following to bring my Kruselings collection to 10 dolls of 5 girls and 5 boys:

• a second 'Sofia' (in a different outfit) and cut the hair to a shorter style and redressed and renamed the doll (Max)
• two 'Chloe' dolls (in different outfits) and cut the hair of one to a shorter style, then redressed and renamed the doll (Joshua)
• two 'Joy' dolls (in different outfits) and cut the hair of one to a wild shorter style, then made the boy a special outfit to commemorate a recent important sporting achievement for South African rugby and renamed the boy (Kolisi)
• the blond 'Vera' doll in her party dress to complement the blond haired 'Michael'

Michael and Chloe decorate the doll sized Christmas tree

Joshua and Vera decorate the doll sized Christmas tree

Joshua and Vera

Max, Joshua and Vera

Zarni San, camel and Thet Khin relaxing on Christmas Eve 

Max, Joshua, Vera, Michael, Chloe and Sofia with the Christmas tree

I had bought Joy in her baseball outfit as I liked the detail, the outfit emphasises that Kruselings are very pose-able.

When the South African rugby team won the World Cup in 2019, although I'm not especially interested in rugby, I was inspired to commemorate this milestone (the third time SA have won the Championship) by making the 2019 team outfit in miniature. So I bought a second Joy (in the casual outfit with a yellow hoodie) and cut the doll's hair.

I made the shirt (and painted the badges on with fabric paint), the shorts, a pair of knitted socks and some rugby boots (Kruselings plastic shoes don't fit over the knitted socks). I bought an SA rugby ball key ring which was the perfect size for the scale. I named the doll Kolisi, which is the surname of the SA rugby team captain (Siya Kolisi), it resembles his young son more than it does him, as it aims to epitomise and celebrate how SA rugby has moved on from the days of apartheid SA when it was a whites only game.

Kolisi in his SA rugby shirt, with painted badges on his right shoulder and chest

Kolisi in his miniature SA rugby shirt, showing the painted badges on the chest and left shoulder

Close up of Kolisi's miniature SA rugby ball

Kolisi the Kruseling in his SA rugby outfit

Kolisi and Joy - the sporty Kruselings - in Norwich at Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas in Norwich (I attended both choral services on Christmas Eve and both services on Christmas Day in Norwich Cathedral, we sang with members of the Cathedral Choir at Norwich Open Christmas at lunchtime on Christmas Day and enjoyed our own dinner in the Air BnB in the evening when we finally unwrapped our gifts after 2 days of superb music).

My ever patient younger daughter setting up the Kruselings for their photo shoot in Norwich Cathedral