Grand Elf Ornament Factory

Posted on 02/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Every year for many years Grumpa Joe, and Busia Barb conducted an ornament making day with the grand-elves. Most of the big work was done by the big elf himself, but the ornamentation and coloring was finished by the grand-elves. The workshop was stocked with fast drying water based paints, brushes, Elmer’s glue , and glitter of many colors. There were enough raw forms to allow each grand-elf to make a dozen ornaments. The caveat was that each grand-elf had to leave one ornament for the grandparents.

When the elves completed the ornaments, the workshop glistened in many colors. There was glitter everywhere. The grand-elves glittered too. Many of them got glitter in the hair and shined for weeks after. The tradition lasted for six years, and finally ended in 2003 when Busia Barb left us for heaven.

One year, I set them up with thread spools and toothpicks. Those were tough materials to handle, and the ornaments turned out looking pretty sad. In most of the  years, the forms were pre-cut shapes from thin plywood. I cheated one year, and bought forms from Michael’s. Another time, the elves used dowel rods and yarn to make Ojo de Dios or Eye of God. That year, the elves had help from a visiting cousin elf who turned out to be a fabulous teacher with the patience of a saint. Elf Ana became my favorite great-niece.

Not all the families could make it every year, but usually, two out of three joined in the fun. The  more there were the more we glistened. The factory work  lasted an hour. The whistle blew and it was time to break for a treat of pizza,  milk and cookies.

My Tree of Life features many of the ornaments produced by the grand-elves in the ornament factory in Frankfort, Illinois. I stare at the example below and remember those times with joy. I am glad I have those happy memories to offset the  sadness that overwhelms me at Christmas.

Related Articles

Filed under: Biography, Birds, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

C2-WHERE IS HE?

Posted on 02/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

MORTY ANGEL AND BEN HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO LOOK FOR SANTA WHO WAS REPORTED MISSING.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Chapter Two-Where is He?

Santa is never late said Mrs. Claus to herself. She paced back and forth wondering where he was.

“He has never been late before,”  she explained to Gabriel over the Angel Network.  “He left at 8:00 p.m. last night for a training ride with Rudolph and the  first team. On a regular day, he is back by midnight. It is  3:00 a.m. and he is still gone. I sent the elves to look for him.”

“Santa keeps a strict training schedule. They have to be in perfect shape to be able to deliver all the gifts. They fly fast, stop on a roof, then start-up fast again. They pull all the presents, and Santa is not a light weight. I keep him on a diet, but poor Santa never loses a pound,” said Mrs. Claus.

The elves were still very busy making toys and wrapping presents. They used Santa’s computer to know how many toys to make. Before Christmas, Santa visits children all around the world to ask them if they were bad or good. If they answer “good,” he asks them what they want for Christmas. Each kid gives him a list of toys. Of course, Santa already knows if they were bad or good because he has Sentra-vision like the angels. He keeps a record of all the good deeds and all the bad things that a kid does on his computer.

Elf-Jasper was charting Santa’s route and connecting each gift to a child’s house. He was ready to download the chart into the tracking system on the sleigh when Mrs. Claus asked him to look for Santa.

Jasper ordered his elves to hitch the back-up team to the red sleigh. They left to search all of Santa’s training routes, but it was snowing so hard and they could not see anything.

To be continued…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including those yet to be invented or discovered, without permission in writing from the publisher and author.

Filed under: Cartoons, children's writers, family, Santa is Missing, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »