St. Nicholas Day Boxes

When my children were little we observed St. Nicholas Day by having Elizabeth and Peter put their shoes out on the night of December fifth. They would put notes to St. Nicholas in the shoes and go to bed. That night we would take the notes (many of which I have saved), fill their shoes with candy, cookies and small toys. The next day they were very excited to find the treats in their shoes. But the shoes were little and couldn’t hold very much, so one year I hit on the idea of making special boxes with a picture of St. Nicholas. I drew the pictures and designs, painted my boxes, cut them out, and glued them together, then filled them with the cookies and treats.

Over the years I have made many boxes by hand, in many shapes and sizes. Now that my children are grown, I’ve altered things a bit. These last couple of years I decided to give boxes to my coworkers and friends as well, but making so many by hand would be quite a daunting task! So I made my usual artwork, but this time I reduced it all to fit on 8 ½ X 11 card stock and had them printed off. Then I cut them and assemble them in mass.St. Nicholas Day is a big event. Often I would read one of my three Peter the Pirate stories involving St. Nicholas to the family. Two of them I have posted on the sidebar of my blog, if you are interested. The middle story I’m still working on for the audio version. (Didn’t have it ready for this year either.)

We have emphasized St. Nicholas over Santa Clause because Santa is just a little to commercial for our taste and we like the connection to a real person who lived in the fourth century and who exemplifies generosity and compassion.

I thought I would share this year’s box with you all. I miss the times when our children were little and the excitement and expectation they had then. Elizabeth is a college and I hope she sees, in this blog, what she has to look forward to. I really miss her today. So Elizabeth, if you catch my blog, Happy St. Nicholas Day to you, and to everyone else as well!