My Nutcracker Suite!

This is going to be a picture heavy and long post so pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea of coffee, perhaps even a cup of hot cocoa and put on your speakers to enjoy some music. We are off to the land of Sweets at Marzipan Castle...


My love affair with The Nutcracker began when I was a young teenager. I watched The Nutcracker ballet each holiday season often on PBS. When I was sixteen and got my driver's license, I went to see the ballet for the first time in person. What a thrill! It became a tradition for me each December.

I dreamed of owning a real nutcracker but knew they were very costly. But the year after the wall fell in former East Germany, we drove to a little village deep in the Ezgebirge which is the birthplace of the nutcracker. I was in heaven...this village celebrates Christmas every day of the year! We visited the nutcracker factories and I started my collection...

Over the years, I have found nutcracker ballet ornaments here and there. These hang proudly in my Victorian tree each year.

I collected two kinds of nutcrackers. These are from a series of natural look nutcrackers...

They stand on my table in my quilt studio. To keep with the natural look, I placed pine branches and walnuts around the nutcrackers.

But I also have a collection of traditional and brightly painted nutcrackers. These stand guard in my entrance.

In my quilt studio stands my nutcracker tree which I keep out year round. This little pink feather tree holds tiny handmade wool felt sweets which I made myself. You can see them in more detail and read about it here on my handwork blog.

A Dickens Victorian couple sing carols...

And the Nutcracker King holds court each year to ensure that we keep Christmas well...

It is easy to keep Christmas well when there is a winter wonderland outside your window. We woke up to 20 cm of snow this past Sunday morning. There is more snow predicted this week. I am dreaming of snowflakes in the air on Christmas Day!

I really love snow! This does bring problems for driving or walking but as long as we all are careful, we can enjoy the season. Please be careful and stay safe as you go about your shopping and visiting this week...

Take a moment to watch the video that goes with The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on my playlist in the sidebar. It is from Fantasia Fairies in 1940 and so beautifully made.

Christmas Eve is fast approaching and my Christmas village will come to life again this year. I hope you will return then and visit Christmas Village with me...