Santa Calus is Coming........

From 1863 during the Civil War to 1865 Thomas Nast created a series of illustrations with Santa for Harper's Weekly. With these illustrations the American persona of Santa was born. The legend of Santa is of course a very old tale from many countries, but in American these tales mixed and meshed creating one amazing story. From century to century, country to country, Santa may have changed his garb, but he is still unmistakable and hasn't really changed in over 140 years.



Santa is an inseparable icon of Christmas today and many people have begun life long collections of the jolly old Elf.

Vintage postcards, the precursors of our Christmas cards today, are one of the most popular items to collect today and were filled with images of Santa, like this one from the early 1900's.






Then there are the prized Christmas ornaments. German glass ornaments of the turn of the century and early 1900's are the most sought after,but the glass balls, plastic, and paper creations of the 1920's-60's are also popular. This German glass and chenille Santa is a perfect example of early 20Th century holiday cheer.
Modern German and Chinese glass ornaments produced by companies such as Christopher Radko, Waterford, and others are prized for their future collectability.

A good example of a modern over-sized glass ornament is our Waterford Christmas ornament, Santa's World Trip. It is blown glass that is hand-painted and accented by gold filigree glitter. It may be modern, but it has that old-world charm and is sure to become a family heirloom. They are available here at the shop, but quantities are limited.
Now we come to our favorite Santa collectible. The sculptural renderings of Santa. Whether fabric, plastic, wood, resin, porcelain, ceramic, or a combination of the afore mentioned he is a very popular subject and highly collectible. In the 50's and 60's Santa was most popular as large plastic outdoor light-up lawn ornaments. Some are still used today. There were also several versions of these as table top lamps too.


This Santa is a 1970's mache' and fabric Santa from our own collection, Sorry he's not for sale, but we do have many other renderings that would make the perfect gift for a collector or to add to your own collection.










This porcelain and stuffed body Santa is all decked out in his Christmas finery

and this wood resin Santa is a patriotic reproduction from 1915.



Did we mention we love Santa? This is a display of some of our other wood resin Santa's available. We have many other Santa collectibles available. You better hurry in though. Santa leaves Christmas Eve ya know.

A Christmas Hello

Thanks so much for stopping by our little blog! We're so happy you finally got to come. We hope you come back often. You can place us on your Favorites list or Bookmark us. We hope to post almost daily with gift and decorating ideas not just for Christmas, but all year round, flower tips, shop news, and specials. Posts will vary according to month and season. Another thing we're excited about is if you scroll down to the bottom of each post you'll see the word, Comments. You double click on this word and you can ask questions, give us suggestions, or just say Hi if you want to. We really hope you'll take advantage of this we would love to hear from you.

Well, I guess we'd better be going. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

Have a Rosy Day,

Alma and Melody

Over the river.......

Over the river and through the woods to A&J's you go. Christmas list in hand......

A centerpiece for Mom,

A poinsettia for Tom.

A gift basket for the Boss.........





can't forget a bouquet for Ms Ross!

A token for the nieghbor,

A wreath for the door.

An angel for the treetop,

A boutonniere for Pop.

Holly for the table and whole lot more.

Please join us at A&J's Floral Boutique(R) for some holiday cheer, sweet treats, warm drinks, and some Christmas surprises.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Twas' a few weeks before Christmas and all through the town people were scurrying to find decorations and gifts to astound. Into A&J's Floral Boutique they came. Garland for the mantle, a wreath for the door, and can't forget the centerpiece for the table decor!

But, when they got to browsing the festive little store they found A&J's was brimming with so much more

This year don't go scurrying to figure out what to do. Come to A&J's and let Santa's Helpers

assist you. We have everything you'll need to make the holiday bright. Fresh holiday greenery and arrangements, permanent botanical Christmas designs, new and vintage ornaments, Treasures Of The Past(C), Brown Gingham Creations(C), antiques, holiday plants and dishgardens, and much, much more. Your sure to find the perfect Christmas gift for that special someone on your list.