Legend of the Christmas Spider

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year..... the day on which the Christ child come to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.

T'was Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, not be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently, they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room.

They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room. So they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw everyone of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree's beauty. But alas! Everywhere they went had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too. But he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for little children, wouldn't feel the same, so he touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering silver and gold. Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees and according to the legend, it has become a custom to put a spider among the decorations on the tree........

This legend is found in both Germany an in the Ukraine. To do the

For children the easiest would be take a round styro foam ball for the body and a smaller one for the head.........Use glue and put either gold or silver glitter all over it and use the same color chenille stems for the legs.....Make a hanger to hang to the tree........Also can make them out of gold or silver pom-poms (two different seizes one for body and one for head and add the same color chenille stems for the legs.........Can cut the stems in half and make two out of one..........

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Hope this is what you wanted and happy craftin' and enjoy...............

Love Spiderangel

The Story of the Candy Cane

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Vergin Birth and the sinnless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to repreesent the precious name of Jesus, who came to this earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditiches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourginng Jesus received by which wee are healed. The large red stripe wass for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promises of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane-a meaningless decoration sent at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear". I pray that the symbol will again be used to witnessTo The Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominate force in the universe today.