Christmas is the holiday that more than any other influences every year all aspects of daily life. Even those who choose not to celebrate it cannot help but be fascinated, be wrapped and infected by the atmosphere that is created in the streets, in shops, in homes today.

It is a magic of colors, lights, perfumes, that sense of warmth and fellowship that warms hearts and makes us all feel closer somehow, better, more well-disposed towards our neighbour. The choice to decorate their home for Christmas, and especially that of beautifying your table of the Feast, it is therefore important.

It is a way to bring into the home and family a bit of that warmth, and at the same time decorate the environments in which you consume every day life and make them, for the celebration period, brighter, most elegant, and, in a word: special.

There are countless suggestions that may advise how to decorate the table at Christmas. Fashion magazines and shop windows are full of them. Solutions for everyone, for all budgets, some voted almost exclusively to a choice of refined elegance, luxury, design and glamour; others are more careful to maintain, despite the beauty and refinement of the details, the unique atmosphere that characterises Christmas.

There are Christmas candles arranged wisely to light and heat the table, angel shaped, perhaps, or  a golden pine cone, or simply beautiful candles, special, only for special occasions, enriched with around Christmas candles, decorated with berries, holly, red beads, or even arranged in refined holders in the shape of angel wings, for example. A great classic is wreaths and garlands, used as decorations for the house, for the door, but also as a centrepiece or candle holder. Still, smaller decorations can be used as place cards on the table of the feast, little trinkets are decorated, perhaps made with wood, to give the house more warmth and a sense of familiarity.

Alternative and compatible solutions are available to make the celebration table unique and memorable.

For today’s children, accustomed to a constant and often too hectic flow of information, it is not easy to understand the true spirit of Christmas. For many of them it is just an opportunity to receive gifts and special attention, but it would be really nice to be able to tell them about the miracle of the birth of Jesus in a simple and understandable way.

You could try to turn it into a fairy tale, because all children love fairy tales, even today.

Once upon a time, there was a carpenter named Joseph, who had a young and beautiful wife named Mary. The King of their country ordered all families living in its territories to be counted and have their names written on large lists by its officials. This is why Joseph and Mary had to travel to the city of Bethlehem and took their journey, even though Maria expecting a child.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, though, on a cold December night, no one gave them hospitality. Hotels and inns were full. So Joseph and Mary took refuge in a barn, where an old ox were sleeping. Here Mary gave birth to her baby, Jesus, and put him in the straw to keep him warm, where the ox and the ass of Joseph warmed him with their breath.

But they could not know that while they attended to the small boy, outside the barn was an angel of the Lord flying in the sky announcing to people that a very special child was born, the greatest of all kings. Many shepherds went to the barn with their flocks, to see this miraculous baby and worship him.

And not only that. The news of this birth spread throughout the realm. In the eastern sky a magical comet appeared, which also led three wise men to the place where baby Jesus was born. The wise men came a few days later with precious gifts of gold, perfumed incense and fragrant myrrh, gifts worthy of a great king, and everyone celebrated baby Jesus together, who came into this world to bring joy and salvation.

Everyone has their own nativity. Not everyone sticks to the traditional nativity scene, which, we understand, is derived from many regional traditions in our country, like the Neapolitan terracotta nativity, or the wooden one from Val Gardena, the Lecce papier-mâché nativity or the ones in Sicily, full of colour and folkloristic wonder.

For those looking to their own house and their own modern and essential Christmas, but do not want to give up the nativity, there are many elegant and functional solutions. We are talking about stylised nativity scenes, made by modern and Avant-garde artists capable of expressing all the sacredness of the Nativity with a new, essential design language.

Stylised nativity scenes are made with various materials: porcelain, clay, metal, and wood. They are often left white to emphasise their simplicity even more, but they can also be hand-painted and decorated with precious elements, like gold drops, metallic inserts, etc.

Working with materials and refinishing, which happens completely by hand, lends itself to simple and expressive lines at the same time. The original hand-painted orthodox Russian artisan nativity scenes are particularly worth a mention.

Other than being objects of devotion and being a way of sanctifying the holiday, stylised nativity scenes can also be excellent gifts and high-design objects to decorate your house or to offer a precious and refined gift to particularly demanding friends. These are modern nativities, often painted with bright and high-quality colours. This union between ancient tradition and the modernity of lines and shapes guarantees an excellent result, full of style and made for the most chic houses, which marries itself with every type of furnishing, classic or modern, integrating itself into every situation and need.

Our country has a very illustrious and ancient tradition when it comes to nativity scenes. Since the medieval period, there has been a tradition of recreating scenes inspired by the night that baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is a custom that expresses deep devotion but that has also in time become a form of art, which has reached, in some cases, an admirable level. Even today, artists and artisans take on creating nativity scenes that are true works of art, using techniques and secrets from masters passed down from previous centuries.

In common houses, the tradition takes on a less noble, simpler shape, with much resin, wood and ceramic nativity scenes readily available everywhere, but the nativity, by its own nature, is still design to be customisable, and to allow you a large or small contribution to creating the scene.

This is why the so-called ‘DIY nativities’ are becoming more popular. The techniques are very diverse, as are the materials used. They are very often recycled materials that, thanks to the imagination and skill of nativity lovers, take on new and unexpected forms. Often at the base of the scene is paper and cardboard, with a few sheets or an empty box that can be positioned in various ways to create the prospective effect.

Paper is used for the background, even to create a beautiful starry sky, but there is cardboard shaped like mountains, moss and stone, which can create very realistic scenes when used carefully.

Moss is used to decorate the DIY nativity scene, even better if it is real, but you can also find synthetic, lichen and straw moss, often-even trees and palm trees created with natural materials: wood, moss and cork.

Countless small and large accessories allow you to personalise your own DIY nativity. With architectural elements that make the little house more realistic, like railings for the balcony, gates for the walls, resin and wooden doors, windows, cooking utensils, wicker baskets, ladles, brickwork, ovens, countertops, even miniature food. All in the name of realism and creativity, to make your own unique customised DIY nativity.

The uniqueness that embodies the enchanting works of Susan Lordi, an American artist from Kansan City, most likely resides in their infinite expressiveness. It may sound like a contradiction for those who know her work. In fact, the feature that’s immediately evident when admiring these resin figures is that they do not have a face, nor traits that can identify them in any way.

They have no expression. And here’s the miracle, which makes the works of this artist extraordinary small masterpieces.

Even without a face, these figures express a range of emotions and feelings so vast and profound difficult to bear. It’s their poses, the suspended gestures of their arms, their hands, which make use perceive tenderness, love, joy, and even sadness.

We think of lovely mothers clinging to their children, or lovers in a hug that seems to last forever. We also think of children with their arms full of flowers, probably for a mother that we can only imagine, or delicate young girls intertwined in a hug that is a fairy dance.

Endless love is depicted in these simple figures: a sense of tenderness that enchants these angels with wire wings, loving keepers, loyal guardians, invisible and silent friends and even sad moments.

Susan Lordi’s animals are also wonderful: dogs and cats sometimes portrayed with their masters, sometimes alone. Four-legged angels with an immense heart, creatures of pure love just to be able to stand alongside theirs Human friends.

In a world that is increasingly surrounded by banality and unnecessary complexity, ephemeral dreams of plastic and extreme technology, the resin creatures of the Willow Tree collection are an enchanting oasis of feelings and spirituality, a deep breath that invites you to look within yourself and rediscover seemingly simple and sought after emotions, yet fragile and intense.

Here are a few feedbacks from our customers who have been able to touch the wonderful works of Susan Lordi with their hands.

Gabriella F. “Simply fantastic! It’s safe because it’s heavy, elegant and refined in the design of the dress, and the wings’ texture is original. A great gift for many occasions but just as nice to join other statues of the same kind ….”

Loretta F. “A wonderful collection! I love this angel, it’s a present for myself and I can’t sto looking at it. But its meaning goes beyond its beauty…”

Laura L. “Wonderful statuette: a perfect synthesis of love between lovers.”

A person’s death has always represented an important moment in any human community since the origins of civilization. For this reason, funeral rites have always existed to celebrate this transition. These rituals change over time, and depending on geographical location, civil and religious costumes of the community that celebrates them.

Generally in the Western world, death is considered a negative event, which damages the dead and those close to them. Only the fact that death comes as we approach the deity, or because it’s the passage to get to a heavenly world, is sees as a consolation.

The funeral is the religious rite we know. It derives its name from Latin ‘funus’, a term that recalls the act of lowering a body in the pit using ropes. Family and friends take part in it, with a priest conducting the celebration.

Prehistoric men probably had a rudimentary way to celebrate the death, but it’s thanks to the great civilizations of the past that we can find funeral rituals similar to ours.

Leaving aside the Egyptian civilization, deeply imprinted on the idea of ​​death and materiality of earthly life, the necessity that the body in order to reborn, let’s analyze funerals in ancient Greece, which are closer to our tradition. In the Greek world, great importance was given to the funeral ritual as an act to accompany the deceased on a journey to the afterlife. It was the duty of friends and relatives to make sure that the dead received the right rites, otherwise the spirit would be condemned to wander for eternity. Falling into battle without burial or otherwise not being able to receive such rites was considered to be the worst destiny for the Greeks.

The body was washed and covered with a shawl, then exposed so that friends and acquaintances could greet it. The funeral parade was accompanied by songs, prayers, and sacrifices. The body was finally buried in a wooden or terracotta coffin, or cremated, and the ashes collected in an urn.

Even in ancient Rome there were funeral traditions, and professionals were called to prepare the rituals in the best possible way.

Even in this case there was a procession of mimes, dancers, musicians, and professional lamenters following the body. After that, a party was attended by friends and relatives. Cremation was the most common option. Ashes were collected in an urn and placed in a collective grave.

These rituals are, in many respects, comparable to the modern ones. Today more than ever funeral rituals depend on culture, religion, and personal choices of the deceased and their families.