"The German Legend of the Christmas Spider"
Once upon a time, in Germany, long ago, a gentle mother was
busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year, Christmas Eve,
the day on which the Christ Child was to come and bring gifts.
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 forgotten attic.
Christmas Eve came at last! The tree was decorated and the children were delighted. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree nor 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 and see Him. Silently they crept out of their attic and across the floor to wait in the crack on the threshold.
Suddenly the door opened a wee bit, and quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. The tree towered so high that they could see only one ornament at a time.
They scurried up the trunk and out along each branch, filled with a happy wonder at the glittering beauty. Every place they went, they left a trail of dusty gray web. When at last they had inspected every bit of the tree, it was shrouded in a dusty gray spider web.
When the Christ Child saw this, he smiled as he thought of the happy spiders seeing his tree. But as he thought of how broken hearted the mother would be over the dusty tree, he reached out his hand and touched the webs and blessed them. They all turned to shimmering, sparkling silver and gold. The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before!
And so it became a custom in the Christmas season to have a spider among the other decorations on the tree.
Christmas Eve came at last! The tree was decorated and the children were delighted. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree nor 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 and see Him. Silently they crept out of their attic and across the floor to wait in the crack on the threshold.
Suddenly the door opened a wee bit, and quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. The tree towered so high that they could see only one ornament at a time.
They scurried up the trunk and out along each branch, filled with a happy wonder at the glittering beauty. Every place they went, they left a trail of dusty gray web. When at last they had inspected every bit of the tree, it was shrouded in a dusty gray spider web.
When the Christ Child saw this, he smiled as he thought of the happy spiders seeing his tree. But as he thought of how broken hearted the mother would be over the dusty tree, he reached out his hand and touched the webs and blessed them. They all turned to shimmering, sparkling silver and gold. The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before!
And so it became a custom in the Christmas season to have a spider among the other decorations on the tree.
* * *
I was lucky enough to find a post on line to show how to make these that sure saved me some time
http://www.shawkl.com/2011/09/beaded-spider-tutorial.html
http://www.shawkl.com/2011/09/beaded-spider-tutorial.html
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