[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

38 years ago my wife and I were young and always felt we should live within our means....which was not much at that young age. We have always been do it yourselfers. So.....we made our own.

There was a nearby factory that made rulers, and discarded the blemished wood for free. I used these "sticks" and designed and glued together a manger. Stained it. The base was from an old sign I found at work which I painted.

My wife made all the figurines out of wooden clothespins and fabric. It was beautiful.

Years later we "upgraded" to a Precious Moments set, gave the clothespin set to a new young couple who were very thankful. We still use the manger I glued together and it has survived many moves unscathed.

Our first Christmas together we were told the state was allowing folks to cut their own christmas trees on one of the state lands for free. We went there and tromped through the snow and found a beautiful Douglas fir tree. No one wanted it because it had a double trunk most all the way up. Who wants a split trunk tree?

I told my wife, "Watch this".....I reached into the tree and with my hand brought the two trunks together. The two sides came together and made a perfect tree. We cut it down and other folks laughed at it. I got it home and bound the two trunks together. The transformation was like magic. We've had 38 trees since then and I still think that one was the best looking.

I told my wife it symbolized us newly married....two incomplete people made more perfect when bound together. The magic did not stop there. We foolishly bought only one string of christmas lights. Somehow, my wife strung them in a way that worked. One string on a 9 foot tall Doug fir....and it looked great. That was our first Christmas.

Sorry for the long post...the topic brought back some memories.

Frank

I enjoyed every word of it. You are a good man Frank Dangelo.