St. Nicholas Day

 

Last night, the ladies at our church got together for a Jingle and Mingle at one of our downtown restaurants for some holiday fun. Yesterday was also St. Nicholas Day, so we celebrated with these festive tabletop decorations that I put together.

Tradition says that if children put out their clean shoes, St. Nicholas will leave them a small gift and candy.

The ladies were invited to bring a small nativity figure or Santa to share their stories at their tables.

One of our fun-loving ladies brought a bag full of festive holiday hats and headbands, which we wore and swapped as the night went on. Fun!

The back room was decorated so bright and festive, and we were able to mingle without bothering any other patrons. Dan's Downtown Tavern is owned by a couple from our congregation, and we love to support them!

I had bags of Speculaas cookies, also known as St. Nicholas Cookies, for the ladies to take home. The candy canes are also a St. Nicholas tradition, as they represent his bishop's crosier or staff.

We had a great turnout for this mid-week event, and it was lovely to just "show up" and not have to do a lot of cooking and baking and organizing. A good time was had by all!

I purchased the boots from Target, and filled them with the little Santa's trees, candy canes and tissue. The best part? The boots will go to children who need them from our church's Sharing Tree collection this month. We sponsor several families in need with gifts from their wish lists. So glad that the boots coincided with our event! A happy coincidence.

Blessings, café friends!