Set of Nativity Figures...10 cents. Lifetime of Memories...Priceless!!

I read in a magazine the other week about a mom who bought these cardboard nativity figures at a dime store for her daughters years and years ago and how they became a priceless treasure. It is amazing how the things that cost so little in money create the most priceless memories.

I was reminded of a Nativity set that I had, and the plastic figurines had all been broken except the cow. I still had the wooden stable in great condition. One day I was in Woolworth's after Christmas to look for Christmas deals because they were going out of business as well. Everything in the store was 90% off. I found some unbreakable plastic Nativity figures that had been reduced to 10 for a dollar. I selected a Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in the manger, 1 shepherds, an angel, 3 wisemen, a donkey, and a cow....10 pieces in all and I only had to pay a penny each for them, so with tax 11 cents.

Some 2o years later, the year after Katrina had hit our area, we were cleaning and purging. I had finally bought myself a lovely porcelain Nativity set since all the kids were grown. I asked Andrea and Tiffany if they were interested in any of the homegrown family ornaments because I had also been able to finally color coordinate a themed tree with breakable ornaments. I was amazed that they both wanted that old plastic nativity set.

It seems that old thing was one of the favorite Christmas memories. It always sat on the table in the foyer, and it seems my crew each had different ideas about how it was supposed to be set up. Every time one of them passed by, they rearranged the figures. Once one of them even put the cows on the roof because they had read something about cows in other countries grazing on thatched roofs.

After some discussion, we decided it is with Andrea now because she is the oldest and has a child and also is settled in her own home. But we never know when she will pass it on to one of the other siblings, until it makes its rounds and then starts all over again with her.

It is amazing the jungle gym sets, bikes, computers, radios, nintendos, and whatever else are not in their top Christmas memory. Those things are all gone with time. Yet, 10 cents worth of figurines from a dime store are priceless!