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Things to Consider When Choosing a Nativity Set -Continued

Last week we began a series discussing some of the important factors to consider when choosing a Nativity set and we focussed on outside display. This week we will talk about lighting and security.

How Should I light My Set?

The hollow ” blow mold” nativity sets, so popular and visible for the last forty years have been replaced by solid molded statues. I won’t get into the reasons for this transition which are a combination of manufacturing and shipping economics. I will say that this change has left many “blow mold” collectors very disappointed. The ” blow mold” pieces are hollow plastic shells and are lighted from the inside with 7 watt and 25 watt bulbs contained in UL/CSA listed electrical components.

The new, solid Nativity figures must be lighted with spotlights. If displayed outside, these spotlights must be designed and approved for outdoor use by UL or some other electrical authority. The spotlights may be purchased at your local or big box hardware store for less than ten dollars. Please follow their installation instructions carefully and do not install in standing water or very damp environments

The Nativity set figures can be displayed in and around a wood Nativty stable and the lighting can be used to create a dramatic scene.

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Things to Consider When Choosing a Nativity Set

Today I will start a series about some of the things we consider important when choosing a Nativity Set. Despite and perhaps because of, the increasingly secular nature of the Christmas holiday season, more amd more Christians are opting to celebrate the original reason for the holiday by displaying a Nativity Set, with or without the other symbols, such as a Christmas tree.

If you are buying for your home, church, office, school or hospital, there are several factors to consider:

Will it be displayed outside?

If you intend to set up your Nativity outside, the figures should be made of a durable material such as wood, fiberglass reinforced resin, concrete or resin filled and reinforced with stone marble or sand ( usually called polyresin). The paint should be weather and sunlight resistant and also UVA ( ultraviolet A ) resistant. Of course, even the most durable finish will fade when exposed to daily sun and weather over the years. We assume that you intend to display your set for the five or six weeks of the Christmas holiday season.

Nativity sets displayed outside should be lighted with spotlights and should be large enough to be visible to motorists or pedestrians passing by

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Comments and Suggestions from Customer Survey

We had some terrific ideas and comments from our second customer satisfaction survey. I will list some with our reply and action.

” I would like to hear of any special  offers on the Nativity figures I ordered”  We are always trying to find new items and better prices  for you. We do not normally discount our more popular sets as we usually sell out, but we may need to balance our stock from time to time and that may present an opportunity. We have sourced some product on direct import which has resulted in significantly lower prices for our Life Size Plus Nativity.

“I wish we could get more animals of the same scale for our Nativity Set. Do you sell these separately or as an animal set?” We have added Camels to more of our sets and we are creating “animal sets” in addition to the animals we sell individually.

” More stories!” If you visit the Stories section of our website, you will see that we have added two more wonderful stories from Brian ” Fox” Ellis the acclaimed author of Fox Tales International . We have a story about “Who is Welcome in His House?” and “Kneeling Santa at the Manger” (more below). Two more stories by Brian Ellis will be added shortly.

“Don, remember that you were going to check on a large Kneeling Santa for me” We get a number of requests for special and unique Christmas items. We offer a several small versions of Santa Claus kneeling at the crib of the baby Jesus, but we have had requests for a life size version. Unfortunately, the economics of mold production and volume manufacturing rule out this  large and expensive figure with limited appeal. We will keep looking, so please do ask for these special items.

” I am more interested in high quality, commercial grade decorations.” You may have noticed that we are offering more large, commercial style figures, particularly focused on Toy Soldiers, Nutcrackers, Santas and Snowmen. We have added to our array of larger outdoor Nativity sets and we replaced the “Made in China” Nativity Stables with our own design “Made in USA” of American white pine.

More next post.

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Christmas in April/May

“It’s funny to be talking about Christmas in April” said the nice lady from a small town in Virginia, “but I know if I don’t get started planning our fund raising, it will never happen” She and her congregation at a very small church have set their sights on a fabulous Nativity set made by Fontanini, the Italian manufacturer of the world’s most artistically beautiful ( and often, most expensive) Nativity figures and scenes from three inches to full life size.

She wanted to do something beyond the usual church bake sale, raffle, bingo, silent auction or fund raiser and hit upon what she called “Christmas in July”. As she explained it they were going to have a Christmas  party with a tree and presents, except that the presents would be pictures of the individual Nativity figures. Members of the congregation will be able to donate to the church Nativity fund for whichever figure they choose.

To help her with this, we provided full color pictures of each of the fifteen beautiful Nativity figures, including the Holy Family, three Kings, Gabriel, Ox, Donkey, Camel, two Angels, two sheep, a Stable and, last but not least. a bagpiper! The Italians are very creative and inclusive when creating their Nativity sets.

Our pictures, each one with a cost, will be placed on their tree, and church members can note the figure and make their commitment toward the purchase. We are happy to help and we are also happy to pass on a very good fund raising idea.

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Customer Satisfaction at Christmas Night

This is the first post of our new Christmas Night blog. Since we just received your replies and comments from the Christmas Night Customer Satisfaction Survey, we wanted to share the information with you. Your replies and comments were overwhelmingly positive and I will summarize these along with the ” you could do better” comments:

  • Over 90% found the website easy to use and navigate.
  • 97% said the shopping basket was logical and easy to use.
  • 73% rated customer service excellent, while 25% said it was good. We need to do better!
  • 94% liked our information about shipping cost and method.
  • 90% said product delivery was prompt and product arrived in good condition. 6.5% said it arrived on time, but was damaged. Very upsetting for both us and you! When items are damaged in shipping, we replace them at no cost to you, but then we need your help to claim against the freight company.

We solicited and received excellent suggestions on improving our customer service, delivery and overall experience with Christmas Night and we plan to act on those. Over 20% of the people responding offered us ideas for products and services and many of these may be used. All in all were very pleased with your response.  In our next post we will share with you some of the comments and suggestions from our Christmas Night “Community”