Santa Claus at Winchester Mansion • Cheers! with Chelsea

The Holidays at Winchester Mansion continue with the return of The Menagerie Oddities Market yuletide themed oddities and curiosities market, holiday tour with snowfall, and a chance to take photos with Santa Claus.

Dressing for Santa Claus

Although I have been theming my outfits each weekend, this one weekend was for the littles, so I just repurposed my walking skirt from last weekend and paired it with a knit top from Heart of Haute and a vest from Miss Candyfloss. I accessorized with my new Punkin Shop purse, an adorable snowmen couple collar pin from Sweet Siren Designs and my homemade stained glass earrings using Gallery Glass paints like I did with the cobweb tealight holders. To complete the look, I wore my trusty Bésame Cosmetics lipstick in Apollo for a subtle deep red to compliment the red tones in my skirt.

Week Four of the Yuletide Oddities & Curiosities Market

The market was yet again a lovely place to peruse and snag business cards from. Being our 4th weekend, we focused more on connecting with vendors and collecting cards over shopping. A couple things caught my eye and we returned home with a couple sweets and a prepped online order for another.

Yuletide Market Purchases

Before I jump into the goodies I came home with, I wanted to give a yuletide shoutout to these other vendors that I fell in love with, but had to save shopping with for another time.

Goddess Noir Cakes

We had meant to pick up a cake from this booth last weekend, but she had sold out of all her cakes when we were finally able to swing by. Luckily for us, she was back again this weekend with a fresh selection of sweets. We picked up a mini cake and a walnut chocolate chip cookie. Both, delicious!

A Magical Meeting with Santa Claus

I have been hoping each year that Winchester would bring Santa around for their holiday festivities. This year, my secret wish was granted. This experience was a true delight and I’m genuinely lacking the words for it. Not only that, but this Santa looks so much like the one we took photos with in the past. I can’t say it was him, but it made the experience seem so authentic.

When we arrived at the property, we weren’t entirely sure where to go to find Santa. Thus, we decided to meander through the market first, hoping we might come across some sort of sign or direction. As we neared the gift shop side of the gardens, we saw our sign. He was in the side building where they housed the Halloween Museum and the Houdini Escape Room in previous years. The doors flew open and Santa called out to any and all passerbys to come and join him. Naturally, we made a beeline for the ramp over to him.

Upon entering the space, we directed towards a place for our belongings. In the time it took me to put my purse down, BOTH of my littles were already in his lap. You can tell from the photos how enamored they were. The photographer offered to take photos on our own devices and I got to keep my camera running to capture the whole encounter. It was all so welcoming and delightful. My husband and I were encouraged to take a couple photos too and then the littles dismounted from Santa.

He then surprised us all by pulling the kids aside to ask if they’d written their letters to him yet. Then he asked what they wanted for Christmas. This exchange was so sweet and even with my children’s bizarre requests, he didn’t skip a beat. (We’ve had one Santa who did NOT know what to say to Lil’ Boo’s request for a skeleton. This Santa, however, knew JUST what to say when he asked for a Gooblin.)

After that, they directed us towards the exit with a photo kiosk set up to purchase the professional printed photos; no obligation. Photos were $15 each and we ended up with one of just the littles and one with the whole family. My only wish is that they sold digital copies too. It’s just my own personal thing. Afterwards, we finished our rounds about the market then meandered around the gift shop. Here, we found a “Letters to Santa” station and each of my littles completed a letter to him.

View this post on Instagram

All in all, both little children and the children-at-heart enjoyed this brief revelry with Santa and I sincerely hope that he returns next year. And I hope I do a better job to remember to take a photo of the space. The decor for this environment was too delightful, but I only have snippets of Santa’s backdrop side.

Concluding the Holidays at Winchester Mansion

Seasons Greetings from the Winchester Mansion!

This may have been our shortest weekend during Holidays at Winchester Mansion yet, but there is still one final Saturdays to enjoy at the Winchester Mansion in December with a Holiday Paint & Sip hosted by Bottle & Bottega. The oddities market also continues with a metaphysical market theme and smaller collection of vendors.

Sadly, I’m not sure I will attend this final weekend as I need to give my body some rest. This month has been a fun but busy flourish and it has been non-stop. I am so grateful to the Winchester Mystery House team for inviting me to do as much coverage as I could of their many Saturdays full of events. Each evening spent in the gardens was one I will continue to cherish and I genuinely hope I helped in some way spread the excitement and interest about just a small fraction of the things Winchester brings to its guests at just one brief time of the year. As for me, it’s time to cherish the daft days with my little ones as they enjoy their soon-to-be opened presents gleaming under our tree.