Stella keeps an eye on the newcomer

This is Fredrik the Tomten.

I found him cowering behind a sparkly reindeer with a broken leg and a pile of blue tinsel garland on the Clearance Shelf at a local craft store.

He look so lost and forlorn I just had to rescue him!

I asked him how he'd come to be in such a predicament......being on the Clearance shelf and all, and he told me that he had been on a different shelf with all of his friends. They were all pretty excited about the prospect of possibly going home to live with some family over the holiday. One by one his friends got picked up and carried off to their new homes.

When it was only down to Fredrik and a few others it finally happened! Somebody picked him up. His heart was so happy it jumped right out of his chest and landed on his shirt!

But then, instead of going home with some nice person who would love him, he was just tossed up on that shelf behind that reindeer, where nobody was likely to even notice him.

He said that he heard someone say, right before he landed up there, that he was considered "damaged goods" because his moustashe was a little messed up.

Can you imagine?

I am so glad I came along to rescue him and give him the Christmas I know he deserves.

So welcome home Fredrik!

I hope this is the first of many Merry Christmas's you'll spend with me and my family.

Done