BEST SELLER: Krampus Greetings
BEST SELLER: Krampus Greetings
I haven't written an article in sometime; I have been busy with work, getting stuff ready for the launch of my website in March, and getting sick fairly often! I wanted to write about one of my best sellers since the Magpie Designs days before it was introduced to the Prismatic Skies website. Krampus Greetings!
I have always had an odd fascination about this whole Krampus lore. I'm not German, so it's not something that I grew up with. I grew up having German friends and I don't remember whose house it was and how exactly I came across an image, but it was at a friend's house during Christmas time and I legit thought they had Satan mixed in with all this Catholic stuff and Christmas galore. I have no problem with Satan, Satanists, and Satanism, BTW. I'm all for it. Whatever floats your nads.
From that moment on though, about the age of maybe 10 or 11 years old, I was sold on the dude...without actually hearing about him. I just liked the look. Then my friend's father told me about the history and folklore of Krampus. At first, I thought he was joking with me. He was that kind of guy, and also...adults really love fucking with kids. Case in point...KRAMPUS. Hello!
I don't remember the stories he was telling me, as it's been over 30 years, but with knowing how to use dem internets and me always being curious, I did some reading up on it over the years. So, what's written is years of gathered information.
Where Did This Krampus Dude Come From?
Well, that's a tricky question because it really depends on who you speak to. The most popular go-to answer is Germany. But there are some that claim the creepy lil shit hails from Norse folkore...Scandinavia. To me, with the history, the name, and well....Germany already having a weird history, that it makes sense that this red bastard is German folklore. Also, his name is derived from the German word, "Krampen," which means, "claw." Goodie.
It's also said that Krampus is part of ancient Pagan rituals for the winter solstice. According to Norse mythology, Krampus is the son of Hel, who is the Norse God of the Underworld. However, with the widespread of Christianity, Krampus was quickly associated with that religion and Christmas, despite the Church trying pretty damn hard to ban the red fella. Awww, so sad.
I don't think we'll ever know the real answer in our lifetime. So...let's just leave it at that. Okay so yeah, this insidious bloke is said to be the dark counterpart of St. Nicholas, the charming, old white guy with long hair & a bushy beard, and all round n' shit...you know, the one that gives all your sweet little angels their gifts. St. Nick being the jolly type, can't be arsed into dealing with the rude semen demons, so he sends fury on those asshole kids by sic'ing Krampus on 'em, who wholeheartedly enjoys punishing those crotch goblins with switches, chains, shoving 'em into bags, and whatever else this BDSM freak is into.
Does Krampus Go Out On The Same Night As St. Nicholas?
Again, it depends on the region where the Krampus folklore is celebrated.
Krampus is celebrated on a day called, "Krampusnacht," which is on the day before St. Nicholas Day. In Austria, Northern Italy, and other parts of Europe, crowds of people celebrate by dressing up as the devil, wild-beast-men (sorry, for whatever reason, South Park's Al Gore, "Man-Bear-Pig," somehow popped into my head), and witches...sure...why not. And they all participate in an event called, "Krampuslauf," which means, "Krampus Run."
The kicker is, someone thought it was a good idea to allow these intoxicated jabronis to have lit torches running amuck in the streets dressed as the devil. In modern times, Krampus is becoming more celebrated and embraced by younger generations from other parts of Europe, like Finland, and France, and in many U.S. cities!
The Krampus Runs (I'll provide links below) began around the late 20th Century in the effort to preserve cultural heritage, which was massively popular in Germany and Austria. And with this, Krampus started becoming popular across the globe, with a massive horror film cult following for many films about the furry, horned fucker.
Photo found on Instagram
Unfortunately, There's Antisemitic Undertones...
Sadly with many things from the past, there's going to be a group of people who feel the need to somehow relate any demonic, beast, devil, whatever...to the Jewish people. Art starting emerging from certain European countries, mainly Austria, depicting Krampus looking like a stereotypical Jewish man. Especially, if Krampus was pictured next to the very Aryan looking St. Nicholas.
Kind of raises the question about how Krampus is depicted in art through the centuries...was that the intent? Or am I just overthinking that question? What I'm not making up and imagining, is that the historical portrayals of Krampus in certain countries are antisemitic.
Thoughts?
Beginning of the 20th Century - Artist is unknown. Postcard from Austria.
Black & white engraving depicting Simon of Trent, whose disappearance and murder led to charges of blood libel against the Jewish Community of Trent. 1700-1800.
Elliott Lang. 2018
Victorian era postcard. Artist unknown.
Krampus Varies From Region To Region, But Generally, Looks The Same.
Here are some images from some of the European countries that take part in the Krampus tradition.
AUSTRIA
GERMANY
ALPINE REGION OF CROATIA
ALPINE REGION OF SOUTH TYROL IN ITALY
BAVARIAN
Here are some images from some of the Krampus looks in the United States
PENNSYLVANIA
INDIANA
NEW YORK
MARYLAND
CALIFORNIA
Krampus Was Turned Into A Fragrance?!
While I was still running Magpie Designs, actually it was in the beginning of my experimenting with oils more, is when I created the, "Krampus Greetings," wax melts. I had made the custom fragrance blend in a few different styles, as I knew wax melt addicts like variety. I made three different styles; 6-cavity clamshell, 5-cavity snap bar, and a 10-cavity snap bar. Sadly, I was only able to find a couple of the other styles photos. I even looked downstairs in my personal stash of my own blends, and fell short. Luckily, my most awesome, sweet, lifesaver of a friend, Ann, still had her clamshell left and she sent me photos of it. She used the majority of the melts, of course, but I would rather have the photo to show you all, regardless.
I am pretty proud of my, "Krampus Greetings," creation because it was one of my earliest melts that I custom made myself of using a bunch of different fragrance oils. I really didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know what angle I was going for, and I really wasn't sure what I wanted the blend to smell like. I seriously just fucked around & found out, and just started pouring and it bloody damn well worked beautifully! And it was from THAT melt that gave me the bug...the massive creativity. From there, all the ideas started flowing.
I really loved the look of them too, because I really hadn't seen anything like that before in means of a wax melt. And I dyed the wax pitch black, mixing a bunch of stuff together getting my signature black color. And I used fine red glitter.
They were my signature strong scented / triple scented wax melts and people loved them SO MUCH that I sold out two hours later of listing them on my original Big Cartel shop for Magpie Designs/Magpie Wax Designs.
Also, at this point when I first created, "Krampus Greetings," I started using different wax and started using a two blend wax. I discovered through A LOT of trial and error that I absolutely fucking HATED 100% soy wax for candles and for wax melts, especially with how strong I make my candles and melts. It was also around this time, that I realized that I kinda hated making clamshells and very much preferred using silicone molds - less cleanup and no chance of plastic melting (I have a bad habit of pouring IMMEDIATELY after I melt and blend everything - I'm an impatient mule).
I didn't go too crazy with a million different oils but the oils I picked out were just perfect and NOT overbearing, as the, "Krampus Greetings," melts are SUPER STRONG. I never changed the formula, it's been the same since 2021. I also found these tiny cute Krampus stickers with artwork from the Victorian era and I slapped them lil' shits onto each package. I made 100. I had A LOT of confidence in these. LOL!
The scent notes for my, "Krampus Greetings," blend is:
Citrus | Spices | Cranberry | Bayberry | Woods
And below are the photos of the original three styles of my custom, "Krampus Greetings," blend:
Old Style 1
5-Cavity Snap Bar
(this version sold out before the other two)
Old Style 2
10-Cavity Snap Bar
Old Style 3
6-Cavity Clamshell
(photo sent by my very good, sweet friend, Ann - THANK YOU GIRL!!!)
As you can see, that dye is super black. It's my own mixture and I love it! And I love SO MUCH how the red glitter brings out the creepiness factor to it. I bought stupid cheap clamshells and had ordered too many of them and basically used up the last of the shells for this melt. Basically after that, I started to slowly get away from clamshells all together. The candle dye I got from a variety of places and the red glitter was from Michaels. I found those Krampus stickers on Amazon (honestly, I didn't read the description well enough because I was pretty bummed at how small they were - but it worked). And the Magpie stickers I had made from a small business on Etsy and I designed the logo etc..
These photos I took in my kitchen at night. Typically when I do photography, I use natural light and I typically don't shoot when the sun starts to go down, because I hate the yellow/orange hue that the photos will have. And depending on what I am working on and how busy I am, I don't always have time to bust out my professional Nikon equipment, so I will resort to my phone. I got done making this first batch incredibly late, I think it was almost midnight, and I was already done there for like ten hours, and I wanted the photos posted that night. And honestly, the yellow/orange hue given by the kitchen lightbulbs, and me manipulating the photos, totally worked out perfectly!
After this first batch sold out, I wanna say in a full day, I quickly had to make more. I may be remembering it incorrectly, but I think that my, "Krampus Greetings," blend was my first best seller. Either that or it was my, "Mulled Cider," blend. But I think it was Krampus.
For whatever reason, I had put a slight pause on making that blend because I had (who am I kidding...still do) a huge list of stuff I wanted to make and to kinda get out of the way. I have ADHD and OCD, so I'm not a fan of having to change whatever my plans were...I have to get the other stuff done first.
But it was a little while since I made it and then I made it again. When I had to close down Magpie Designs because of surgeries and my health sort of declining, I remember having a customer ask me to make them a custom loaf of, "Krampus Greetings," and I think that was in 2022, and that was the last time that I had made it.
(I'm rambling...I know...but you'll live)
Then in either December 2023 or January 2024, a friend and customer DM'd me on Facebook and asked for me to make them a custom wax melt loaf, but they weren't exactly sure what they wanted or what fragrances to suggest, so they gave me the fragrances they would like; I believe they phrased it, "I need something winter-y and kinda Christmas-y," and IMMEDIATELY, Krampus popped into my head! So I got all of the oils and other supplies to make them their first custom wax melt loaf, and that was the first time in quite awhile, where I made, "Krampus Greetings," and that gave me the boost to bring back that fantastic blend. And since I'm more knowledgeable about wax melts, wax, fragrances, etc., I wanted to design them differently. And!!!!!!! I decided to make that blend into a candle, which I have never done before.
When I used to make candles (and not great at it, honestly - which is why I stopped - but I am way better now), I started making candles with hidden treasures inside (gemstones/crystals/pins/necklaces) and called the line, "Magpie Treasures," and eventually added, "Magpie Treasures Candles." I really didn't think these would kick off the way that they did. I'll get into that another time. But I thought it would be cool to have one of my best sellers made into one of my, "Magpie Treasures." I have made two candles.
Let's take a look at the new styles of, "Krampus Greetings!" The signature black and red will never be changed.
New Style 1
First time working with this mold too, and I am SO HAPPY that I bought so many of them. I bought these molds for the sheer purpose of using them for the new, "Krampus Greetings," design.
Pretty awesome, right?! Ahhhhhhhhh, fucking love it!
Anyway...
New Style 2
I made two, as I found two of these vintage vessels at a thrift shop - so I made both them in the blend and each candle has a hidden treasure inside. These are the ONLY TWO made in this style and are THE FIRST, "Krampus Greetings," as a candle. I'm also unsure what the original use of these vessels were - I think either for soup or it was planter? I don't know...but they're both pretty big and it was definitely going to be either a 2-wick or 3-wick piece
Custom Wax Melt Loaf
I did this slightly different. I dyed the wax black, but used different glitter because the company sent me the wrong ones but I thought Dave would like the glitter and confetti used. This was a custom wax melt loaf - so this is not available to anyone else. I will be offering, "Krampus Greetings," as a loaf in the near future, I'm just deciding how I will offer it - either the same size and style as I did for Dave or maybe a devil looking mini loaf.
(Dave loves it, BTW)
I Know That This Went On For Forever, But I Got Excited...
I'm going to include some links for you all to check out if you want to read up more on Krampus or maybe attend an event. Check out some movies and have some fun!!!
March 1, 2024, the new design of, "Krampus Greetings," along with many other new and some returning blends will be available for purchase!!!
EVENTS / INFO / MERCH
- Race Mozey
- The Devil's In The Details: The Krampus Conundrum
- Krampus: The Freight Before Christmas
- Blood Manor
- Krampus Fest NY
- Krampus Inspired Liquor
- Minnesota Krampus
- Krewe of Krampus in NOLA
- Krampus Research Association
- Indy Krampus Index of Krampus in the United States, Canada, and Mexico
- The Salzburg Krampus Run
You can find a full list of movies dedicated to Krampus here.
Support Small Businesses That Have Krampus Merchandise...
Whether it's my products or another vendors, I will back your decision to support a small business, artist, and handmade business. If you do decide to purchase some sweet Krampus shit, consider checking these out (of course check mine out as well...links above by my photos)...
Victorian Postcard - would look pretty cool framed...
Some pretty sweet merch, right? Did you see anything that you would like to get? If you do, be sure to share with me in my Facebook Group for Prismatic Skies! I'd love to see what you got, even if it wasn't from my store!
Oh!!!! One more thing and I PROMISE this is it!!!! PROMISE!!!! Check out some of these songs about the creepy bloke, below!
This Concludes This Krampus Greetings Article!
Let me know what you guys think. I'd love to hear from you!!!
I look forward to hearing from you! Pass this article along!
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