It was her love of the Christmas season that inspired Karen Didion, a self-taught artist, to use her God-given gift to create one-of-a-kind porcelain Santas that would eventually lead to a successful business and help bring joy to families around the world.
“I was always creative as a child,” says Karen. “But actually, it’s kind-of funny that I almost failed my high school art class. I don’t sketch or produce paintings. I am a designer and am continually inspired with new designs. Being a businessowner can be tedious at times, but when I get into doing my design work, I could work for hours and hours…I don’t ever feel like it’s work. The design part of the business gives me such joy.”
Over 30 years ago, in the basement of her Lake Saint Louis home, Karen started creating Christmas gifts for family and friends and selling her work at craft shows. In 1996, she was participating in a craft show at a country club and one of the golfers took notice of her work. That ultimately led to one of her designs being selected for the cover of Neiman Marcus’ Christmas Catalog. With that, Karen left her nursing career and started building the business full-time. She credits her family, husband Rick, and their four children--Matt, Jennifer, Jake and Kyle--for helping with every aspect of her business.
Karen says the Christmas season is the one that always seems to bring out what she loves most in the world: hope, joy, love, and family. She carefully considers that when developing her art.Currently, Karen Didion Originals has five unique lines. The first is her stunning “One-Of-A-Kind” collection. As the title claims, these creations are the only designs of their kind and are handcrafted exclusively by Karen. She’s the only designer and does about 75 one-of-kinds each year. Her exceptional attention to detail, the high-quality fabric and accessories are just a few of the high standards that Karen upholds.
Her beautiful hand-painted Santas feature porcelain faces with real wool beards. She incorporates an extraordinary selection of antique toys, ornaments, and accessories into each piece. She even sews the clothes, usually with vintage fabrics. Each Santa is featured in a unique vignette. She also has Limited Editions, which are similar but created in small amounts.
The immense success of these Santa Claus collectibles has resulted in the introduction of Karen’s secondary lines. Born from endless amounts of inspiration and creativity, the Spooktacular, Classic Home, and Spring collections have now also been highly successful. Each of these Classic Home Collectibles is hand-crafted with hand-painted faces and hands. They also include beautiful glass inset eyes and all have their own exceptional theme and detail.
Each of Karen’s personal designs comes with its own sewn-in collector’s tag as well as a miniature artist profile on the back of the figurines. Many exquisite and unique fabrics are used to make each item’s clothing; such as imported tapestry, velvet, jacquard knit, satin, velour, suede and leather. Novelty prints and designer buttons set off the vests and coats. Faux fur, embroidery, unusual braid and tassels are used as trims.
Her latest addition to the business is themed wreaths…for holidays and general décor.
Her collectibles can be found in many department stores and specialty shops, including Oma’s Barn in St. Peters, and online at KarenDidion.com.
