Making the holidays
December 8, 2009
How are you doing holidays in your house? Do you recoil at the idea of this season of sharing? Or do you rejoice at all the delicious and delightful possible ways to achieve comfort and joy and the best excuse ever to make stuff? We’re working on crafting a sweet Christmas here and we’ve got some good traditions and rituals to throw into our holiday pot. Some are old and some are new and some are a combination of both.
At school, Kathie made a beautiful banner to remind folks to stay local in their consumption. It’s called “100 mile holiday” and offers up ideas for keeping it close to home this season. The board celebrates all the amazing craftsfolk, artists and artisans here in Austin – of which there are many, many, many! And many fairs too at which to see their amazing wares. We’ll be adding more info as we find it around town.
We’re making lots of things at our house – lots of paintings and drawings and a little sewing and baking too. We’ve got our Advent calendar up with it six branches representing each of us and this year, in addition to the trinket that gets hung on the tree, I’ve added little notes to the pockets with some suggestions of things the kids can do to spread the joy. Things such as writing a note to Grandma or to their single Aunt who lives in a group home. Making drawings and bringing them over to our amazing neighbor next door. Making a bed for someone else without telling or doing some other secret good deed. Depending on the mood of the recipient they’ve been received (randomly) quite well. Only one scuffle of “I don’t feel like drawing!!!” at which point I informed said child that these were merely suggestions, not obligations.
I finished up a couple of holiday mama craft nights too which were super fun – some Advent calendar making and some card making using all recycled or thrifted materials. Even the beautiful box of linen envelopes I was able to get from the thriftstore! We all had a great time playing with all the die cuts from various items pulled from the recycling bin: envelopes, cereal boxes, brown paper bags and beer boxes. (see that little Sierra Nevada star?)
The calendars turned out to be a really satisfying project too – all hand sewn with burlap and various vintage and found fabrics. These calendars were inspired by one that we had growing up that was made by my aunt. It was one of the cherished pieces of our Christmas season and is still being used today by one of my nieces, probably 40 years after its creation. I’ve been lucky enough to get a few pictures of the ones made in our workshop…
This is Clair's amazing calendar and beautiful daughter
Angel's lovely 3 trees
One of the many things I love about these calendars is that they allow a family to celebrate the entire season as opposed to focusing on just one day. In addition, you get to dig out all those little beads, baubles and broken pieces of jewelry from the bottom of your jewelry box that you’ve loved too much to throw away! And they are given new life as decorations on the tree.
We’d love to hear what you’re doing in your house. What are you making? How do you celebrate? What are your favorite family rituals and traditions? We’re always looking to add a few more to the mix.
Posted in Family Projects, holidays