molly irwin

Holidays :: plan B

A tree full of colorful lights like I had as a child ... hand made softies (a bear for Joan, a soft car like this for Marty) and a lovely little keepsake book documenting our story this month.   Ahhhh ... that was the plan in November.

Well, things rarely go as planned and the holidays are no exception.  You've got to roll with it; find alternatives.  What's the plan 'B'?

Yesterday I replaced colored lights with strands of white.  I just couldn't get passed that pink hue to get motivated to deck the tree.  We lost quite a few needles in the process, but it was well worth it to have the pretty red and white glow of glass, pine cones, butterflies and candy canes.  The girls and I are making some gingerbread ornaments this weekend to finish it all off.

My old sewing machine just isn't ready for use.  Frankly, I have to admit ... it scares me a little. It's been a while.  I think it may be time for a new machine, which I want now more than ever.  (Dear Santa)  So, my handmade gifts this year are small memory books for each child, highlights from our summer customized for each girl and a mini board book for M. I've been working on them anyway and now I'll just wrap them for under the tree.  I must say I'm really happy with how unique each one is turning out; how personally fit for each of my children.  I'll share them with you here, soon.

As for the "December daily" notion (I thought I would play along with Ali) but with my camera woes, (now my backup digital is going awry, too) I've decided to shoot film and start "documenting" next Wednesday with the kids Christmas pageant, journaling right on through our New Year's eve celebration with family.  That will cover our annual road trip and will be a really good reflection of OUR typical holiday experience.

Today I begin holiday baking!  We have sun streaming in the kitchen window for the first time all week.  The soft light + the sounds of this should make for a most enjoyable time making mini pecan tarts.

It's mixer time! Let's see if that works.

Happy weekend!

tradition: getting the tree

Annual holiday tradition: picking out our tree at the CYO lot.

December 2006:  just toddling around in soft-soled shoes.  falling down a lot.  picking up sticks.  always smiling.  Last year Helen and I went to a mother daughter cookie exchange instead of getting the tree.

December 2007:  more sure on the feet.  running faster. still falling down, but not so much.  still with the sticks and the smiles.  We opted out of the cookie exchange this year; we won't be missing our family tree selection again.

make way for Christmas

   

Deadline met.

I'm somewhat reluctantly posting this image (taken with my phone) but I wanted to share the finished advent tag/tree project and what with my digital camera on holiday and all, this is the only instant method I could come up with.

How do the tags become an Advent calendar, you ask?

Each evening we'll take down a tag and replace it with a red glass ornament.  Then we read a bible passage that for tells the Nativity story.  Today: Micah 5:2-5a, which ends with "... He himself will be peace."  There will probably be a chocolate kiss, a peppermint, or hot chocolate some evenings with our little before-bed routine, too.

The tags are made with bits and pieces of things: a torn envelope from the mail that had a cute reindeer stamp, a couple of circles punched out of a starbucks cup, a Christmas tree cut by hand, a few fuzzy words, ribbon, some ric rac, a few chipboard shapes ... a real hodge podge.  They are thin wood, cut from scrap that we had around, but chipboard would work even better. Tipping the edges in red paint gave it a nice crisp outline.

edited to add yet another poorly scanned close-up:

Red circle number tags by Every Jot and Tittle.

We took a walk to the park today and collected the dry branches from the ground.  Add a little duct tape and some rocks and there you have it ... a potted tree. 

And so it begins.  While we still have Indian corn on the front door, the holidays are shifting inside the house today and I'm excited to document this month with my trusty older (but not old) Nikon N65.   

been working on ...

Advent tags, shown here in progress. 

Yes, yes, I know the project is due Saturday.  I'm never one to miss a deadline. I worked in advertising, and I'm well-schooled in a big push to the deadline.  Wish I could show an actual photo, as the scan is not great quality.  That's why they are shown smaller than actual size, which is aprox. 3 x 4.  They are made of thin wood, covered in patterned paper, with a few ribbons, words, etc. adhered.  Just a bit more tomorrow and they'll be ready to hang.   

to be continued ...

holiday reading for young [at heart]

Caution: a very linkey post - lots of jumping around.

Do you have a favorite book that you take out and read each year at Christmas time?

For some, it may not be a traditional Christmas-themed book.  My friend Terry would (for some reason) re-read JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye each year at the holidays.  Not a choice I would make, but he said it took him back to thoughts of that particular Christmas as a young person when he first devoured that book.  He got something different out of it at different stages of maturity -- a mark of a good book, I'd say.

A few years ago, I borrowed a book called Two from Galilee, by Marjorie Holmes, that I really liked and could easily read again and again.  It is historical fiction, written from a the very human perspective of Mary, about the events that took place before the birth of Christ.  It really moved me to think of this time of year in a different way, as a mother; as a woman.  It's in my shopping cart at Amazon now.

Last year I picked up a second hand copy of Susan Branch's Christmas from the Heart of the Home.  Not so much an in-depth read, as a lovely flip-through.  While the recipe ideas and the illustrative style are not modern, this book has such a sweet appeal that I like to have it out handy on my table at the holidays.  I also reach for the Silver Palette Cookbook, for holiday hors d oeuvres and special, festive cookies.

As for the kids, we pretty much stick to Christmas (and winter) themed stories for the month of December.  Some favorites, pictured above, include: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree (great for the younger set 4-6) Look a likes Christmas (a visual treat for all ages) An Angel came from Nazareth (beautifully illustrated with embossed touches) and the Wild Christmas Reindeer, a Jan Brett classic.  Others are classics we read straight through the winter include: White Snow Bright Snow, and The Snowy Day (Keats). 

I've just loaded up a large basket with all these and more to put in their bedroom. 

My girls are growing [too] fast, and we are ready for some more challenging titles that they can grow with over time.  I'm definitely taking Lori's glowing recommendation on this J.R.R. Tolkien book:

[photo courtesy of Lori Pickert, campcreekpress.com, click photo for book link.]

I find myself visiting Camp Creek Press daily.  It's always a great read, full of wit and wisdom.  It matters not if you are a homeschooling family; if you are a caring parent, that alone is enough to find gems among Lori's themes.  If you're looking for holiday gift ideas, you should check her posts on kids's studio art supplies and her post on book recommendations.  I love what she says about family time, education and mostly this post about keeping the holidays in perspective.  I want to know if she was writing it specifically to me, and so will you.

So ... back to the books:  Please share the Christmas-y titles that you and your family enjoy.  I'd appreciate your help as I add a few more titles to our selections this year.

Happy holiday reading!

the good day

The girls were busy crafting today - entirely their own ideas, since i was busy in the kitchen.  Funny thing with this one is the only "everybody" we had come over was their uncle.  Another version of used wood scraps is to the right of the noshes, below.  I don't think those leaves are going anywhere, anytime soon.

After collecting leaves for table decorations they settled in to some puzzles.  I thought it was interesting they chose this one today; a day with a uniquely American celebration.

Using heirloom pieces for the table setting made our dinner feel extra festive.  Who says a kitchen table can't be elegant?  The girls fell in love with the German figurine wine glasses (they drank cider) and although Paul and I worried that they might get broken, I really wanted to make a special memory for them.  They proclaimed these their favorite part of the meal.

And that was one of the last pictures I took before I dropped the camera.  Now everything looks like this.   

I'm pretty bummed, but I'm sure (????) that it's a simple, inexpensive repair (she said with quivering lip.)  But it was a great day even with a new thing to add to the fix-it list ... really great all around.  I'm so ready to go into this weekend with fun things to work on. 

Hope you all had a good day as well.  Soon it's December.

family treasures for the table

Getting ready. 

Grandma's finery; Bavarian china. silver, and carving set.  I'm so thankful to have these treasured things and -- after many years in storage -- be washing them to use, for the first time since she had them on her own table.  There's service for six; just right for our small gang together this year.

While the family plays outside on this sunny, warm afternoon, I'm pouring over recipes and will soon head out armed with my list.  I'm sure the stores are crazy, but that's okay.  Not much can get in the way of this good spirit today. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you, near and far.

designs of Christmas past

Since this is my first November blogging, I thought I'd share a few holiday projects from previous years, specifically - the Christmas gift CD.

A few years ago I burned and designed a music collection as a hostess gift for a friend's Christmas party.  The cover was fashioned after a greeting card.  I like its simple clean typography.  It was so well received that I decided to duplicate it as my version of a handmade gift for family.

Where Christmas music is concerned I'm pretty picky, kind of a new-traditionalist, I'd say.  I start out the season listening to upbeat, festive, more secular tunes and as the weeks pass, nearing Christmas, I shift into a more instrumental, peaceful listening mode.  Selections on this CD reflect the former, with a variety of classic (but not trite) favorites, including: Bing & Bowie, Chuck Brown, Kay Starr, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, and the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

That was the seed of a three-year tradition. 

The next year the design was my own.  A piece of vintage stock art in a halftone on the cover, and full-color on the CD itself, became the framework for other elements ...

... with some silly Garrison Kielor jokes inside.

A range of songs from Spider Saloff, Nancy Wilson, Jo Stafford, Carly Simon, and Harry Connick, Jr. and more are included here.  They are, again, of the festive Christmas-party nature.

By the third year my family was anticipating the CDs. This time, I decidedly compiled a more spiritual version, reflective of how I was feeling at the time, focused on the true joy of the Christmas season.

I used paintings from one of my favorite artists, Paul Klee, which although I don't believe they were specifically intended to represent Christmas, from my interpretation they really fit.  They just have the right feeling. 

The music on this disk includes guitar soloist, Doug Smith (so good) Jewel, Bruce Cockburn, Amy Grant, Chris Isaak, and John Denver. 

It's been a couple of years now since I did one of these, but if I can settle on song selections worth sharing this year, I may resume the project.  I know CDs aren't as versatile or contemporary as MP3s, but at the holidays the festive packaging is like a 3D Christmas card.  I didn't sell them (just gifted to family) so there wasn't a concern with copyright infringement, but that is something to consider, of course. 

These are great little easy gifts to make (and super fun to receive) and I like that they appeal to the visual, tactile and auditory senses.  Hmmm ... add a scent in there and then I've really got something. 

Watch for some of the tracks in my holiday play list (right sidebar) starting the day after Thanksgiving.  See ... a traditionalist.

Edited to add:  To make these (especiallly in quantity) it does take quite a bit of time with the exacto.  There are templates out there for jewel cases, but I just measured my own and cut from 8 x 11 photo paper.  If there is any interest I can probably dig up a PDF template.  The effort is all worth it to show up at Thanksgiving dinner with a pretty basket full of these to give to everyone.  They'll want to listen all through December.  The glossy CD labels give it a professional polish.

trick or treat

On the way over to the park today -- with little punkin head there -- we were "pumpkin spotting," snapping pictures of some very welcoming homes around town.  (All of these images are in my autumn flickr set, if you want to see an enlargement.)  Nothing beats a good front porch, especially on Halloween.   Here's hoping that all the porches you step on tonight are friendly.

Happy Halloween from our town to yours.

Christmas [eye] candy

The mailman is leaving hints that Christmas is near. Catalogs and magazines are coming in strong.  I don't read as many magazines as I did even a year ago.  Often, reading/visiting (& communicating through) blogs takes up that pocket of my days (nights) now.  One medium replaced by another.

But there's something extra special about Christmas issues that always has me reaching beyond my standard few subscriptions.  The idyllic holiday scenes ... the possibility of creating that atmosphere in my own home ... new recipes, decorating suggestions ... things I might make ... it lures me.  It reaches some place deep inside that makes me question: what experiences can I create for my family this year?

For years I've done this, collected and saved.  I didn't want to part with them, but simply could not through small apartments, multiple moves, and self-directed goals to simplify, keep all of those heavy piles.  Oh and it's not just magazines.  There are interesting brochures, colorful advertisements, snippets from catalogs.  You KNOW what I'm talking about.  You know where I'm headed with this ...

[yes, that says 2003 and it's not anywhere close to being an older item]

... the manila folder. That's where the torn out papers have lived -- and I think they're multiplying in there -- they are reproducing or something.  It's a rarity to keep a full issue for me these days.  If there's any crafting to be done it's now, so the folder digging has begun, but this year, I'm giving them a more deserving place to live -- a Christmas inspiration binder.

[Blurry I know, but you can see that it's as fat as Santa]

I'm not spending too much effort on the arranging part. I just spread them all over the floor one night a few weeks ago, sorting by decorating, crafty, greenery, etc.  The categories were obvious.  Some just fall under "pretty imagery" and that works too.

Even my issues of Living were deconstructed. I know to some that is a sacrilege, but I'm being ruthless with my editing.  If it isn't meaningful or appealing (to me personally) in some way ... it goes.

Sometime I will cover the binder in nubby, raw linen and adorn it with a large cranberry woolen button.  I can see adding pretty tabbed dividers, a section for notes ... not entirely sure.  Not this year though.  For now it's enough to just enjoy flipping through, imagining and dreaming.  It's as though I have this huge, new magazine (free from clutter) tailored precisely to my own taste.

[click any of the images to enlarge]

This is a keeper.  Possibly something my girls might want when they are grown. Certainly I know my sisters would enjoy this book.  In fact, maybe they already have one.  I'll have to ask because we come from the same mindset when it comes to magazines.  And we're not the only ones -- that's why the publishing industry is what it is.

I wish I could share every page with you here.  I do.  Because there is so much, and it's cheerful and warm and full of that delightful feeling that only Christmas can evoke.  It's just one of those small, not-really-significant things that makes me, well, sort of happy.

A collection of holiday imagery, articles, and crafty ideas, like Christmas itself, is timeless.