Must... Share... ANYTHING!!!

You know that feeling you get when you’ve been busy working on various projects for Christmas presents and can’t wait to share with everyone all the fun things you’ve made, but can’t for fear the recipients will see them prematurely? No? Just me? Huh…

So I have been busy sewing up a storm, but alas, can’t post any pictures because they might end up in the wrong hands. You know, like on the person for whom the gifts are intended. That would be bad. Even though the chances of this happening would be slim to say the least for any of the people I’ve been making stuff for, I don’t want to risk it.

Every year I try to do one big gift for a different person, and every year I get started early and then set it aside thinking I’ve got plenty of time to work on it later. Then it becomes later and later until it’s a week before Christmas and the project has yet to be completed. I started it in September. It’s now December seventeenth. So much for not procrastinating this year!

Also, taking time off from blogging has had, well, mixed results. On the one hand, my mornings are not filled with obsessing and stressing over what to write about in the homemaking realm and actually much more relaxed and allows me to take my time drinking my morning coffee and checking the news. But on the other, I feel like the main reason I wanted to cut down from daily blogging was to refocus my efforts on writing fiction, as in one of the seven or so novels I’ve been working on for years now or the three or four novels or dozen or so children’s books I’ve completed and might need tweaking or rewrites or (gasp) submitted to publishers!

I’ve already wasted ten minutes writing when I should be sewing, so back to the grindstone. I just hope I don’t work my 1963 Singer Touch N’ Sew Deluxe Zig-Zag Model 600 sewing machine to death, because then I would be sad.

Christmas Planning

It is that time of year to start planning Christmas gifts. Assuming, that is, we can afford to!

In September, usually right after Labor Day, I like to plan out my Christmas gift making and/or buying. I do this for a few reasons, but mainly so I have a list to check off. The last three to four years have been, well, lackluster in the gift department. Perhaps this is simply the new normal. However, I really want to make an effort this year despite monetary deficiencies. I’m not really certain what I will do, be it ornaments or cards, but I do know that I’m not going to let our lack of finances dictate our gift giving. We will simply have to be creative with what we’ve got supply-wise. And honestly, we’ve got a lot.

Christmas Planning

It’s the middle of August. It’s time to start thinking about Christmas.

Crafter’s usually plan out the following year’s gifts, well, about a year in advance. I used to do this when I was younger. I’d pull out a notepad and jot down names and what to make them during the winter break and start working on projects by spring break. By the time summer break would be over I would be well on my way to finishing my list. The older I got, the further my list would get made and the later my presents would be finished. By college I’d be up the night before starting most of my handmade presents up until it was time to leave for the Christmas party.

Now I find myself wanting to at least do some planning. I’ve scaled back on gift giving tremendously. No longer do I feel compelled to make something for every single person I know. Instead I try to focus mostly on the kids and, if I’m up to it, an ornament for the adults. This year I’m thinking it would be nice to make something for my parents (all sets of them) since it has been some years since actually making gifts for them.

Gift Giving

This morning I started contemplating the origins of gift giving. With so much cerebral research about to be had, I figured doubling my normal amount of morning coffee would be in order.

Giving gifts for special occasions is nothing new. It predates written history and has continued throughout, continuously evolving while at the same time remaining quite traditional. People have given gifts to celebrate the birth of children, coming of age, marriages and everything in between. However, who decided what events to give gifts for and what events in life are just not considered gift-worthy? It seems this is also something that varies culturally as well as religiously. But I’m not here to raise a philosophical debate over which religion or culture is the right one because, honestly, I don’t think there is any one way to live life. I am, however, going to try to attempt to explain why we give gifts.

It depresses me to no end when I see pictures or video of people trampling each other the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, just so they can get the latest toy or gimmick the store has on a super sale. Especially when, chances are, that same toy or gimmick will end up in the trash before the following Christmas. I don’t understand if it is some kind of challenge or bragging rights these people get out of it or if the underlying factor is a sense to feel like you are one of the Joneses, even though you are barely getting by. Another part of me feels bad for these people, knowing the societal pressure to spend hordes of money on presents so their kids don’t feel left out or worse, picked on by their fellow classmates.

I grew up poor and yes, was made fun of for not having the latest fashionable clothes or the newest Transformer or He-Man action figure, but never had a sense that I was somehow not loved enough for receiving second hand Christmas presents and clothes. Don’t get me wrong. I knew that some of my friends indeed had more than we did, but also had friends who had considerably less. The point is not how much you have, but the thought behind such gifts and the recipient understanding the reason for getting it. Instilling these values in our kids seems to have gone by the wayside as I see more and more of them growing up with a sense of entitlement and very little in the way of gratitude. This is a general assessment, mind you, and I know that it doesn’t speak to everyone, but it does seem to be a growing epidemic.

As a kid I used to spend months making Christmas presents for my aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as siblings and parents. I didn’t do this out of an expectation of getting something in return, but because I simply wanted to give. I continued this to an extent as I got older, making annual Christmas ornaments, even taking time off work to accomplish everything I wanted to do. For me, the act of giving means a lot, especially when money is at its tightest. It definitely means a very lean January and February to make up for it, but in the end the sacrifices are worth it. So perhaps I shouldn’t condemn the people fighting over the last twenty dollar DVD player or pushing their way through the crowd to grab this year’s Elmo craze because maybe, just maybe, they get the same satisfaction of seeing the smile on the recipients face as I do.

So while we may not get the same gifts the baby Jesus received from the Magi of gold, frankincense and myrrh, may we continue to live a life of giving of ourselves for others without expectation of anything in return. You may surprise yourself by how much more meaningful it is to give than to receive.

Twelve Days and Counting

Only twelve days until Christmas. Let the Freak-Out-Mode officially commence.

Okay, so perhaps I’m not the only procrastinator in the world, but the closer it gets to Christmas and the lack of presents under the tree tell me someone has been slacking off. I won’t name names, but I’ve got a pretty good clue of who it is… me. I guess that means I should be on Santa’s Naughty List.

One way to remedy absent presents is to simply go get some. But me being me, I’d rather make what I can and only buy when necessary. This isn’t always an available option, and the closer it gets to Christmas without anything really finished (or started for that matter) the more I resign myself to thinking store-bought is what will end up getting done anyway. I suppose if I wasn’t me, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but alas, my procrastination sometimes gets the best of me.

Of Gifts and Plans

Ideas abound when money is at its least. Figures.

It always seems to happen this time of year as Christmas approaches, closing in faster and faster as if the inertia of a bullet train from Thanksgiving to December twenty-fifth pushes forward at near light speed, that the time to work on projects decreases. What with the random parties and get-togethers and baking is one to do? Well, there are two options. The first is to try and squeeze everything in and in turn go ahead and make a reservation at the nearest mental health institution. The second, and obvious choice to me anyway, is to simply relax and make a plan of what you can actually accomplish.

On the docket for this week? Christmas cards. Actually if I can make them all today after work that would be great. That way I can get them out in the mail tomorrow so people will have our new address. However, I’m allowing myself the rest of the week since I have two quilts to finish up. Now I just need to ransack my rubber stamps and figure out a design. Since this will only require postage, because I already have all of the supplies, it is also something I can do.

Countdown to Christmas

With Christmas only a mere forty days away, it is probably time for us crafters to think about gifts we’d like to make. Or have I procrastinated this yet again?

Actually, a majority of crafters start their Christmas gifts months in advance. I used to start in September back in the day, but lately I haven’t been inspired to bother or have been busy with other projects. I’ll allow myself to be told this is the case. However, I know it’s because I’ve yet again procrastinated. Surprising? Not at all. I’ve been a procrastinator all my life. But realizing just how close Thanksgiving is made me also realize that Christmas is not far behind it.

So, what to make this year? My brain is aflutter with ideas and at the same time empty of ones that have any possibility of coming to fruition. However, another thought occurred to me, which is that it has been a few years since I’ve made Christmas ornaments. That used to be my expected gift to family, but the last few years have been, well, crappy, so my Christmas Spirit had been replaced with Bah Humbug. Perhaps it is time to once again start up this tradition.

Forty days until Christmas. Where did this year go?

A Handmade Christmas

In the past I have actually made every present I gave away for Christmas, right down to the gift tags and greeting cards. I’d love to be able to get back to that again.

Before I get any further with this, let me explain a few things. By handmade, I mean I purchased materials and created presents, whether they were painted ornaments or books or family tree quilts. I did not go all out and hand blow all the ornaments and mix the paint using pigments and eggs or whatever they use for making paint or create my own paper out of pulp (okay, except for one year) or weave my own cloth and thread and dye them for fabric. Okay, so I gather you probably could’ve gotten that on your own, but just wanted to clarify that contrary to popular belief I cannot do everything.

I don’t know exactly when it started, but Christmastime always gave me a sense that I should give back to those who’ve given to me. I remember as a kid creating activity books for families to do together, and as I got older replacing those books with hand painted ornaments. Eventually I stopped making the ornaments, which is quite sad as I’ve got a ton of blank balls waiting for paint and appropriately sized boxes to put them all in. Hmmm… perhaps I should come up with a simple design, paint and box them up for family and friends. I guess we’ll see how ambitious I get, and it’s not like I’ve got much going on today, except, of course, making Peppermint Bark and maybe another candy like my famous chocolate truffles. I think I’ve got everything to make both my original and orange-ginger versions. Who said handmade presents couldn’t also be edible?

Another option for the crafty individual is to simply get them supplies to make their own stuff. For instance, quilters always appreciate needles, thread and beautiful fabrics. And, even though the internet is quite overflowing with design ideas, sewing books still make great gifts too. Heck, you could even wrap your gifts to a sewer or quilter in fabric! Painters love brushes and canvases or papers. Though, as a painter, I’d be a little skeptical about buying them paint as most have a pretty specific preference, unless, of course, you know what their preference is. Scrapbookers never seem to have enough albums or papers. Well, they usually have way more than they will probably ever use, but always seem to want more! These all make excellent gift baskets, which are both easy to assemble and attractive. But another cute way to give these gifts is in a stacked box display with three or more boxes stacked on top of one another in gradient sizes (smallest to largest) and secured together with ribbon mimicking the shape of a Christmas tree.

While I know Christmas is only a week away, there is still time to make gifts for those on your list you haven’t gotten to yet. Or, if you’re like us, really haven’t even started thinking about shopping for. Then again, sometimes it is just easier to go online, click on a few items to add to your virtual shopping cart, checkout and send those items directly to their recipients. Just saying, if you’ve got the time and are so inclined, why not make something by hand?

I Miss Sewing

I find it humorous that when I have the least amount of time to sew, that is when I want to do it the most. Then again, it seems to be a common theme in life.

For me, I’ve been wanting to get my fall projects done and over with before fall is over, but now I’m thinking that I should start my Christmas projects so they’ll be able to get used this year. Or perhaps since birthday and Halloween parties are over with, I’ll get some time this weekend to work on the quilt and pet blanket. Perhaps.

I am also uncertain what I am going to do for Christmas presents this year, but am thinking that the minimalist Christmases we’ve had the last couple years will be just fine again. I’d like to at least make sure our nieces and nephews are covered, but alas, also don’t want to go shopping for stuff. Then again we already have some purchases that will make great gifts for a couple of the younger ones, so we’ll see where we go with the rest of the munchkins.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get my crap together so that I can push these two fall projects out by the weekend, which for the what I’m making is completely doable. I’ve already started the pet blanket and only have to sew the border fabric for the top and sew it onto some polar fleece with straight line quilting to keep it all together. I know the two small ones I made earlier this summer went together rather quickly, so I can’t imagine it will take that long to do. The quilt on the other hand has a lot of cutting and piecing and may take a bit longer, but I’m confident that once I start working on it the rest will come together fast.