And a happy Christmas!

This year I set aside one day, the 23rd, for our family Christmas at home, and it was really one of the most fun Christmas celebrations that I can remember. Douglas and I have alternated spending Christmases with his family or mine every year since we were married, which has been wonderful. But as more children have been added unto us, I've craved a bit of time for our own family traditions, and togetherness with our own little family of five. Last year, after Christmas was over, I decided that this year I would just set aside a day to be our family Christmas, and I think it worked out nicely. We still had plenty of time to enjoy with my family and Douglas', but it was special to have time just to ourselves, too.


We woke up to a gentle snowfall, which was a simply lovely blessing on the day. We had a leisurely morning of opening stockings and gifts, and then a brunch of scrambled eggs and sausage patties. The kids enjoyed their toys and we cleaned up all the wrappings after eating, then put the youngest two children down for a nap while Edmund was permitted to continue playing with his new things. This was the first year he really wanted a specific toy. He had seen someone played with a radio-controlled helicopter while on a walk this summer, and he remembered that and kept talking about "an airplane that can go on its own." Well, thanks to my parents, his wish came true -- Mom found an inexpensive helicopter on Amazon. We were pretty sure it wouldn't last long in the hands of a five-year-old (it's recommended for ages 14+), and we were right -- but he had such fun playing with it while it lasted!


After naps, we went for a cold walk in the wild (or as close to it as we can get around here), then came home to a dinner of cheese fondue. I have not made that in such a long time, and I wasn't sure if the kids would like the more "grown-up" tasting cheese, but they did! I had planned on serving eggnog for the kids and mulled wine for me and Douglas, but I was so tired I ended up falling asleep at 7:30pm. Thankfully, Douglas put the little ones to bed, so we were all able to get some much-needed rest after a happy day of celebration.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. - I John 1:5

Evening light on fruit

[not a dirty mirror with those specks, just a 100-year-old one!]
I have found that a cheap and easy way to decorate for Christmas is to use mostly natural objects... extra greenery cut from our tree, pinecones, dehydrated citrus slices, and a bowl of seasonal fruit. I set this basket, lined with a green plaid scarf, out on the sideboard of our built-in china cabinet, and filled it with apples, pears, pomegranates, grapefruit, oranges, and clementines. The amount and type of fruit varies as we eat our way through it, but it makes a festive focal point out of something we have on hand, anyway!

December whirling in

There's a prevailing thought that you shouldn't even THINK about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I have come to realize that when you are a homemaker in charge of decorating and festivities, that attitude is Bunk. Hopefully each year I will do better, but I often end up scrambling around, trying to get things pulled together post-Thanksgiving (or whenever we return from our travels -- this year, it was Nov. 30).


At least in one area, I am way ahead of the game -- stockings. I've been wanting to pull together some coordinated family stockings, but as is typical, I couldn't find anything store-bought that I really liked. So last August, I finally made some! Yes, August. I did NOT want to be doing Christmas sewing in December.


I used quilting cottons from Moda's "Lumiere de Noel" line by French General, which is a few years old and very hard to find. I finally found some yardage from a few small online quilting shops. I don't know how many more stockings we may need in future for more children, so I ordered some extra prints just in case! I have stripes and plaids for boys and florals for girls.


I made up my own pattern, which is just a simple and classic stocking shape, with a cuff for names. The stockings are lined with an off-white twill and the cuffs are made from a linen-like cotton, both from Walmart, of all places. I hand-embroidered the names onto the cuffs, using an alphabet lifted from one of my English embroidery books (it is copied from an alphabet on a sampler made by one of the Brontë sisters). The "linen" wasn't quite fine enough to do counted cross-stitch, so I traced each name onto freezer paper, centered and ironed it onto each cuff, and then embroidered over my guide. After 1/2 of the cross stitch was done (all the stitches on one diagonal), I carefully tore away the freezer paper with my fingers and tweezers, then finished the cross-stitches.


I really love the way they turned out, and I am THRILLED to have them done before the Christmas season started! They definitely pass my home decor test: "Is this something that would be found in an English country home?" ;-)

Lavinia's Christmas dress

Lavinia wore her Christmas dress to church today so I was able to snap a few photos. She is proving to be a difficult age to photograph (19 months) so here's a shot of the dress on a hanger, below.


The dress is my own design and pattern, so it was challenging at times but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I love ballet-inspired Christmas dresses (all those years of attending performances of "The Nutcracker"), so I was aiming for that sort of look. I liked the raglan-sleeve party dresses for girls being sold at Boden this season, so that was my model for the bodice. The skirt is a circle skirt, with four layers of tulle over that.


My goal was to spend as little as possible on this dress. The bodice is made from a polyester peau de soie I bought years ago at Denver Fabrics. It is just the color of ballet shoes! It is self-lined, which makes it a little bulkier than I would have liked, but like I said, I didn't want to have to buy matching lining. The underskirt is cut from silk ivory duchess satin left over from my wedding gown. I made the rosettes from the peau de soie and the little ivory leaves are made from silk charmeuse scraps from another project, and the pearl beads in the centers of the roses are also left over from my wedding gown. The only thing I purchased new for this project was the sparkly ivory tulle, which was $1.37/yard at Walmart! So all in all, not too bad.


My mom had some perfect vintage buttons in her stash. They probably belonged to my great-grandmother, who was a minister's wife and did a great deal of sewing, for her own family and for others.


I'm trying to cherish these last few weeks of Lavinia being the baby of the family. I'm so proud of my beautiful little daughter!

Benjamin Britten: A Ceremony of Carols

Christmas vignettes

This is our first year having a real, live Christmas tree. It's an absolutely gorgeous Frasier fir tree that is so tall and full and smells wonderful!


Douglas had to snip a few of the lowest branches off, so I have been using the extra greenery for decorating around the house. I bought an advent wreath frame on clearance last year after Christmas, and this year I've been able to fill it in with fir branches, dried orange slices, and pinecones.


A little Nutcracker vignette. It's the only use my poor pointe shoes are getting these days!


A Jesse tree in our dining room, decorated by little hands.


Winter-y/Christmas books for reading. I love the vintage Little Golden book I found at a used bookstore for a dollar!


Douglas, the resident gardener, is forcing some narcissus bulbs. I don't think they'll be quite ready by Christmas Day, but they'll be a welcome whiff of spring come January. (EDIT: I was totally wrong. They were blooming by Christmas! Those flowers grow fast!)

The first snowman

We were planning to drive to my in-laws' home for our Christmas vacation today, but a snowstorm yesterday afternoon closed the Interstate all day long. (Douglas commented, "You know you're in Nebraska when the winter is mild up until the day before vacation, when a foot of snow closes the interstate for 500 miles.") Although it was disappointing to have our plans thwarted, it ended up being kind of pleasant to have a relaxing day at home. After lunch, Edmund and I bundled up and headed outside to make his first snowman! Well, I did most of the work while Edmund observed, but still. I found a nice, long icicle hanging from the garage to make a nose, vintage buttons for eyes, and a red pipe cleaner for the mouth. I haven't made a snowman in who-knows-how-long, so I enjoyed the snowy fun just as much as Edmund did.

After Edmund went down for his nap, Douglas and I played Carcassonne while enjoying some coffee and Christmas cookies. (I put eggnog in my coffee, mmm!) I am finally getting the hang of that game because I've won four times in a row, whereas when we first got it, Douglas won the first nine games we played. (We're kind of board game nerds and keep track of who won, when and where we played, and other pertinent details by writing it all down on the top of the game lid.)

What are you looking forward to during your Christmas break?

A Jesse Tree

Now that Edmund is three, we wanted to start some more meaningful Christmas traditions within our family. My mom did a Jesse Tree with my brother and me one year when we were kids, but for some reason it didn't become a yearly tradition. I remembered and liked the idea, however, and so this year I found a set of ornaments from Etsy seller Inspired Traditions. (If you are unfamiliar with the meaning of a Jesse Tree, she provides a good explanation in her ornament listings.)

The ornaments come with a little booklet that explain each symbol and give suggested scripture reading, so we've been doing that each morning at breakfast. The ornaments are simplistic, just little wooden discs hung with twine, with colorful but plain symbols on each one. The illustration style reminds me of what you might see on banners and cloths in more traditional churches. I like the visual symbolism, and it's certainly easier for a toddler who can't read yet.

My mom donated a four-foot Christmas tree that she wasn't using, so Edmund has his own little tree. It's nice that he can decorate it however he wants and I don't worry if he takes ornaments off and puts them back on, or if they're not hung in a very picturesque fashion. I think this will make a really lovely addition to our family Advent traditions in years to come.

"The Lamb"

I'm greatly enjoying all my Christmas music and I've been pulling up a few favorites on YouTube, too. I can't embed this one, but I can send you over to YouTube to see the King's College choir perform John Tavener's setting of William Blake's poem, "The Lamb." I rather enjoy the slightly bizarre quality of the music; it matches up with my mental image of William Blake.

Handmade Christmas

Here's a review of some of the handmade items I crafted as Christmas gifts. I went a little more homemade than usual this year, and considering I didn't get started on any of them until December was well underway, I'm pleased that I managed anything at all!

Here we have a counted cross-stitch ornament given to my friend, Susan. I lifted the design from a early 1990s library book. Most of the designs looked fairly out of date, but this classic folk pattern caught my eye. All materials came from my stash.

The recipient of this crayon roll was my little one-year-old niece. I used this excellent tutorial from The Pleated Poppy, adjusting the size to fit jumbo crayons. (If you want to do something similar, my fabric pieces were 5-3/4" x 24-1/2" for the outside and inside, and 6-1/2" x 24-1/2" for the pocket. The crayon pockets end up being 1-1/2" wide.)

Finally, this toile makeup bag went to my Mom. She had requested a smaller-sized makeup bag so this one ended up about 6" x 7." I used a tutorial from Flossie Teacakes, adjusting the sizing slightly and adding box corners. I am not totally happy with the way it turned out because the zipper corners look a little wonky (see photo). Perhaps my upholstery-weight cotton was simply too thick. For the lining, I used polyester lining and lightweight fusible interfacing. Other than the shape, I'm very happy with the neat finishing touches and the pretty fabrics.

I'm a little late, but I'll wish you all a happy (second day of) Christmas! :-)

Poor man's holiday room fragrance

Now that citrus fruits are in season, we've been going through boxes of clementines like there's no tomorrow. Here's a little room freshener idea that makes good use of all those peels sitting around.

• orange peels from 2-3 clementines
  
• cinnamon stick
  
• whole cloves (maybe a teaspoonful?)
  
• a sprinkling of grated nutmeg
  
• (optional) a few drops of sweet orange essential oil (I have it on hand, so I add it)

Place everything in a small saucepan and add some water (not necessarily to cover, but enough that it won't boil down right away). Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Your kitchen will begin to smell wonderfully fragrant. Top off the water as needed. You can reuse the same mixture for several days -- just toss it when it starts to look like a nauseous mess. ;-)

Nine Lessons and Carols

If you live in the States and are within range of a public radio station, chances are you can tune in to a live broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, on Christmas Eve morning. You can check your local NPR station's website to find out when to tune in.

If you can't listen in, you can still enjoy last year's service on YouTube. I love watching and listening because you can enjoy the beauty of the chapel and the cuteness of the choirboys (my husband makes fun of me for melting into a puddle of maternal goopiness whenever they're onscreen, haha). I've started with the first selection, "Once in Royal David's City," below, and the rest of the clips are labeled sequentially so you can watch them in order (or skip around to your favorites like I do).


Have a very merry Christmas, and may the light of Christ shine in your heart!

Greensleeves

I was introduced to this version of "Greensleeves" in Christmas 2008, when we were attending a church with a choir (of which I was a part, since Douglas was accompanist... otherwise I don't think they would've let me join, my singing skills being pretty non-existant. Perks of having a talented husband!). ;) It was one of my favorite songs we performed at Christmas that year. Have you ever heard such a hauntingly beautiful descant as in verse two?

A Nutcracker tea

The Nutcracker ballet has been a major December tradition for me ever since I was a little girl. I first saw Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland on PBS when I was 18 months old and as my parents tell it, I was transfixed. My mom took me to my first live performance two years later and since then it's been a yearly tradition to attend the ballet. We would often invite another mother-daughter duo to come along with us and make a day of it.

If we were traveling in December, we'd try to see a production wherever we happened to be, so I've seen Nutcracker performances in places as far reaching as Sarasota Springs, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Arizona; Edinburgh, Scotland, and many others besides. After seeing so much variety, I know what I like when it comes to choreography, costumes, staging, etc. Like, the Arabian dance should showcase feats of flexibility and strength, and Mother Ginger's children should be little acrobatic whizzes.

I haven't been to any performances since I've been married, and now with a little one taking in a show uninterrupted would be difficult. But this year I was determined that we should have our own little Nutcracker viewing. So, I ordered a DVD of the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker and Douglas and I set a date on the calendar.


To add to the fun we had a little Nutcracker-themed tea beforehand. The treats were a motley assortment culled from the various nationalities and sweets in Act II of the ballet. To wit: Chinese egg rolls, Russian blinis, marzipan and cream puffs, gingerbread scones (for Mother Ginger), Spanish chocolate, and (Arabian) Turkish Delight. Oh, and Simpson & Vail's Nutcracker tea, a "delectable tea blend comprised of black tea, almond pieces, orange peel, cranberries and cinnamon & chocolate mint flavors."

Unfortunately, my choice of DVD was a bit of a flop. I think kids would enjoy it because the two main roles of Marie and the Nutcracker are played by young children, but that meant that dancing was scarce in the first act. When we got to Act II, I found the choreography frankly boring. Afterward I looked up the Baryshnikov/Kirkland production on YouTube and realized I should have stuck with that version for spectacular dancing. I'm thinking next December...

Happy December 1st!

We woke up to a gentle snowfall this morning...

"The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It's dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver-pale.
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound --
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out 'Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.'"

--excerpt from "Advent 1955" by Sir John Betjeman