I wiped out the rest of the branches I collected from our woods by making yet another garland, this one for the window in my kitchen nook. On it I decided to hang some extra glass bulb ornaments and I might also display Christmas cards on it. It's been a restful but productive weekend so far...I cooked up a big ham dinner with all of the sides last night...yummo!
So this past Thursday, I decided to try to make one myself...
The husband was recruited to help with the first part of the project, collecting the branches. We went out into the woods on our property and found a part of a cedar tree that had been damaged and was growing at an odd angle.
The growth of this part of the tree was inhibiting other healthier trees nearby, so it was the perfect candidate to receive a good pruning.
Gratuitous pet shot of Bambino, he likes going out in the woods with us, he runs around and plays the whole time. I was able to catch him in a split second of stillness.
Back to the house we went, branches in hand...I was carrying a good amount as well.
That was a very cold but very pretty morning...
Later on in the afternoon, I began the task of assembling the garland. I already had the florist wire and wire cutters on hand, left over from a project that I had done many moons ago.
The garland came together much, much quicker than I predicted. The key was to cut a bunch of wire pieces and a bunch of cedar boughs ahead of time. I did get a little bit of a rash on my hands from the tree's oils and it was pretty chilly outside, even in the sunshine, but it was worth it. (The rash went away after a couple of hours and a couple of hand washings.)
I love the finished product, I can't believe how easy it was and how great it turned out. The husband put a couple of small hooks in the top of the door fram for me to hand the garland from. Once it was hung I did go back and add to the garland in a few places to fill it out and give it a richer look. I ended up making a second garland right after this one for our neighbors. We owe them a debt of gratitude because Berkeley (our rooster) has been recooperating with them (long story that I'll try to remember to share another time). I've gone back and forth with the idea of adding ribbon to my garland or hanging some of our extra glass bulb ornaments on the it. I may still do so, but then I may just leave it as it is...I do kind of like the "natural" look. This is the first time I've every done anything more in the way of outdoor Christmas decorating besides hanging a wreath on the door...it was fun. Of course it is very satisfying to know that I did it all essentially for free, my only costs were some wire that I already had and time in. I'm planning to make one or two more of these garlands for inside the house...if I actually follow through on that plan, there will be pictures shared. I'm finding this whole "handmade holiday" thing to be more fun than I would have predicted.
This year is the first year that I really gave decorating our entryway and staircase a good try. I like how it turned out, simple but nice. It is very cozy at night with the lights on the tree and the garland turned on. I feel like this is the first year that I have really taken true domestic initiative for the holidays, it feels instinctively right!
As promised, I wanted to share what some of our holiday traditions are. This year and for the 4 years prior, around Christmastime, the husband and I have always gone to Leavenworth, WA, a Bavarian themed village I have talked about before. There is a store there called Kris Kringle, that we always visit to pick out an ornament. It is two stories full of all things related to Christmas. They have every category of ornament you can think of...there is even a room full of the Christmas village houses that light up all displayed creatively (this is the s-son's favorite part). The store is either heaven or overwhelming as hell, depending upon who you are. I happen to like dropping in there once a year, to me it is a part of what it means to celebrate the holidays in Washington with the husband.
It is getting quite cold at night lately. This morning was the kind of morning where if I still had to commute to work (or if my commute involved driving a car rather than walking down my hall), I would have requested that the husband drive me to work because of the icy roads. I grew up in California, you see, so I have yet to become really comfortable with slippery conditions. Because I didn't have to go anywhere, the frost on the ground was kind of nice, even cozy. It wouldn't have even bothered me if it had been an inch or two of snow. The sun came up bright in a clear blue sky and the air was so cold and crisp it was almost piercing. As a teacher, I'm used to being home in the summertime, but having the chance to slow down a bit and enjoy a winter morning still feels like a treat. Of course there is still work for me to do, I can't sit and blog all day, but I do have a few pictures to share, it was such a pretty morning that I was inspired!
I have mentioned that I had a suprise for the husband this Christmas, this advent calendar is it. The idea was inspired by a few sources, one of them was Maya of maya*made, I saw an advent calendar that used toilet paper rolls on her blog last year and I liked the idea of repurposing something that normally is thrown away. I have been saving the rolls for the last couple of months, sometimes forgetting to stash them. I only had 12 rolls saved when I started the project, so I supplemented by making paper "envelopes" of different shapes, trees, snowflakes, gift boxes, even a snowman, all from paper that was headed to the recycling bin. The insides of each day's container holds either a present or a clue to find the present. Some of the items cost money, others are more of the "thoughtful" type of gift. Some are practical items, others are a special treat or something that the husband has mentioned in passing over the past few months. It took quite a bit of work to plan and assemble the calendar, but I enjoyed it completely. It has actually been hanging in the arched entry to our rec room since the evening before Thanksgiving because I was so excited to have it ready to go. I can already see myself making an annual tradition out of this, though I might try to get an earlier start in the future. The husband has been reading the blog a bit lately, so I can't get into too much more detail about the calendar, but perhaps I'll get to share a bit as the 24 days before Christmas pass.
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