Starting Your Own Christmas Traditions

A little tale to inspire you.

When my children were wee little munchkins~

you know that age when blankets get dragged around,

and teddy bears are still being slept with,

and yes, they were much shorter than me,

that's when it started.

It might even have been a school night.

It's difficult to remember.

I do remember they wanted to watch a Christmas movie

and had half their bedding hanging around the living room.

Of course, this time of year it gets dark about 4 o:clock.

We had eaten dinner already so

I said, "Why don't we just have a slumber party?"

We (even me) made up a giant "bed" on the floor.

I made some tea or cocoa and popped corn.

We turned the lights down and proceeded to watch our movie. 
By the time the movie was over,
they were nearly asleep.
There was no fussing about bed time.

And we did so the following year,

and the year after that, and the year after that.

You get the idea.

It's silly really, but I miss having my 'little' kids here

to do such a silly thing as watch

a movie that we've seen multiple times
and sleep on a hard floor with someones foot in my ribs.

The kids of course remember,
after all, it was just yesterday right?
Perhaps someday, they will continue it with their own children.
(Not too soon - they're not quite thaaat old.)

Another thing that started before my son was even born
was the pickle on the tree.
The story is that long ago when there was little or nothing to spare
for gifts,
a father said he was going to hang a pickle on the tree.
There was but one gift, and
the finder of the pickle got the gift.
I loved this.
I would hang our pickle ornament on the tree.
Christmas morning they would come down the stairs excitedly
and begin looking.
They seemed more excited about the pickle prize
than their actual gifts.
The pickle prize was usually something small that required a second person.
Actually, I think one year it was pick up sticks - like I've shown.
So, they still both got to play/share.

We will go get our tree today.
I've had so many people say, "You don't have a tree yet?"
No we don't.
This is actually a little early for us to get a tree.
We usually get it about a week before Christmas.
There are little 'steps' we enjoy throughout the season.
Christmas doesn't revolve around the tree or decorations for us.
It's making each of those little steps special
as we look forward to that special day
and carrying that in our hearts even after the tree is out the door.

If you have endearing traditions, I'd love for you to share
a comment so we can all enjoy.

Merry Christmas
Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Trim the Tree & Deck the Halls

What? No Halloween Tree? Gasp!

This weekend, I dug into the autumn time bin and did a little decorating.  Each year, we decorate the tree with all kinds of ornaments, some homemade & some store bought, orange and purple candy canes, & black and orange glass balls.  We string the orange lights on the beautiful black branches and take a breath as we plug them in and see it illuminated against the night.  I am working on a quilted tree skirt so it won't always look quite so bare about the bottom.

A few years back, I found a set of Halloween ornaments & nabbed them as it's not something easy to find.

My daughter made this little purple spider years ago  - you know, before she was cool:-)  Actually, she would probably make it all over again today.

I made several owl in the moon (above) and the little hat (below) ornaments.

When the kids were reeeally little, they loved making chenille candy canes so of course, those will always have a place on the tree.

Oh, but we don't stop there - un uh.

There are signs of the season here.

And here.

Grampa's clock has some company.  Looks a little out of place, but so be it.

Made her many, many full moons ago.

Sweet Otis Ryan always makes me smile.

This year I have a special treat to hang above the wine rack.  If you missed that one, you can click here. 

I love autumn.  I don't so much care about being scary, but I love the nostalgia of the season - the games and traditions of long ago come to surface within my heart, and the crisp breeze blows everyday worries away if only for a little while. Everything is pleasant and good.  Our blessings are abundant, and we are genuinely thankful.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches