oh Christmas Tree…

As I write this, my hands smell like cinnamon. We’ve been making (or trying to make) those dried cinnamon and applesauce ornaments, because I thought they’d smell good. But now that’s all I can smell! As we cozy away this season, we find ourselves deep in making-things-mode.

So let’s see…I’ve been missing in action for a month, or maybe more. I should really give warning when I’m going to skip out like that. sorry. It’ll probably happen again though.

We have been…
- trying to be outside (but baby it’s cooooold)
- discovering new food issues (did you know that yeast extract is in everything?)
- baking and cooking pretty much everything from scratch (see above)
- experimenting with our sewing and making skills (and the not cursing ones)
- talking a lot about horses (amelia)
- and using new big words…not necessarily correctly but always entertainingly (riana)
- trying to welcome winter (we’d rather more snow and less cold wind please)
- finding broken things (in ten days: our vacuum, blender, car window motor, beaters, car battery, car headlight, big sewing light…there’s probably more)

So that’s the short of it.
And we made a Christmas tree.

We celebrate holidays with levels of enthusiasm that vary greatly from season to season. This year, we’re pretty decorated…candles each night, chains counting days, presents already wrapped… But in November, Riana decided that she didn’t want a real Christmas tree.

I thought about talking her into it. But it’s true, even though we know that the trees are farmed and provide oxygen and all that, having a tree die in your living room isn’t for everybody. Plus, the last time we cut a real tree, we didn’t have the heart to throw it out. I’m not up for having another tree live with us until springtime.

We scoped the web for ideas… trees that were made of lights, wires, wood, cloth… non-tree decorations… and together, we decided on a cardboard tree. It’s not a big surprise. The girls LOVE to bring home boxes and turn them into everything from doll beds and tables to indoor sleds and stages.

I could have sworn that I took pictures along the way, but said shots must have been imagined. Bear with me on the written description.  So, we used three boxes to cut three branch-sets. We put a slit in the bottom of two and a slit in the top of a third. A second box became the stand.

Over Thanksgiving, we decorated one side of each box with holiday drawings. The other sides, we painted green. The stand is red, and there’s even a nested star on top.

I have to say, I had my doubts, but it’s pretty cute. We strung lights and used colorful paperclips to attach ornaments.

Okay, that’s it for tonight. It’s back to sewing (cloth wrappings!) but I’ll have to be back with some other things from this elf shop (hula hoops, bean bags, and winter head bands, oh my!)

Broken Goal

Well friends, ten days into December and we did not get outdoors today. I have mixed feelings, but the National Weather Service called it a blizzard. It was bitterly cold with negative wind chills. So while I never put a numerical minimum to the idea of getting out, today was just too cold, windy, and drifty.

So we spent time in blankets, watching from the bay window. I thought about shoveling but ultimately decided to bake Swedish Pepparkaker instead. St. Lucia day is Sunday, but we will be in Phoenix, where much of the significance would be lost. I digress.

Happily, I believe that this cookie recipe falls within my goal of limiting sugar. In addition to molasses, there is just 1/8 cup of brown sugar. This will make about eighty thin little Swedish style ginger snaps. Most will go to my Grandma, but some will stay with us, in our warmest, coziest clothes, watching winter unfold.