In what is proving to be my latest finish ever, the Christmas cards are finally finished and on their merry little way. And since they are still in transit for the majority, I can’t really show them yet. But I will show this – the remnant pile, scraps of paper cut out late into the night. And although they were planned and started before Thanksgiving…well, this year it just took awhile to get to them. Every year we try to do more, and by “do” I mean make or create gifts for our friends and family. I love this idea, and we enjoy putting everything together. But it does require some forethought and a fair bit of midnight oil to burn. E’s pitched in at a grand scale, further proving that children are best when exploited for their clever and charming crafty ways. I mean, no one wants to post a Polaroid of me surrounded by a Popsicle stick frame in the middle of their refrigerator…
My cards are my favorite part of preparing for Christmas, and I truly enjoy making them. But not nearly as much as I enjoyed sliding those over sized green envelopes into the mail slot this morning. I hope it’s as fun to open them on the other end. We revel in the cards that fill our box each day.
Since I can’t show the cards yet, I’ll show some already opened gifts we shared with our friends. After listening to this piece on NPR and then seeing this review on a favorite blog of mine, I knew these books had to be purchased. The bags contained the book, plus a few key items (shower curtain, lemons) to make certain items shown in the book, items marked with a bookmark that E made herself. Because, really, everyone should know how to write secret messages with lemon juice and make a waterproof seat cushion for campfire sitting. I mean, really.
unwrapping some of the first gifts of Christmas