Ah, The Holidays Are Upon Us Once More :)

And with them, the frenzy of the holiday season.

My home is a little different than most during this time however.  I usually do a mostly homemade Christmas, and it usually starts in August lol, so I'm a little late this year.  The tradition started when I was a single mom with 3 kids at home, fresh out of a women's shelter, and we had so little for the holidays it was painful to even think about.  To give you an idea, $10 for the materials to make enough Christmas ornaments to cover an entire 6' tree was extravegent.  I did manage to cover the tree that year though, with the help of a Dollar General (for a string of lights and garland), and a Walmart for 3-pronged clear, red and green beads, pipe cleaners and a small skein of gold ribbon for candy cane and wreath homemade ornaments.  (The candy canes looked a lot like these ).  The tree ended up looking beautiful and sparkled, not the Charlie Brown tree I was afraid I was going to end up with. 

From those humble beginnings, the tradition grew.  One year I made baked goods for presents, another year I made homemade candles, and many years I put my needleworking skills to use, making special things for the people I care about most.  One of the things I've noticed, doing these things over the years, is how much I enjoy doing it now.  When I start on a project for someone, I know I'll spend hours reflecting on happy memories of that person while I'm making that special gift for them.  And lets face it--getting a cheezy present I can "afford" from a mass retailer just doesn't mean the same thing.  I can't imagine how many hours I've put into making things for others, hours of effort and loving attention, smiles at imagining them enjoying the fruits of my efforts.  It makes the holidays much less an excercise in obligation (fighting the holiday crowds, spending money I don't have in an effort to impress) and much more an excercise in the loving devotion to that person to spend hours or days, sometimes much longer, just to put a smile on their face and remind them of my love for them. 

I would not mind having an almost entirely homemade Christmas every year.  They are special, and the time people put into them are sooooo beyond price.  They are an expression of love and devotion to others.   It is a reminder of the "Reason for the Season".