Comfort and Joy are exactly what I'm in need of this year. I also don't think I'm the only one. Finding the good feels and is different for each but some of us crafters know that a session at our craft table is the road to peace and contentment. Christmas is a great time for me because I love making Christmas decorations.
I didn't know if I'd be celebrating the Christmas season with family and friends this year but decided I was going to decorate the house and do a full Christmas even if it was just for myself and Sam. It was even more important because we would need cheering up if we were going to be missing out on seeing those we love this year.
When I'm crafting a decoration or putting a vignette together It doesn't matter too much how my projects turn out. They often look different in reality from what I'd imagined but so what. It's the creative process, moving my fingers and mind together to create, that shifts my body and mind from anxiety and tension to relaxed and peaceful.
I started early this year, in October. I began with making a Christmas Junk Journal. I found some cheap paper at the Reject shop and ordered a Stamperia 8x8 paper pad. I also used an embellishment pack from Miss Rose and Sister Violet and a digital Christmas kit from Artymaze Etsy Store. Once I had a collection of my favorite things, I went to work with old cereal boxes, old Christmas cards, tea-stained printer paper, magazine pages, and any bits and pieces of fabric and lace I could find.
I worked for a solid couple of weeks, adding to the pages and collaging to my heart's relief. I created a book where I could record my thoughts and plans. I'm posting some pictures below of the cover and a few favorite pages.
November arrived and I started thinking that I would get the tree in the family room up. I started working on some decorations for that. I printed out some free digital Santa pictures from The Graphics Fairy and pasted them to some cardboard. I then mounted that onto fabric covered cardboard and then added embellishments and a ribbon to hang it with.
The next step was to bring all the Christmas tubs out of the garage and put them under the verandah at my back door so that I could fossick through them whenever the mood struck. I hung up a lovely angel picture created by Sam's daughter when she was in kindergarten. I created a swag to hang at the top.
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| Framed in a poster frame from KMart. I used some folded wrapping paper to create the border. |
The boxes at my back door started to empty as November progressed and I created vignettes around my kitchen and family room. Traditional colors warmed my heart and the happy pops of red cheered me every morning when making my mug of tea. Who can't be happy when Santa is smiling at you from mugs next to the kettle and happy knee hugger elves smile on the window sill?
Here are some photos for your enjoyment.
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| I liked the paper plates so much that I have displayed them as if they were the best china. |
December has arrived and I'm still going with my decorating. The dining room needs a table centerpiece and I haven't started on the Lounge Room yet. My boxes are nearly empty but there will be enough to finish the job. Currently, I'm working on a menu for Christmas day. It turns out we are going to be able to have some family come to enjoy Christmas lunch with us so I'm also working out who can bring what to share on the day.
3 comments:
Dora, you've inspired me to get the tubs o' Christmas down from the loft and get started on the decorating. I'm impressed with that Junk Journal (which I'd never heard of before), I imagine you'll fill it with all sorts of lovely memories.
You are extremely talented, Dora. Thank you for sharing pictures of your work. I can see why you feel better working on such beautiful or fun or beautifully fun (?) items. Your numbers are obviously better than here in the US. Where I live our numbers are still so high. We are nearing 100,000 people who've had or have CoVid and 1K deaths. I may come back and reread your post for comfort and joy because you delivered it for me.
These are stunning! I've never seen such beautiful crafts for the holidays. What a great share.
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