Holiday Spirit

I finally have all the major wrapping done over here! All the gifts are under the tree, looking festive, waiting to be hauled away on Christmas Eve. I even got the stuffed animals all wrapped up in some makeshift, lumpy packaging tied off at the ends with string.

Speaking of my stuffed animals, I was so proud of my creations that I had to group them all up and photograph them to show off to you all.

Besides stuffed animals, I made some knotted headbands for the trendy teen girls of the family, inspired by the knotted headband tutorial found at You Seriously Made That?! The black headband was inspired more by the nautical headband tutorial from the same blog.

I also made a jersey infinity scarf, inspired by the DIY Dish. The black jersey flower I also made and I'll hopefully get around to making a tutorial for that, myself!

Finally, for some, I made these cute little page corner bookmarks, which I love lately. My tutorial for a fabric one can be found here, but I am also working on a How-To for these paper ones with a downloadable printable template. They're so easy to make and infinite in possibility.

But, anyways! Now that I'm done showing off...I wanted to talk about something kind of important this time of year.

I have been trying to remember to hold on to the holiday spirit, which proves to be quite difficult considering the high demands of the season. But we have to try to remember that the holiday season is not about looks, or money, or anything like that. It's supposed to be about compassion, generosity, thankfulness...

The other day I was talking to a neighbor who remarked that she couldn't wait for Christmas to be over. I couldn't help but wonder how it got to be like that with so many people these days. How could anyone feel that way if the holidays were really still just about the love and togetherness? Even Ebenezer Scrooge couldn't resist it in the end.

So when I start to feel like a Grinch thinking about how I have three house parties to get to this Christmas Eve, none of which I will have time to satisfy anyone with Adrianne's presence nor eat anything but a handful of pretzels, and the fact that I'm so pregnant I feel like I could more easily break the couch than get off it and yet I still have to try and travel back and forth like a mad woman because none of our stops are closer than a half hour drive apart...and why did I decide I wanted to make all of my Christmas gifts this year? Will I even finish in time? And did my editing software really just tell me that it is unable to publish my home video - a years worth a footage compacted into 45 minutes - after I had worked on it excessively for a month straight?!

Yeah...when I start to feel like a Grinch thinking about stuff like that...I stop, take a deep breath, and try to invoke that holiday spirit I was talking about. It's easier than it sounds, really. I just try to imagine the look on Michael and Adrianne's faces when they open the amazing gifts I got them this year. I imagine how many memories will be created with Adrianne (and soon Rowan) when it finally decides to snow around here. I recall the jovial feeling of being surrounded by friends and loved ones, all of us buried in wrapping paper, crowded into a single tiny room opening presents. I think of a lot of things that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Watching this little girl have so much fun on a daily basis while learning and growing so fast also helps me to get into the holiday spirit. I can't get over how much she advances in the span of a single day. It's too much, I tell you...

Happy Holidays everyone!