I realize that this is going to sound bad, but I do love presents! I am excited for both the giving and the getting of Christmas, but truth be told, I do love pretty little packages just as much as the giving… the giving is fun (making is the BEST), but presents are just… exciting! I like to see what people think to get you… it’s so nice to get things you wouldn’t normally think of for yourself… it expands your horizons and leaves you with little reminders of the people you love.

The shopping in stores makes me anxious… Remember the Goonies where Chunk says, “I’m not all alone in the dark. I like the dark. I love the dark. But I hate nature! I HATE nature!” Me during the holidays: “I’m not overwhelmed in the holidays. I like the holidays. I love the holidays. But I hate shopping! I HATE shopping!”  I digress.

Since last Christmas I went overboard with asking for house books, this year I didn’t ask for any… and I’m feeling a little askers-remorse. Severe askers-remorse. My all-time favorite is Barbara Bestor’s Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake, but I’m also really fond of Judith Wilson’s Harmonious Home, and Amy Butler’s Found Style. I just wish I had had some forethought to think of house books when asked for my Christmas list. Instead I just clamored on and on about a finished house and a camera (no no no no regrets there!) and said there’s not anything I want (not true!). I know I have a hard time thinking under pressure, but next time, think brain, think!

I’m feeling a little stressed out about the Holidays… especially since Christmas is less than two weeks away, but I guess since this happens every year, that it is just what happens. Although I remember one year feeling really prepared and excited for Christmas. I also remember another year, and the nervous break-down chart that was created amidst the rehab, where I scored a 9 out of 10 just before Christmas (I was making aprons for my mom and sister and a gardening tote for my mother-in-law… they all turned out as if a 5th grader made them. Good times, good times.). Maybe it was a 9.5, can’t remember. Anyway, maybe this is just what happens, and as my sister would say, “it is what it is.” Despite it though, I still love Christmas.

Next year I am taking the handmade pledge and will either buy handmade or make all gifts. It’s more meaningful and more fun anyway! I just hope next year (and the gifts I’m making this year), look as if an adult made them, not a tiny pre-teen. I am more of a Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none, so you never can tell what the end product will be.

Regardless, I am ready to sew this weekend. Fabric, check. Thread, check. Sanity… ?

I’m only making a few of the bags (down from the 10 I originally thought I had time for), but making stuff relaxes me, so I think it will be both therapeutic and relaxing! I hope.

I started our Christmas cards about two weeks ago, but I haven’t actually started making them yet. Ultimately I’d love to have these screen printed (I don’t think they’d be a good letterpress project), but there is the small hiccup of time and I don’t know how to screen print. Ha!