Christmas Eve and the Handmade Gifts

Christmas Eve featured appetizers such as this cheeseboard of Vermont cheeses and a final feast of lobster casserole.

We read from my Christmas journal. Every year I keep a journal beginning on the first Sunday of Advent and ending on Twelfth Night. The girls always request a reading. This year I read from 2002 (the first year I began keeping it) and from last year. It is fun to remember back to all the things we made and did.

We listened to music, played Victorian parlor games such as charades where we acted out various Christmas songs, and looked at some of our favorite Christmas books.

After dinner we opened our handmade gifts. I love how excited we all get about this tradition. The focus is definitely on giving and every year the girls sigh and say they would be content if this was all we did. Here's what we all made~

Helen made me this set of napkins.

Liz needlefelted me this beautiful picture which I need to get framed.

I made Liz this owl and a matching buckwheat/lavender pillow.

Nelson made the girls fingerless gloves from thrifted sweaters.

He made me this bag dryer to go on the kitchen sink.
I have been wanting a good way to dry bags for years.

I made Nelson this work apron.
Here he is opening Helen's gift.

Helen made a set of 6 coasters using maps from each place we've been on summer vacation.

Helen made Liz this music folder out of duct tape.
Duct tape is a popular craft medium in our house these days.

Here is Liz with her duct tape folder.

I knit this elephant and sewed these pajamas for Helen.

For the final gift I printed out 2 copies of my blog from 2009. I made them each a copy because I know when they are old and grey, they will each want it. Now I need to get 2010 and 2011 printed. I'm a bit behind.

I'm so glad we started this tradition. To see more from over the years, click on the Handmade Christmas link on the sidebar of the blog.

Read more...

The Christmas Eve Village

We had a very busy Christmas Eve with final handmade Christmas crafting and wrapping as well as a lot going on in the kitchen. By the end of the day we had made:

lobster casserole

asian springrolls

spice cookies

peanut butter cookies

secret kiss butter balls

and sugar cookies

As the afternoon went on, the girls became increasingly hyper. We sent them outside and they reappeared with piles of greens to decorate the house and a stack of birchbark. I showed them Kristin Nichols' birchbark houses and we all got inspired.

First I scrounged through the trash, fridge, and cupboards for butter boxes and other bits of card stock. We hot glued little houses from the boxes.

Then we hot glued onto the houses layers of birchbark. We all went back out to get pinecones and other bits of materials for decorations.

After we completed the houses, we painted on watered-down craft glue and the sprinkled glitter everywhere. I can tell you that clean-up was not for the faint of heart.

Here's the result:

This was a perfect craft for us. We all loved designing the houses and using the natural materials. Elizabeth kept going and made two, complete with porches, fanlights, and other architectural details. It ate up the rest of the afternoon in a fun, family way.

And, they were absolutely gorgeous on the dining table at night. I actually went and sprinkled more glitter on them after the table was set because they just sparkled in the candlelight.

It was a wonderful way to end our Christmas Eve day.

Read more...

Light the Advent Candle Four

The entire family came to see Helen perform in Revels on the fourth Sunday of Advent.
It was a fun show with a great band playing Elizabethan instruments.

The rest of the week was spent helping Helen catch up with tests, homework, and sleep.

There was also lots of crafting. The sewing machine went nonstop for about 3 days. Helen moved it into her room and I heard it going into the wee hours. She not only got all her gifts made, but made a lot of cloth bags for wrapping.

Liz spent hours in her crafting tent.

I spent hours and hours knitting and watching Jane Austen. This is a personal tradition of mine, and I now realize that it isn't Christmas without a Jane Austen marathon.

This crafting is good for the soul.

Read more...

A jar of moss

Helen made this beautiful terrarium for her Biology class.

It included this little field guide for the "Naturally Curious."

Read more...

A box of letters

A box of letters, each with special postmarks and stationery, carefully tied with a blue silk ribbon...a key...

Letters to Hamlet...

and to Lady Ophelia...

A CD with music, chosen just for her...

At the bottom, lying on top of a map of their various travels, was a notice of death--a stark end to their tale.

A wonderful project for English class.

Read more...

Revels

Helen is in the Revels North production this year.
It has an Elizabethan theme and the costumes and set just sparkle. It is amazing that they were able to pull it off considering the costumes were flooded by Irene.

Here's a little video about the show~

She has been rehearsing two nights a week for months. One night she has been a part of the teen chorus, the other night she has been rehearsing a morris dance. It is going to be a wonderful show. For those of you who live nearby, tickets are still available here. We have a huge crowd of family coming on Sunday. Should be fun.

Read more...

Light the Advent Candle Three

The third week of Advent brought serious work on handmade gifts. We each make a gift for each family member to be opened on Christmas Eve.

But first Liz had her Green Mountain Youth Symphony concert. They sounded great.
They got to go on tour to various schools which was a lot of fun
(especially since she got out of school for the day).

Nels chose a sewing project for a gift this year. It has caused a lot of angst getting the machine to do what he wants it to do.

Note, family, I blurred out the critical part of the photo :)

Liz is taking no chances on anyone seeing what she is making. She created a gift-making fort in her room. It is lit by a tiny fake Christmas tree with lights. She has spent hours in there. I have NO IDEA what she is doing.

It took me awhile to come up with good ideas this year, but I now have a plan....and just need to execute it.

Read more...

St. Nicholas

Helen agonized over which shoes to put out for St. Nicholas....combat boots? purple flats? Finally these plaid flats appeared in front of the fire. They each received the traditional chocolate coins, a little felted treasure, and a chocolate orange. I have a box of gold stars from Ikea which I use every year to just add to the magic.


A simple, but much treasured tradition. At least this year I remembered to get the chocolate coins in time. Last year we were a day late!

Read more...

Light the Advent Candle Two

Our Advent Sunday afternoons are turning into simple family moments this season. This Sunday, while Nels took the girls off for a bit of Christmas craft supply shopping, I did a thorough clean and made some thumb cookies--our current favorite Christmas cookie. After everyone got home, we pulled down the Christmas decorations and books from the attic, built a fire, unwrapped the decorations one by one, and each found our favorite books.

Liz found her beloved elf hat.

Quite a change from just 2 years ago.

I enjoyed looking through Take Joy by Tasha Tudor.

Liz and Helen enjoyed looking through Letters from Father Christmas.

I also enjoyed looking through The Medieval Christmas which has some wonderful old traditions in it.

Here's the thumb cookie recipe:

Cream 1/2 lb butter and 1/2 c sugar. Add 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla. Add 2 c flour. Refrigerate 24 hours (although I only did for an hour), roll in balls, press down the center, fill with jam.
375 for 10 minutes. Pretty simple recipe!

Read more...

Class Wish

Liz's class had just finished their "Wish, Wonder, and Surprise" creative writing block. Here is their final mural and haiku. These 7th graders are becoming beautiful artists!


As Liz explains..."the river is washing away all our bad habits. The mountains represent our strengths. The planet and sun represent what we want to achieve."

Read more...

The Gnome Olympics

The Gnome House is one of the most popular events at the Winter Fair. It is a 5' high, domed space created from the top half of a tent and covered on the outside with pine boughs. You have to crawl through a narrow tunnel to get in which makes it a bit tricky for adults. This year the theme was the Gnome Olympics. Children crawl in, explore, and get to choose a little gnome (about 2" high) to bring home. All the gnomes in the photos below are about 2".

Slalom Event

There was a working luge run.

My personal favorite--the line for the outhouse.

Hockey Rink


Figure Skating Event

Gnome Medal Ceremony

I can't imagine how many gnomes they had to make. I have to confess that I was happy to NOT be making gnomes. I made about a million gallons of chili for the cafe.

One other popular spot--hard to photograph--the crystal cookie cave. Children go into a very dark cave filled with cookies and crystals. There is an "angel" playing a harp (who keeps an eye on behavior and replenishes cookies) and children get to choose a cookie and crystal. Helen was a good sport and filled in as the angel for awhile (not her favorite activity--and she's going to make me take down this photo pretty quickly! at least it's not on facebook)...

Read more...