4 posts tagged “holiday”

I am thinking about the things that make Christmas the season it should be for me.  When I was younger, I had the great joy of seeing the best Christmas play that exists - at least as far as my experience goes.  And one of the things that always felt very much like Christmas was The Butterfingers Angel, Mary & Joseph, Herod the Nut, & The Slaughter of 12 Hit Carols in a Pear Tree aka The Butterfingers Angel.  It was a play that spoke very much to my understanding of how stuff might really have happened.  The way I saw it done Mary's brothers want to eat the baby, Joseph doesn't understand who the father (Father?) is, and everything is almost messy.  Until a beautiful baby is born who changes everyone's minds.
The power to do that, to bring a stop to fighting, a moment of quiet, a reminder of life and death and sacrifice - I don't believe in those gods, that God, but I believe with all my heart in Christmas and the power it should have.
My roommate and I were singing - okay, shouting - carols tonight as we trooped across the field for cat food in the not-very-cold winter night.  Tomorrow we turn worlds upside down, but tonight there were songs of both joy and peace shouted at the top of our lungs.
Maybe I think that's what Christmas is missing - being together, being joyful, loving.  I love getting presents, believe me.  But I also love watching movies with my families, making a mess of the kitchen, sewing and knitting and gluing a storm.  I love watching a friend at work as he makes me a pink reindeer from a martha stewart tutorial, and half-assing a little sheep from pipe cleaner and wool to give back.  I don't want to forget that stuff when I'm shopping - I want to hum along to the canned music and remember.

It's astoundingly frightening to realize that it's been a little over 2 weeks since I posted about a (personal) fad.  Well, I have other current obsessions that I need to be sharing.

The hedgehog thing almost definitely started looking at Emily's pictures of roly-poly wee hedgehogs (scroll, people, scroll).

But then, of course, there's the ridiculously cute japanese fabrics.

Or, hey, hedgehogs in chocolate form (and Canadian - ha!).

Mrs. Tiggy Winkle was one of my favourites by Beatrix Potter - was she in the movie? Needing to re-watch it.

I really really hope the fact that I'm aiming for a handmade sort of holiday isn't coming as much of a surprise to much of anyone.  So I wandered over and added my name to the list at buyhandmade.org.  It's about time.

E.T.A. My lovely and amazing friend over here, pointed me in the direction of these (they're hiding!).

There is a guy at work lately who's been making most beautifullest drawings in pencil crayon.  It seems that it takes much much patience and shading and delicacy - things I maybe sort of slightly don't possess.  I love crafts that you can, literally yank into shape, sewing and knitting, forcing yarn and fabric to do what you want it (or, alternately, lovingly helping it along).  But this year I found this artist: Yuka Yamaguchi - my poor dad thought that we were going for Group of 7 paintings or, really, anything he'd understand, but my sole purpose was to see the picture of the girl with the fish through her stomach.  One of her prints was hanging on my wall for quite a while - and will be again once I find a frame that doesn't cut off this beautiful little girl.  Poor dad still doesn't really get it.

Somewheres, though, there's a pad of paper and some pencil crayons with my name on 'em.

In other news, it's time, it's time for Christmas decorations to take over the WORLD (the same thing we do every year, Pinky).  In my continued love of all things tiny, I'm thinking...something wee.  Ideas will follow, I hope.

In my great rush to post about the small houses, I completely forgot to post about the littlest house in Toronto.  Which I adore, and which reminds me greatly of the tumbleweeds (talking with a guy at work, building one of those seems a possibility).  Oh how I do love home.