This Year...
...I made this!
The first Christmas I had after moving out of my parent's house was interesting. If you've ever been to my apartment or have been inside of my purse you'll know, I have a lot of stuff. But I didn't really have Christmas stuff. My Mom had bought us a box of ornaments, I had a big blingy "M" ornament, and some different figurines I had picked up over the years.
But I didn't have a Christmas tree or garlands or any of the big stuff to decorate my home. But I got all that. I bought a Christmas tree. It's fake, but save the earth right? I burn an Evergreen candle from Bath and Body Works so there's a piney smell around it.
But it wasn't the same.
My parent's tree is fantastic! It's the same every year and it's got so much personality, mine looked store bought. There are homemade ornaments, pictures of us as kids, tinsel which you apparently can't buy anymore, really fun bubble lights, pieces passed down from my grandparents. It's us. It's our tree. And I love it! It goes up at Thanksgiving comes down at New Year, it's perfect.
Everything about mine was ornaments that look the same and plastic-y. But it was mine. And I decided to start making my own Christmas traditions. And one of them, the most important for now, is that I make a decoration of some kind.
That first Christmas, I made a reindeer ornament. There's a homemade one on my parents tree; one of us made it when we were kids and I love it. The one I made ended up looking like Hitler with a tan wearing an antler head dress.
Traditions are what you make them and not everything I do turns out well so it's really just a reflection of me. And I like it. I cringe every year I pull it out of the box and it makes me laugh because it's so ugly.
The next year, my first year here in El Paso, I made a garland. I had bought some, strands?, do you call them strands of garland? I don't know. But I had a couple of things of garland and one of them I had spruced up (see what I did there?) the year before by wrapping ribbon around it and tying bows in random spots. But I had another one, a bunch of huge fake poinsettia's, a string of pine cones and berries, and some sticks of holly berries. So I weaved them all together on the piece of garland and I love it! It actually looks pretty awesome!
So this year I was trying to think of what to make and I kept looking at Pier 1's decorations because they're always so cute! And I don't know why, but I really wanted to get a set of blocks that have some Christmas-y phrase on them and thought why don't I make those?
So I did.
Technically they came pre-made. The blocks were cut and the letters just needed to be punched out of a piece of wood, but I painted the edges, glued the letters and blocks to fun festive paper, cut them out of the paper, and wrapped the edges of the blocks with this fun glittery tape I found in Michael's. And got my Christmas blocks.
I like them. They are a great addition to my Christmas decoration collection and I love this tradition. I like making things for my home. Things to remind me of past Christmases and the places I lived. The ugly reindeer will remind me of my first apartment, my first "solo" Christmas. The garland, my first year in El Paso. The blocks, of the first Thanksgiving I spent with friends (and had a great time!) and had the time to make something because I wasn't traveling and rushing around trying to get home and back home.
I love Christmas. I even love my ugly Hitler reindeer ornament.
The first Christmas I had after moving out of my parent's house was interesting. If you've ever been to my apartment or have been inside of my purse you'll know, I have a lot of stuff. But I didn't really have Christmas stuff. My Mom had bought us a box of ornaments, I had a big blingy "M" ornament, and some different figurines I had picked up over the years.
But I didn't have a Christmas tree or garlands or any of the big stuff to decorate my home. But I got all that. I bought a Christmas tree. It's fake, but save the earth right? I burn an Evergreen candle from Bath and Body Works so there's a piney smell around it.
But it wasn't the same.
My parent's tree is fantastic! It's the same every year and it's got so much personality, mine looked store bought. There are homemade ornaments, pictures of us as kids, tinsel which you apparently can't buy anymore, really fun bubble lights, pieces passed down from my grandparents. It's us. It's our tree. And I love it! It goes up at Thanksgiving comes down at New Year, it's perfect.
Everything about mine was ornaments that look the same and plastic-y. But it was mine. And I decided to start making my own Christmas traditions. And one of them, the most important for now, is that I make a decoration of some kind.
That first Christmas, I made a reindeer ornament. There's a homemade one on my parents tree; one of us made it when we were kids and I love it. The one I made ended up looking like Hitler with a tan wearing an antler head dress.
Traditions are what you make them and not everything I do turns out well so it's really just a reflection of me. And I like it. I cringe every year I pull it out of the box and it makes me laugh because it's so ugly.
The next year, my first year here in El Paso, I made a garland. I had bought some, strands?, do you call them strands of garland? I don't know. But I had a couple of things of garland and one of them I had spruced up (see what I did there?) the year before by wrapping ribbon around it and tying bows in random spots. But I had another one, a bunch of huge fake poinsettia's, a string of pine cones and berries, and some sticks of holly berries. So I weaved them all together on the piece of garland and I love it! It actually looks pretty awesome!
So this year I was trying to think of what to make and I kept looking at Pier 1's decorations because they're always so cute! And I don't know why, but I really wanted to get a set of blocks that have some Christmas-y phrase on them and thought why don't I make those?
So I did.
Technically they came pre-made. The blocks were cut and the letters just needed to be punched out of a piece of wood, but I painted the edges, glued the letters and blocks to fun festive paper, cut them out of the paper, and wrapped the edges of the blocks with this fun glittery tape I found in Michael's. And got my Christmas blocks.
I like them. They are a great addition to my Christmas decoration collection and I love this tradition. I like making things for my home. Things to remind me of past Christmases and the places I lived. The ugly reindeer will remind me of my first apartment, my first "solo" Christmas. The garland, my first year in El Paso. The blocks, of the first Thanksgiving I spent with friends (and had a great time!) and had the time to make something because I wasn't traveling and rushing around trying to get home and back home.
I love Christmas. I even love my ugly Hitler reindeer ornament.
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