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My favourite (Christmas) things
Dec. 5th, 2004 07:18 pmWe have finished putting up and decorating our tree. Elizabeth helped unload the Rubbermaid box full of ornaments, and helped unload the tree as fast as we could load it. It's going to be a long season of, "No, dear, leave that alone," and "Don't touch please! No, put that back!"
As I was unpacking the box and rescuing precious memorabilia from toddler fingers, it occurred to me that part of the reason I love Christmas so much has to do with the memories bound up in these items. None of them are very expensive. Many were gifts, some were handmade by me, some by other people. I'm going to give you a list of my favourite Christmas things, in roughly descending order of importance. I've always believed in saving the best for last.
1) My Christmas Fake Book - this is a book of sheet music that gives melodies and chord names. I am learning how to play in a totally different way from my usual classical style, using this book. It takes up about half my time at the piano most days. It's been in my possession for about two years now, and I've yet to pack it away.
2) Chintzy ornament collection - these are the cheap ornaments purchased from Zellers in years when we had no money for the fancy ones. Some are special because Piet and I chose them together. One set - three pine cones with little wooden heads and Santa hats - is special because two years ago, while I was pregnant, Piet's parents gave it to us. The three ornaments are labelled "Pieter", "Erin", and "Elizabeth".
3) Nice ornament collection - these are the "collector's" ornaments that were either bought for us or bought by us. There are two, a bell and a heart, that are beaded with little roses on them, that came from Piet's mom the first and second years we were dating. There is a wide variety of glass stars and angels, mostly purchased through the Avon catalogue, either by me or by my grandmother. I love the way they catch the light and seem to dance. There are the plush Boyd's Bears, two of them, both with wings. They go near the bottom so Elizabeth has something she's allowed to touch. There are ceramic angels and a ceramic Holy Family, mostly made by the company that makes Precious Moments and sold through Avon. Again, these were gifts from my grandmother. And there's a little six-pointed star that I bought at a stall at the Canadian National Exhibition the year before I was married. The vendor was a Quebecois artist who had spent two and a half weeks in a province where he hardly spoke the language. He was thrilled to find out I spoke French, and we talked for twenty minutes about his art and his home near Trois Rivières. I really wish I had been able to afford one of his nativity sets for my mother-in-law. She collects them, and his were lovely and lovingly made.
4) Homemade Ornament collection - these come in three categories. The first are those little plaster dodads that one buys at craft stores, paints, glazes, and hangs with string. My sister and I had a ball with those about ten years ago. A few have been broken, but most have survived two moves to dance in all their poorly-painted glory on my tree. Elizabeth liked the sleigh with the kids on it. She wandered around with it saying, "Seigh! Seigh! Kids on seigh! I like it!"
The second category come from the early days of my crochet hobby. I started crocheting in the fall, and the pattern book I used to teach myself had several really easy Christmas patterns - stockings, a tree skirt, and a draft blocker. I figured out about two weeks into my new passion that crochet could be done around any object that would hold a loop of yarn. Armed with this idea and an urge to actually finish a project, I got some pipe cleaners and Christmas sparkly yarn. I made a loop out of the pipe cleaner, squeezed as many double crochet stitches onto it as I could while throwing in the occasional picot stitch for variety, formed the rest of the pipe cleaner into a bow, and voilà! Cute little wreaths. Well, I made dozens of them. Some I put too few stitches on, some too many; some I used to thick a yarn, or too big a loop. I used them as package ties, and I put them on the garland going up the stairs. I love them, even the ugly ones.
The third category of homemade comes from the advanced days of my crochet hobby. I learned to do thread crochet by the time-tested trial-and-error method. Snowflakes are wonderful things to learn on, because if you screw it up beyond redemption, you've wasted maybe ten yards of thread and one hour of your time. I turned these out in more modest numbers, but I still have about a dozen. You can buy them in the store for a dollar or so, but mine are so much nicer than those because I put my own effort into them.
4) My tree skirt and pillow sham - these, also, are from the early days of my crochet hobby. The stitches are huge, the tension sloppy and loose, and one corner of the sham is coming unravelled. But I love them. If I ever get around to it, I might make myself a new tree skirt from a modified version of the same pattern, with more texture and a nicer shade of red. Until then, this one will chintz up my dining room nicely.
5) Memorabilia ornaments - these are the ones with dates on them. Some I bought because they were pretty in the Avon catalogue. Some, like the one from last year, mark a specific event in the life of our family. Some were given to us to mark our first married Christmas or our new home. They're special for the memories they bring. The most recent was the snowman ornament that was given to Elizabeth last Christmas. Opa bought it because he said it looked like her. At the time, he was right. Now it's special because she has fallen in love with it.
6) And last, the most important of all. Remember the saying that good things come in small packages? Well, the story that goes with this ornament proves it.
The ornament is a Carleton one. It is a gold metal heart with a blue ribbon embossed on it, and it is a locket. When you open it up, on the left side is the date, 1997, and on the right side it says, "Love is the Gift of Christmas." I received this ornament on Boxing Day 1997, at a park near my house where it was very cold and a bit damp. Piet gave it to me, still in the box. I have never been so surprised. It was not at all what I expected. Then I realized it was a locket. Inside it was my engagement ring.
I'm telling you, if anyone ever asks you for a romantic way to get engaged at Christmas, tell this story. We were married eighteen months later, to the very day.
And those are my favourite Christmas things.
As I was unpacking the box and rescuing precious memorabilia from toddler fingers, it occurred to me that part of the reason I love Christmas so much has to do with the memories bound up in these items. None of them are very expensive. Many were gifts, some were handmade by me, some by other people. I'm going to give you a list of my favourite Christmas things, in roughly descending order of importance. I've always believed in saving the best for last.
1) My Christmas Fake Book - this is a book of sheet music that gives melodies and chord names. I am learning how to play in a totally different way from my usual classical style, using this book. It takes up about half my time at the piano most days. It's been in my possession for about two years now, and I've yet to pack it away.
2) Chintzy ornament collection - these are the cheap ornaments purchased from Zellers in years when we had no money for the fancy ones. Some are special because Piet and I chose them together. One set - three pine cones with little wooden heads and Santa hats - is special because two years ago, while I was pregnant, Piet's parents gave it to us. The three ornaments are labelled "Pieter", "Erin", and "Elizabeth".
3) Nice ornament collection - these are the "collector's" ornaments that were either bought for us or bought by us. There are two, a bell and a heart, that are beaded with little roses on them, that came from Piet's mom the first and second years we were dating. There is a wide variety of glass stars and angels, mostly purchased through the Avon catalogue, either by me or by my grandmother. I love the way they catch the light and seem to dance. There are the plush Boyd's Bears, two of them, both with wings. They go near the bottom so Elizabeth has something she's allowed to touch. There are ceramic angels and a ceramic Holy Family, mostly made by the company that makes Precious Moments and sold through Avon. Again, these were gifts from my grandmother. And there's a little six-pointed star that I bought at a stall at the Canadian National Exhibition the year before I was married. The vendor was a Quebecois artist who had spent two and a half weeks in a province where he hardly spoke the language. He was thrilled to find out I spoke French, and we talked for twenty minutes about his art and his home near Trois Rivières. I really wish I had been able to afford one of his nativity sets for my mother-in-law. She collects them, and his were lovely and lovingly made.
4) Homemade Ornament collection - these come in three categories. The first are those little plaster dodads that one buys at craft stores, paints, glazes, and hangs with string. My sister and I had a ball with those about ten years ago. A few have been broken, but most have survived two moves to dance in all their poorly-painted glory on my tree. Elizabeth liked the sleigh with the kids on it. She wandered around with it saying, "Seigh! Seigh! Kids on seigh! I like it!"
The second category come from the early days of my crochet hobby. I started crocheting in the fall, and the pattern book I used to teach myself had several really easy Christmas patterns - stockings, a tree skirt, and a draft blocker. I figured out about two weeks into my new passion that crochet could be done around any object that would hold a loop of yarn. Armed with this idea and an urge to actually finish a project, I got some pipe cleaners and Christmas sparkly yarn. I made a loop out of the pipe cleaner, squeezed as many double crochet stitches onto it as I could while throwing in the occasional picot stitch for variety, formed the rest of the pipe cleaner into a bow, and voilà! Cute little wreaths. Well, I made dozens of them. Some I put too few stitches on, some too many; some I used to thick a yarn, or too big a loop. I used them as package ties, and I put them on the garland going up the stairs. I love them, even the ugly ones.
The third category of homemade comes from the advanced days of my crochet hobby. I learned to do thread crochet by the time-tested trial-and-error method. Snowflakes are wonderful things to learn on, because if you screw it up beyond redemption, you've wasted maybe ten yards of thread and one hour of your time. I turned these out in more modest numbers, but I still have about a dozen. You can buy them in the store for a dollar or so, but mine are so much nicer than those because I put my own effort into them.
4) My tree skirt and pillow sham - these, also, are from the early days of my crochet hobby. The stitches are huge, the tension sloppy and loose, and one corner of the sham is coming unravelled. But I love them. If I ever get around to it, I might make myself a new tree skirt from a modified version of the same pattern, with more texture and a nicer shade of red. Until then, this one will chintz up my dining room nicely.
5) Memorabilia ornaments - these are the ones with dates on them. Some I bought because they were pretty in the Avon catalogue. Some, like the one from last year, mark a specific event in the life of our family. Some were given to us to mark our first married Christmas or our new home. They're special for the memories they bring. The most recent was the snowman ornament that was given to Elizabeth last Christmas. Opa bought it because he said it looked like her. At the time, he was right. Now it's special because she has fallen in love with it.
6) And last, the most important of all. Remember the saying that good things come in small packages? Well, the story that goes with this ornament proves it.
The ornament is a Carleton one. It is a gold metal heart with a blue ribbon embossed on it, and it is a locket. When you open it up, on the left side is the date, 1997, and on the right side it says, "Love is the Gift of Christmas." I received this ornament on Boxing Day 1997, at a park near my house where it was very cold and a bit damp. Piet gave it to me, still in the box. I have never been so surprised. It was not at all what I expected. Then I realized it was a locket. Inside it was my engagement ring.
I'm telling you, if anyone ever asks you for a romantic way to get engaged at Christmas, tell this story. We were married eighteen months later, to the very day.
And those are my favourite Christmas things.