A Revolution of My Own!

Back now from the four-day holiday. It was great, celebrated with family and friends. Besides the traditional festivities and delicious food, I had the chance to begin getting organized for Christmas, doing a bit of Spring Cleaning as well. Down came the pumpkins and gourds, and though I will NOT start Christmas decorating for a couple weeks, I did begin planning some decoration. I like waiting a little while after Thanksgiving before bringing out the red and green. Why rush? It's fun to anticipate (something long gone from our modern society, where folks think if they haven't completed Christmas shopping by now, something is very wrong.)

Anyway, I started my pine cone wreaths. I have collected, over October and November, a myriad of cones on my morning walks. A good friend has gathered even more for me, so I definitely have enough. Now, they are not easy to work with. I can see now, why they are so expensive to purchase in the stores. A lot of man hours. I wired each cone individually to the wreaths. They were all wobbly until I had enough on the form. Then they began coming to life. I have made 2 large wreaths so far.

They look like photo above. Now, I will begin to see what I can do with them to make them beautiful and very 18th Century Colonial, like at right. You can use nuts, oranges, lemons, cranberries, pine boughs. Anything! But it must not be anything manufactured, or commercial. Just all natural elements. In Colonial Williamsburg, they even used shells, because they lived by the sea! Lovely!

People have asked me why I am simplifying this year, and my answer is to bring back some of the REAL Christmas spirit. When you hear of shoppers pepper-spraying other people ahead of them in line in order to be first to get a deal, or sleeping outside a store to be the first in, well, something about Christmas has been lost. So, I am planning my own American Revolution, and seeing what it will yield. I am excited about the prospect of a candle-lit holiday, enjoying friends and family, and making gifts and decorations and sharing time with those I love.

Look at this 18th Century Christmas tree scene from Colonial Williamsburg. Look at the size of the tree. It is small and sparse, but the family's love and tenderness looks very large to me!