Nov. 19th: Holiday Crafts!

I am a girl who loves her crafting.  I blame/thank my mother for my crafting abilities.  She always had some craft project going on - whether it was smocking, knitting, sewing, something else entirely, or some combination of any of these.  She was also the one who made sure every single one of my birthday parties involved the creation of some sort of craft.  So it didn't take long for me to catch the bug.  Also, I feel like there is nothing better than the sentimentality that comes from giving or getting a homemade gift.  So when my friend invited me to an advent calendar making party, I made sure that I would be there.

One of my favourite Christmas traditions growing up was my Mom's homemade advent calendar. She made these decent sized bags that she filled with four baggies in each bag.  Each bag would have a new treat in them and the treats got progressively better as we approached the 24th when we finally got our Laura Secord chocolate marshmallow santa.  In some ways I am sure my Mom hated making the calendar because she would painstakingly count out each candy in every bag (sometimes even the colours of the m&m's) to make sure there would be no chance of any of us complaining of inequality.  ... And then true to form someone would find a reason to be convinced that their baggie was better than everyone else's - thereby diminishing any and all efforts Mom had made.  We thought it was funny.  Understandably - she did not.  (Sorry Mom!)  But the fact remained that we all LOVED that advent calendar, so it was my goal to make one that came close to being as good as hers.

I actually cheated and did a little pre-crafting because I wanted all of the bags sewn by the time I got to the party so that I had the party to cut out and sew on all of the numbers.  I got all of the numbers cut out, but even over the duration of watching White Christmas and Step Up 2, I was not able to get all of the numbers sewn on.  I finished all of the bags today though, and I think they look pretty good if I do say so myself.  They aren't as big as Mom's were, but they will do.  I am sure Luke won't complain.

Yup - all that work and I won't even be the one to enjoy it!  Though I will take great pleasure in giving it as a gift.  And fortunately I will be the one getting the candy to fill the calendar - so if I just happen to get a little more than needed, well then I guess I'll just have to find some way to deal with it.  :D