CRAZED CHRISTMAS CRAFTING CONTINUES...

Are you ready for Christmas? Have you done all your shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating, gift making, and begun your merry making? Or, are you like me, still in the crazed getting ready for Christmas mode? Thankfully I can cross shopping, wrapping, and decorating off my " to do" list. Baking and candy making are scheduled for Wednesday and merry making will begin on Christmas Eve and continue through the New Year Holiday. That just leaves crafting...which I am still doing! You did read panic into that last sentence did you not?(Darling Daughters fabric necklace. Won't Handy Hubby be surprised that three of his t-shirts are missing? Hee, hee, hee, nothing and I mean nothing is off limits for crafting supplies in my house. I could not get the right fabric for these as t-shirt fabric is out of season and jersey is too heavy.)This happens to me every year and swear it won't. This year I was even prepared, knowing well in advance what I was going to make and what I was going to buy. I even prepared all my projects in advance so I could work on them in stages. I forgot to build in a contingency plan of getting sick which has thrown me for a loop. So, I have slipped into crazed Christmas crafting. With two days tops to get it all done I am starting to panic and slash projects right and left. Thankfully I have several art pieces on hand that I can substitute if I need too.Handy Hubby knows the signs well of when I am in work mode. Poor guy, I was so hard at it last evening I did not realize it was dinner time until I heard him pushing buttons on the microwave, that is about the extent of his cooking skills. He looked kind of forlorn standing there waiting on a frozen entree to heat up, my backup plan for when I can't cook. I took mercy on him, pushed the stop button and offered to go and get his favorite take out instead. He lit up like a Christmas tree, hmmmm, I am going to have to check that expression to see if it is the same when I cook.(Sweet Daughter-in-law's necklace. I just learned how to make these Singed Fabric Flowers. You have got to try them but I warn you, they are addictive!!!)

After dinner I returned to the studio and must have been mumbling under my breath because he stuck his head in the door and asked me what I said. I asked, " Where are the elves?" " What?" " Where ARE the elves?" " What are you talking about?" This is where I got a little crazed, " You know elves, short little people who wear funny clothes and striped stockings, pointy hats and shoes with jingle bells on the toes. They love to make stuff and give it away. They are Santa's helpers. Where are they? You might be Santa's wallet but I AM SANTA and I WANT MY ELVES! In all the stories there are elves, in all the cartoons there are elves, I should know that they exist because I was once employed as one!"Poor guy, he can spot a meltdown a mile away and he does what he always does, he made me laugh. He took me by the shoulders and steered me down the hall, turning me in front of a full length mirror. He asked me what I saw. Looking at his grin I knew exactly what he saw...a short person wearing funny clothes, (vertical striped flannel pj bottoms with a mix matched top and clashing horizontal striped socks minus the jingle bells), someone who loves to make stuff and give it away, Santa's helper. After standing there for a minute he said, " You look like an elf to me." I laughed.We stood there and recalled the first time we met and I was indeed dressed in an elf outfit working for a PCA Photographer taking photos of children with Santa in a local Wal-Mart store. I teased him about how many times he pushed the broom up and down the aisle next to my booth, giving me a shy smile with each turn. I never imagined that a few years later we would date and few more after that marry.I returned to the studio with a renewed spirit humming to myself, " I am Santa's elf, filling Santa's shelf...Oh, I am Santa's elf..." I was stressing and robbing myself of the joy of creating and giving. So what if my fashion forward daughter and daughter-in-law only get two handmade fashion accessories instead of four like I had planned. Hey, they don't know they are getting any!(This one is just about done, a little embellishing of the flowers, applying them, and the evening out the fringe, whew!)

This ambitious elf is scaling back, reigning herself in, and setting some realistic expectations. So I surprise them with the purse and cuff bracelet for no reason at all after the holiday if I can't get them done. The thing is, I lost my focus, its not about the gifts we are giving but The Gift that has already been given, the Christ Child. It's all about keeping things in perspective isn't it?(This one is making me nervous!)

I hope there is no craziness in your Christmas preparations and that your hearts are full of the Christmas spirit bringing you peace, warmth, and happiness this holiday season.