Hello friends, have you been having a good holiday season? December was such a busy month for us that I didn’t have any high expectations for holiday knitting this year, but somehow I ended up knitting a cowl for B and a hat for Jeff. I was really happy about that. I haven’t taken pictures of those yet, but I did take a picture of the adorable ornament I knit for B this year. That knit wasn’t finished in time for Christmas, I knit it up the day after, but since we got our tree up later this year than we ever have before, he will still get to enjoy it for awhile since the house vote is to keep the tree up (forever, says one vote.)

The pattern is: Christmas Tree Ornament by Elizabeth Murphy. Ever since I saw the pattern, I wanted to knit one. I think the cinnamon stick for the “tree base” is too cute- the icing on the adorable cake. B told me he wants to sew beads all over it to decorate the tree, what a fun idea- I love it. (Oh, and the yarn was leftover from the sweater I knit for B a few years ago.)

I was so proud of myself for getting most of our Christmas shopping for family done in November, however we got busy with orders and such in December and I found myself scrambling to get all our gifts mailed out. Seeing as I’m getting more organized each year… next year I should have it all together. (Ha!) To simplify things, we did the same gift for the adults in our family- food. Because everybody likes food. (And if we don’t have time to make a handmade gift, we figure the next best thing is something edible.)

We did the same thing last year and it has seemed pretty popular. This year there were pistachios, dried fruit, chocolate, garlic olives, and more, in each package. It’s fun to put them together each year with some of our favorite things. Most of the kids got books this year, and I think we’ll do that again. I love to do unique gifts for all my nephews and Jeff’s grandson for birthdays and I love making things for them, but have realized that we need to keep things more simple for the holidays since our family is large and continually growing.

A fun holiday tradition we’ve had for many years now, is for Jeff to make custom wooden ornaments for the family. My stepmom chooses images that are representative of something memorable from that year, for each family, and then something special for each grandchild. I love seeing what she comes up with, and then I love seeing how Jeff transfers that to wood. After making them, Jeff burns the year on the back. It’s so fun to look back at them! This year when we were decorating our tree with ornaments, I was looking through all the unique ornaments for B from each year and it filled my eyes with tears, bringing back so many memories. Seeing an interest of his from each year reminds me of the age he was at during that time. What a fun gift to be reminded.

Oh, and I’ve always been curious about those oranges with cloves in them (Pomander Balls), so B and I made some this year. I bought cloves from Mountain Rose Herbs (our happy place, we all love going to their store), and a few oranges from the grocery store. We used toothpicks to poke a hole first, before putting the cloves in the orange, and it made it much easier that way. It was a nice, quiet project to work on before bed, and they smelled delicious. We are both wondering how many cloves they need, and how long they will last? Have any of you made them before? I should also ask if you have any favorite holiday movies you particularly enjoy? It’s A Wonderful Life is always a favorite of mine and makes me cry every time… I’m looking at the calendar and can’t believe there are only a few days left of this year!