A festive season

I've been going full speed into Christmas this year.  I always love the season, and this year even more. I've arranged one activity, party, or gathering one after another.  

It has been glorious! (that word should always be spoken the way Will Farrell says it in "Old School")

Last weekend was Breakfast with Santa at Lion's Gate country club.  They have the BEST Santy Claus. 

Sadly, Dewdrop was ill and couldn't make it. So, we will be taking her to see the jolly old elf at the community pool for a Santa Swim party.

I've bought tickets to plays, gone to craft parties, thrown craft days, arranged luncheons, attended gatherings, hosted gatherings, and have had so much going on that there has been something exciting almost every single day.

If there wasn't a special activity going on, Sugarwings and I would make one up. We'd turn an ordinary day into an event. We'd dye trees (our Christmas version of doing eggs at Easter), set up a fancy table with good dishes in front of the Christmas tree and have a cocoa party, draw up a list of holiday lit homes in town and go on an adventure hunt to follow a map and find all the brightly lit up neighborhoods, or just snuggle up and watch some holiday specials on TV.

I've thrown a few parties this season. I like to have my friends over for an annual  ornament making party with their kids, and this year, with my husband's travel schedule for work, it didn't look like we were going to be able to have our big bash. 

So, instead of my usual weekend dinner party with a bonfire and beers for guys and crafting for anyone who wanted to hang out in the studio, I switched it to a luncheon for some of my friends and ornament making afterwards.  

 I wanted to try making these tarts, they are thinly sliced veggies, rolled into spirals and baked in a pie crust lined with ricotta cheese.  And I also wanted my friends to know that they are special to me and I wanted to create a treat for them, so I set the table pretty and had them over.

But we didn't stop there. After school, their kids joined us for more crafting and a few other friends were able to come by to make ornaments too.

We turned it into a whole evening, ordered some pizzas, drank some wine, and had a cocoa party for the kiddos.

I set out thermoses of hot milk, a big bowl of marshmallows, organic candy canes, chocolate syrup, and some cocoa powder  and let them serve themselves from the treat cabinet.  

We also broke up candy canes and put those in the cotton candy maker and that was a hit too. Although, at times, the cotton candy maker was left on unattended, and big fluffs of spun sugar would float across the room.  

I was ready to chase those puffs down and try to catch them with my tongue like snowflakes.

(and was glad that I'd covered up my vintage wallpaper with a curtain before setting the cotton candy maker next to it)

It is always fun to see what everyone comes up with, when presented with a table full of supplies and left on their own.

Lots of different styles of crafts get churned out.

But the best part is the laughing.  It was a fun evening.

I've not finished my shopping or wrapped any gifts yet.  I'll make that work out somehow.  Gift cards for the big kids and a few toys under the tree for kids, probably. This year, I've tried to make the season about the people, not the presents.

 

And to have the holiday spirit of sharing and togetherness for the whole month.   

And of course, soak up the joy every single day!