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| I made this pillow a few years ago and I love it. |
I spend most of my time working towards things for others, like most of you. Selecting gifts, sewing gifts, and making sweet treats. Each year, I make homemade marshmallows and dip them in chocolate. It's one of my favorite traditions, and it's one I missed out on last year while I spend the month in the hospital recovering from my stroke. This week, I've been busy making hundreds of marshmallows. And it brings me joy. We bag them up by the dozen and deliver them to neighbors and friends. I will admit that when someone asks in anticipation if we are doing marshmallows again, or a friend grins wide and squeals when they see the bag, it makes me so proud.
Making candy at Christmas has always been a family tradition as long as I can remember. My mother would make fudge and divinity each Christmas, which she had learned from her mother-in-law. My mom, who was far more detail-oriented than my lovely but scattered grandmother, made them more consistently great and she taught me. I don't make fudge often, and so don't make it well, and I've never made divinity. I tried a recipe from America's Test Kitchen for marshmallows a decade ago and haven't looked back. But I do dip my chocolates just like they did, on a marble slab. I've tried other methods of tempering, following the strict and "foolproof" methods peddled online by more proficient candy-makers than myself, but I have the best luck with the way I learned. So each year, for a week, my marble slab comes out of hibernation and lives on my counter while I dip and dip until I have ziplock bags full of marshmallows waiting to be bagged and tied with a ribbon for our neighbors. It's just not Christmas without them.
When I'm not making candy, I'm sewing gifts. Each year, "Santa" doorbell ditches us on Christmas Eve with new Christmas pajamas. When my girls were little, these were Carter's footie pajamas, and then pajama sets. But my girls are tall and it often ended with my oldest in tears because how could Santa possibly not know her correct size? One year, in desperation, Santa brought two sizes for her so she could pick, but of course, the ones that were long enough were far too large in the waist. So, the next year, Santa made pajama pants and has made them for the last 3 years. This secret sewing has to be more secret than the rest, because the ones that still believe in Santa can't know that I sewed them. So Santa benevolently bring the scraps for me in the package "because he knows I like to sew." I think we're getting close to the end of the line with our babies 8 already, but I think the fun will persist even if the secret doesn't. Last year, my best friend sewed the pajamas for me while I was in the hospital. I couldn't bear the thought of the secret ending just because I was incapacitated. I had cut the pieces out early, luckily, and she's a very capable seamstress. Such a generous offering during a busy time.
Of course, I also sew gifts for each of my girls. I figure, Santa can bring anything from the store, but only I can sew them something special. One year, I made matching dresses, and last year, my oldest daughter, bless her heart, made the boxy pouches I had planned to make for them. I was home in time to make her one for her birthday in January. This year, I made my two oldest girls Rosa Supply Cases; I thought they would like them for art supplies or jewelry.
And I'm just about done with Alpen Belt Bags for my twins. They were jealous that the older girls got Threads belt bags this summer, so I'm making them some fun ones. It's been a tricky pattern, but I'm nearly there. Actually, the Rosa was too. I'm too used to the excellent patterns by Dog Under My Desk, so that whenever I make a bag by someone else, I struggle. I think they'll love them, though. And I don't always make something for my husband, but this year, I made him a boxy pouch for traveling. I'll pose more pictures of gifts later. In the meantime, merry Christmas!
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