Jan 6, 20232 min read

Elf Time

Most of us are just coming down after the stress of the holidays, the pressure to be a jolly ol’ elf. Are the elves jolly, or is that just Santa? Either way, the week before Christmas is crunch time! Shopping, ordering, wrapping, experiencing, tradition-making and keeping. November 1 hits and it’s a whirlwind until about January 3rd.

My sewing room gets hit just as hard! Actually, it gets hit so hard, I kind of avoid it from December 24th until sometime in January when I decide I probably should clean up the fabric scraps and vinyl leftovers and bits of wrapping paper strewn everywhere (see picture below - Exhibit A). Maybe I should put the leaning pile of fabric back on the bolts and return it to the shelves. Maybe - just maybe - I’ll have a minute to make myself something!!!

But really - on top of my own list of projects I’d like to make for people, orders come in as well! Let’s see, 2022 brought with it - 5 pillows, 4 bears, 3 quilts, 12 embroidered items, 2 stockings, a baby taggy lovey, and a unique one - a weighted baby pillow. Gifts included a t-shirt, luggage tags, a stroller tag, a monogrammed and appliquéd sweatshirt, 2 pillows, a whole lotta ornaments, some photo books, an interactive adventure book x3, a soft picture book toy, and an assisted-by-a-friend stylized print for my husband with a picture from our favorite vacation spot and the words to our first dance song. I also got to make an epic door decoration on my classroom, coordinate the art project gifts for my students to give their parents and my team and I made ornaments to give our students! Yeah, I’ve been busy.

This year, my 2.5 year old daughter got in on the fun. She was the cutest "assistant," we painted ornaments for grandparents and aunties, made footprint art, made her first beaded necklace, and built then painted a birdhouse Santa brought. Really, of all of the toys, she kept asking to build the birdhouse!