the holidays are coming, the holidays are coming!

In the past couple of weeks I've been gearing up for some Mad Holiday Action. First is the planning. I have my little notebook that I'm writing all sorts of stuff in, because this year my goal is to go handmade for all my gifts. I usually do some handmade, but, save for a few things for my kids and hubby (he has a special place in his heart for DVDs), I'm making all the gifts. I have thought of some great ideas, even purchased a book on working with beeswax (I'm dying with anticipation) (no, I'm not planning candles). Second is the organizing. My house is in need of some decluttering and cleaning. There's administravia clutter. Mental clutter. I chip away at it. The stakes all of a sudden got a little higher now that Marlowe is freaking mobile!!! Not quite a true crawl...yet! He is definitely inchworming his way through life, though. Then I need to gather my supplies for my handmade gifts. (Man, I wish I could blabber about them, but I don't want to spoil the gifts I'm giving. feel free to email.) I know a beekeeper in Lancaster that I may try to score some beeswax off of. And I'm already saving up for a fun trip to the fabric store.

I used to feel a little embarrassed about making gifts for Christmas, because I was mostly doing it to save money. Now, though, it's something I like to do particularly, money-saving or not. I enjoy thinking of the person I'm making something for. Trying to think of which fabric they would like or what they might need or enjoy. So while I make each gift, I think of and pray for that person a lot. I think it makes Christmas more fun. Not a mad rush to slap some gifts together, but a nice warm, fuzzy holiday. This year, I'm going to try to get Ellis involved in a little gift-making action. I'm hoping he'll understand making something for somebody. And I've managed to talk my whole family (parents, brothers and sisters) to have an entire DiBer handmade holiday.

I'm excited to see that the Sew, Mama, Sew blog has another month of Handmade Holiday ideas.
I also hope to be able to contribute to SouleMama's new project: mama to mama. Go check it out!