A Home-made Christmas

I decided this year to try my best and either give home-made gifts or to buy local for Christmas.  Surprisingly, it has not been that difficult.  Sure, there are a lot of things that I have to buy that are mass-produced like an Ipod, Lego, or soccer gear, but I am pleased to say that the majority of the gifts I am giving to people larger than 5 feet tall are home-made.  This Saturday, Dec. 8, there is a craft sale being hosted by a local Alpaca farm here on the Kingston Peninsula, and I am so excited to go!  I think a pair of warm, Alpaca mittens would make an excellent stocking stuffer.  I teased Zoe that maybe they could even make her a pair of Alpaca soccer shorts, but she did not find that amusing . . . sheesh . . . teenagers!

Anyhoo . . .

So, it's really killing me that I can not share all of my home-made gift ideas here on the ol' blog, but too many of my gift receivees are followers.  I can tell you, though, that some of them are sewn, some of them are glued, some of them will be baked, and some of them have taken me over a year to make.  It really does make giving gifts more exciting when you have taken the time to craft it yourself.  Here's a sneak peak at some of my projects waiting to be stitched together . . . ooooh, ahhhhhh!

Last night as I sat down to complete a couple of gift projects I have on the go, Avery sat down beside me and began writing a story.  Then he drew some pictures.  I thought to myself:

Awwwww . . . Isn't that sweet.  He is making gifts too.

Avery is a lot like me. He loves to work with his hands, and he enjoys keeping busy.  Zoe likes to keep busy too, but she is more apt to pull out a book of Soduku puzzles than sit down and work on a craft.  Elliot, on the other hand, is only interested in activities that involve a screen and a controller.  In fact, while Avery and I were busy creating and Zoe was finishing up some homework, Elliot was rolling on the floor beside us, moaning in anguish over the fact that I had turned off the television . . .tee hee!  I love their different personalities!

As I began putting away my supplies, Avery asked me if I would like to hear his story:

Sure, bud!

That will be $1

What?

That will be $1

Why are you charging me to hear your story?

Because it is Christmas and I need some cash.  You can also buy these pictures I drew.

Okay, so maybe he is a lot like his dad.

Avery's story about how Christmas came to the Pokemon

And his pictures of Pokemon.

Being the sucker I am, I marched into my room and scrounged up enough nickels to pay him.  He laughed when I pulled out one jar and there were only two pennies lying at the bottom.  

Mom, you're broke!

Yeah, I wonder why . . . hmmmm.

He laughed at me again, grabbed the coins and skipped merrily out into the kitchen.

Man, this writing thing is joke. I think I am going to do it for a living and make some easy money.

To which Zoe replied:

Said no author EVER!

 . . . tee hee! 

What do you mean, Zoe?

Well, writers make no money.

This is when I piped in:

Yeah, look at me!  I write stories everyday and don't get paid.

He looked at me for a moment and replied:

Yeah, but you are crazy!

Yes, I am bud.  Yes, I am.

Eeek!  I seemed to have digressed.  How am I going to wrap this all up?  I went from a home-made Christmas to impoverished writers. 

 Hmmmmm . . .

I've got it!  I could say that my home-made/local Christmas theme this year is me taking the moral high ground in rejecting our mass production/consumption culture we live in, OR  I could say Christmas here at Shenanigans Inc. is going home-made  because rather than get a real job, I choose to write a blog and play Santa's Elf . . . tee hee!

Like all truth, I think this one lies somewhere in the middle.

Have a great day!