Christmas Crafting Rush has Simmered Down

Well, all the Christmas rush is over, more or less. I just ran around in our senior mobile home community today and passed out the last of my gifts, small though they were. Today's gifts were just small token thank-you's to the folks who help me, volunteers just like me, with the monthly newsletter. I did not do anything grand, but I hope it was fun for them.

I wrapped a box, theater-size, of Whoppers for each one, and attached a tag, "Have a Whopper of a Holiday." I found that idea online last year and couldn't wait to use it.

I also made special thank-you bookmarks on my computer for them that turned out very cute. Last year, I made some calendar bookmarks. I found one online, managed to size it for a landscape piece of cardstock, and I can get either 4 or 5 across. After I print them, I use peel-and-stick laminate sheets, punch a hole at the top, and attach some ribbon. I have tons of ribbon pieces left, all the time, from my plastic canvas satin ribbon crosses.

I also managed to adapt a plastic canvas satin ribbon angel that I got in a kit a few years ago. The ones in the kit required beaded halo's and a big pearl bead for the head, but I changed it to just a simple 3/8" button for the head. It really came out cute, so I gave each one an angel. I hope to put some of these in my shop this coming year.

So that was for the volunteers - nothing expensive but all from the heart.

I also dropped off two pair of my crocheted adult slippers for a friend and his wife. He has helped me several times this year with minor repairs and charge barely more than the supplies. This was a way of thanking him.

Another pair of slippers went, on order, to another neighbor. Two years ago, he was having a lot of trouble financially and he was so cold during the winter because he was trying not to put his heat on. I found an extra gently-used afghan that I gave him plus I made him a pair of the slippers. This year, he called me and ordered a pair for so he could give them to his mechanic for Christmas. That was two weeks ago and the mechanic liked them so much, he immediately ordered a pair, but with the cuff 3" taller - I call them my high-top slippers now (LOL). That was last week. Two days ago, my neighbor ordered a regular pair for someone else on his gift list and those were the ones I delivered to him today. He mentioned that his mechanic will be ordering more of the high-topped slippers very soon. It's amazing how that one pair I made him two years ago ended up bringing me orders now.

Anyhow, I can relax tomorrow. When I am trying to do nothing, I end up grabbing my hook and some yarn and working on something, anything. Often these days, it's a charity crafting project or something for my shop.

In a few days, I want to begin to whip up a few things for some other folks I want to thank in a small way...now that the Christmas rush has simmered down, I can concentrate on that.

I am so grateful that I can still do things with my hands. A dear friend, younger than I, is already having trouble writing legibly, and one of our charity crafters is having twinges and cramps when doing her beloved crochet work. Yes, I am very grateful indeed for this blessing and I hope to continue, for a long while to come, to pass this gratitude along by making things for others, and not for profit, whenever I can.