Christmas Archives - Seams Like a Story

December 17, 2024December 16, 2024

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (pillowcases)

The Obsession Continues

the author holding a Christmas Pillowcase in front of a Christmas Tree

Once, when I was newly retired and trying out novel things to do, I became obsessed. With sewing. Christmas pillowcases.

It went something like this:

Excerpt from my first book, Out of the Crayon Box: Thoughts on Teaching, Retirement, and Life:

“Since I was retired, I could sew whatever I wanted. That’s what I was thinking when the article about the Christmas pillowcases caught my eye. With the holidays coming
up, it was the perfect project to help me brush up on my sewing skills. Off to the fabric store I went with the exact measurements in hand, eager to get started. The first pillowcase was a cute little reindeer print with a snowflake border. It stitched together in a flash and I ran to Ed’s office to show off the finished product, eager to impress him with my talent.
“Look what I made!” I bragged.
“Wow,” he said looking up from the computer.
“That’s nice.”
Encouraged by the ease of my success, I trotted back to my sewing machine to stitch up another one. The candy cane print with red checked trim was delightful. As I snipped the last thread, I ran to Ed’s office to reveal my latest creation. He wasn’t there, but
I tracked him down in the living room. “Here’s another one!” I beamed. “See how I made
French seams so that the edges are nice and neat on the inside!”
“Mmm, yeah… that’s great.” He glanced away from the television, hardly noticing my exquisite French seams. By the time I had finished the third pillowcase Ed
was not in the office or living room. I found him in the bathroom. I’m sure he was hiding from me. That’s when I realized I had a pillowcase addiction. “

Christmas 2024

I thought I was over my obsession. I hadn’t sewn a Christmas pillowcase in over 6 years. I was clean until a friend wanted me to go to the fabric store with her to check out the flannel fabric sale. There it was. Staring me in the face. Bolts and bolts of Christmas flannel. I’ll just buy a bit, I thought. The next thing I knew The clerk was measuring out a yard of 4 different prints for me.

Back at home, I looked up the directions I’d saved. Ah yes, the burrito pillow case method. (It’s a thing…Google it. ) Once again, I was in sewing heaven. Is it the textures? The jolly prints? They way it’s a quick sew? By the end of the afternoon I had three cases ready for my holiday guests.

Now seriously?! Aren’t these cute? They make me smile…

I probably should have been cleaning house , but when I told my friend about my afternoon, she said it was ‘time well spent.” She gets it.

As I write this, there are 9 more days until Christmas. You may be in the Holiday blitz, but STOP, even for a moment, and do something that makes YOU smile.

Threads of Thought

Thanks for following me here at Seams Like a Story. I hope you find something in each post to make you smile or think, or feel encouraged. I’ll see you back here in the new year!

2 Books, Out of the Crayon Box: Thoughts on Teaching, Retirement, and Life...and Until Italy: A traveler's memoir

Would you like to read more from Out of the Crayon Box? Or maybe you’d like a delightfully fun trip to Italy? You can find my books here!

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024

The Candle Chronicles

Part 2

Mini pumpkins gather along the countertop for a Thanksgiving centerpiece

I was working in my home office the other day when Ed returned from the grocery store. He sheepishly brought the bag in and placed it beside me.

“Oh, Ed, You didn’t!”

“I thought we might be running low.”

It’s that time of year again. Soon family and friends will gather for the holidays. My husband Ed and I live a distance from family. We always get together for Christmas, but often were alone on Thanksgiving. A few years ago we started a new tradition of inviting friends, who find themselves in a similar situation over for a “Friendsgiving” celebration. Avoiding the typical turkey dinner, Ed, the resident chef, comes up with one of his signature dishes and others pitch in with deserts and sides. The menu varies from year to year, and we never know who gather at the table, but there is one thing you can count on: THERE WILL BE CANDLES ON THE TABLE!

The Candle Obsession

I’m unsure when my candle obsession began. I first “came out” in a previous post https://seamslikeastory.com/tall-candle-dinners/ . I remember when our children were small, Ed and I would have “date night” each Saturday night. We couldn’t afford a babysitter, so we would feed the kids early and have a nice candlelight dinner after they went to bed, or sat them in front of the TV with a movie. Now empty nesters, we still light candles, for special occasions, and everyday dinners as well. Even when it’s leftovers or we think we don’t have much to talk about, the ritual of lighting the candles seems to say “This time together is important.”

A Lot of Candles

So, yes. This takes a lot of candles. I’m picky, but through trial and error, I’ve found the perfect ones. I kind of don’t want to tell you about them because I’m afraid you’ll get to Trader Joe and buy out their limited stock.

OK, here goes, but don’t tell anybody else: My favorite off-white, non drip inexpensive candles are only available seasonally between Thanksgiving and Christmas and during that time we buy enough to get us through the year. I tell Ed to only buy a few boxes at a time, so as not to cause alarm. So far he has flown under the radar, but I live in fear that there will one day be a poster at the cash registers with his photo and a warning: Don’t sell any more candles to this man.

The other day I took inventory and told Ed I thought we had enough and maybe he didn’t need to buy any this year.(I currently have 20 boxes x 8 candles per box…you do the math) He bought some anyway. I think we might have to add this bounty to our will as part of our “estate.” A legacy of wax and wick to leave to our children.

Gather Together

So my friends, take some time this holiday season to gather around the table with friends and loved ones. Go ahead, light some tall candles and stay until they melt into tiny stubs! Clink your wine, or iced tea, or water glasses together and let each other know how happy you are to be together. These are the times that matter most.

Threads of Thought

What (besides candles) will be on your holiday table this year? Are you traveling or hosting your holiday festivities?

Looking for a fun Holiday read?

Find your copies here!

December 21, 2023December 21, 2023

Holiday Travel

A personal reflection.

The tip of an airplane wing flying over a city at night

“Strings of streetlights, even stoplights, blink a bright red and green, as the shoppers rush home with their treasures.” (Silver Bells, my mom’s favorite Christmas song)

I’m flying “home”, back to the Midwest for the Holidays. During the three hour flight, I try to occupy myself with a book, but my mind races to holiday plans– making my list, checking it twice, or truth be told, I’m anxious that I haven’t even started my list , or Christmas shopping, or…sigh…

I glance at my current read, which has many references to Our Town, by Thornton Wilder. In the play, Emily looks down on her former life and remarks:

“It goes so fast. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute.”

I pause, and look out the oval window at the city lights as the plane prepares to land. It’s late evening and traffic snakes along busy streets like glittering beads on a necklace. People are going home from work, or taking kids to practice, or shopping for the holidays, or picking up a takeout dinner. “Shoppers rush home with their treasures” moving in a blur from one distraction to another with the busyness we call our lives. It goes so fast and I wonder–am I noticing it, my life, or am I simply rushing through?

The plane bounces down with an abrupt deceleration that pushes me forward, then back against my seat. Lights flood the cabin and passengers hop up to collect their luggage (that may have shifted during flight). I join the throng and exit the plane, soon to reconnect with friends and family for holiday celebrations.

My luggage is fine, yet something has shifted, ever so slightly.

On the car ride from the airport to our final destination, I make a silent commitment to “realize life while I’m living it”. To try to be fully present this season, through shopping and gatherings and holiday movies and decorating. The busy days and the quiet times. To really see and love and appreciate my friends and family. Every, every minute.

It’s a precious gift I’m giving myself. A tall order. I’m going to need lots of reminders.

Threads of Thought

a note the says "every, every minute." on a Christmas tree

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022

The Music Box

A Christmas Memory

When we moved to Arizona, I insisted we bring our Christmas tree with us… the artificial one that had been ours since our kids had grown and we stopped going to Tower’s Christmas tree farm to search for the perfect tree to bring home.

For several years now, we have assembled the tree and placed it in our Tucson home. But this year I decided not to. Ed and I are traveling back to our home town to celebrate the holidays with our family and it doesn’t make sense to drag everything out for a few short weeks. I thought I’d be OK with the decision, but around the first of December, I was feeling a little lost.

I played some Christmas music, plugged in my “Evergreen” candle warmer and set out a few of my favorite things like the nativity set I bought when our children were young. We started with the basic stable and Holy Family, then Ed bought a new figure to tuck in my stocking each year until we ended up with a full cast of characters. The kids used to fight about whose turn it was to arrange it on the mantle each year. We had to keep a post-it note in the box to keep track. One got the even numbered year, one the odd.

This year I also set out the ceramic Santa that belonged to my grandparents and the Boyd’s Bear figurines Ed bought for me each year.

And then I set out the music box I have displayed each year since 1973 when my mother gave it to me. It is a small red box splashed with golden stars and a Hummel painting of the Holy Family on the lid. The date, stenciled on the top, 1973, is significant. Ed and I announced our engagement that Thanksgiving, and on Christmas Eve, he surprised me with a ring.

The vintage music box is beautiful. The years have taken their toll on the delicate inner workings and it no longer plays Silent Night when you open the lid. But the real treasure remains inside where, 49 years ago, my mother tucked a note. The paper is yellowed and fragile, the lettering is faint with age and blurry through my tears, but I know the words by heart.

Dear Deb,

Just couldn’t resist this music box. The year 1973 will mean a lot to you and Ed and I wanted you to have something special. Mom and Dad

May you always have as many happy years as we have had and hope to have in the future. We’re both real happy for you and Ed.

My parents had many happy years together. Sadly, Dad died just shy of their 50^th wedding anniversary twenty-two years ago. Ed and I willcelebrate our 49th this summer.

I’ll visit Mom when I’m back in the Midwest. Short visits are best as her memory is fading and it is difficult for her to keep up a conversation for too long. This time, I’ll bring pictures of the music box and read her words back to her. Perhaps it will spark a glimmer of recognition, perhaps not. But I know I’m in her heart, the place where she keeps her most precious memories tucked away, like the words of love she placed in a special music box 49 years ago.

Threads of Thought

What items bring back special memories for you?

Have a wonderful Holiday season! Treasure memories from the past and make new memories to treasure for a lifetime.

Special thanks to you, my subscribers, readers, commenters, and followers! You are the heartbeat of this blog. I can’t wait to see what “seams” like a story in 2023!

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December 18, 2021January 21, 2023

Oh, Christmas Tree

Holiday Traditions Grow and Change

This baby Norfolk pine tree is an unlikely canditate for a Christms tree. Or is it?

Christmas Past (1974)

It was our first Christmas together as a married couple. Our apartment was tiny, but cozy and close enough for us to walk to the campus of Ball State University where we were finishing up our degrees. The balance in our bank account was as small as our apartment and we’d be returning to our hometown to celebrate the holiday with our families that year. It made little sense to decorate for Christmas. I thought I’d be OK with that, but as we approached the holiday, it just didn’t seem right. I felt like Charlie Brown in the Christmas special when he said “what this place needs is a tree.”

Continue reading “Oh, Christmas Tree” …