Sunday
I dug out the lights (that are surprisingly almost 20 years old and are still all working) and hung them up around the dining room for the Christmas countdown bags. This took a surprisingly long time. I luckily had saved most of the bags from last year and they were in the bag with the lights (so I didn't have to re-do the numbering) except for bags 1-5 which I seem to remember little Abe ripping apart. I must have put something really neat in those ones last year. So I made new numbers and found bags for 1-5.
Monday
I wrote out all the scriptures for the countdown bags, the "giving" ideas for each bag, and filled and hung each bag. This was a very time consuming chore but the Christmas countdown bags are something I really look forward to and this tradition is really important to me. Last year I scrambled each night to fill the bag for the next morning. Sometimes I forgot and had to sneakily fill the bag before we opened it in the morning. It was added stress last Christmas for me to accomplish this fun new tradition while scrambling each day to remember to fill the bag. I'm very happy to have this Christmas season task now behind me. This was an approximately 45 minutes well spent!
A collection of little things. Probably not 45 minutes. Read some Christmas books with little Abe. Watched a few short Christmas videos on you tube with little Abe. Nice simple stuff today.
Wednesday
Started another Christmas present. Today I went over the 45 minutes. I spent about 2 hours sewing. I guess that makes up for a lighter day on Tuesday.
Thursday
Sewing consumed another two hours of my week. Honestly, I like it. It's thrilling to see the end result. I pick fabrics as I go and I find myself being curious during the entire project about what I will end up with. My kiddo took a SUPER long nap so the two hours of quite alone time working on this Christmas present just flew by.
Friday
I worked on the little quilt some more and then I started another sewing project. My brother had a little rag doll when he was small that he loved. It's name was Green Jeans, had a green checkered shirt, green overalls, and a green hat. I thought I had a photo of it but, no. I've been wanting to recreate Green Jeans for my brother's son who is turning 2 tomorrow. (Jessica, Please DON'T tell James! I'd like him to be surprised.)
My brother actually hates green now (for sports team reasons) so I've started to recreate Green Jeans in colors that my brother loves (for sports team reasons). The fabric in this "Green Jeans" is from the little quilt I made for my nephew so he'll have a little doll to go with his quilt. I spent WAY longer than two hours on this. I didn't have a pattern and was trying to recreate this little guy from memory. I hope it at least reminds my brother of his little Green Jeans. Wish me luck on the head because this could end up really cute or it could go terrible South, quickly.
Saturday
Today has just begun. I'm feeling pretty motivated to get the quilt and Green Jeans done so I'll work on both of them more today, probably. We're also going to the Jingle Bell parade downtown this evening. So today will be filled with Christmasy things.
Today has just begun. I'm feeling pretty motivated to get the quilt and Green Jeans done so I'll work on both of them more today, probably. We're also going to the Jingle Bell parade downtown this evening. So today will be filled with Christmasy things.
This week's forty five minutes of Christmas was a total success. I do feel like I need to get on top of the Christmas cards but I didn't have that sinking feeling I often have of needing to get 100 things accomplished all at once all day every day. I committed to spending 45 minutes a day on Christmas things and I did. Done. Plus, I'm pretty excited about the gifts I'm giving this year. I had all the fabric, stuffing, and thread I've needed thus far. So I haven't had to spend any money on materials for the gifts I'm making. I think I'm going to buy a fabric pen for Green Jean's face. I seem to remember the original Green Jeans having a drawn on face.
On top of the 45 minutes of activities listed above little Abe and I have been reading Christmas books, opening a countdown bag each morning, and doing a really neat interactive Advent Calendar online that a VERY kind friend sent to us. This has been a really great Christmas season already!
How sweet is your nephew's gift going to be. Bet there is crying and happy tears. Very good idea about the 45 min. a day and if you want, you go over. Cheryl
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that when my nephew opens the gift my brother will know instantly what I was going for. We'll see :)
DeleteI'm really like the 45 minutes a day goal. And yes, I can go over but giving myself permission to only spend 45 minutes a day on Christmas is oddly very relieving.
I love this 45 minute Christmas idea. Even if you go over it's ok because you want to, not because you feel you have too.
ReplyDeleteThis 45 minutes thing is turning out to be a really big mental relief for me, as I'd hoped it would be. Instead of focusing on the hundreds of things I still need to do I feel really accomplished once I've met my 45 minute goal. And yeah, I've been going over a lot of the days BUT it's like a bonus, haha!
Delete