Homemade Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, my family gathers with my sister's family, usually at our house.  We usually do a themed Christmas Eve dinner.  We save turkey and all the fixins for Christmas Day.

One of our first themed dinners was "My Big Fat Greek Christmas Eve".  The colours, blue and white, of course, the food ~ as authentic Greek as we could muster ~ my DH does a fabulous barbequed lamb roast; couple that with Greek lemon potatoes (one of my sister's specialties), my homemade baklava, spanakopita, etc. and you guessed it, we rolled ourselves away from the table after lots of great food and conversation and more often than not, some of DH's prize-winning wine.  These are memorable family times.

I usually give one family member a quilt for Christmas each year.  Last year my niece got a black and white and hot pink disappearing Nine-Patch which was very warmly received and to this day cherished (gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing my homemade gift blessed my kin).  I don't have any quilts for family members this year but I have issued a challenge to my rellies ~ 'we're going to have a homemade Christmas'. So far, my knitting daughter is on board (she had already starting knitting Christmas presents for her cousins); my wine-maker husband is on board; my musician son is on board, and me and my sewing machine are warming up to get down to business.

I love the idea of taking time (away from the mall) to think about using our giftings and talents to create something to give to someone else.  They don't have to be elaborate, professional productions.  I'm working on knitting socks for my DH and DS.  They are excited to receive them.  I love the feeling that I'm going to give them something I myself have made.  It's a great feeling.  The less time shopping the better as far as I'm concerned.

And as for the meal this year....Christmas in Tuscany.  I envision warm candlelight and my favourite people around my table enjoying our favourite Italian foods and in those quiet moments between bites and conversation, pondering the love that went in to our gifts to one another.  I imagine the expressions on their faces when they unwrap my gift from the heart.

I'm still formulating my gift ideas.  Tomorrow is November 1st which always seems to signal me to get busy cutting and sewing because those days on the calendar are closer than they appear.

Now I'm off to my stash to go shopping and see what I can find for these gifts.

Is it too soon to say Merry Christmas??

Until next time,
Mavis