Humble Keepsakes and Customs

“It comes every year and will go on forever.  And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs.  Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart.”
— Marjorie Holmes

Handmade paper ornament

“To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.”
— E. B. White

“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.  Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more.”
— Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The largest part of my Christmas doesn’t come from a store.  My keepsakes are handmade, for the most part.  And yes, they are humble, like this paper cut Scandinavian horse ornament I made this year from instructions I found in Mollie Makes Christmas:  Living and Loving a Handmade Holiday.

Or my traditional holiday wreath, made from rosemary sprigs from my garden.  For me, simple is best.

Homemade rosemary wreath

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Handmade Holidays: 3-D Paper Snowflakes

“Snowflakes spill from heaven’s hand
Lovely and chaste like smooth white sand.
A veil of wonder laced in light
Falling gently on a winter’s night.”
–Linda A. Copp

Paper Star Snowflake

Several years ago one of the gift wrappers at the University Bookstore in Seattle was making these holiday snowflakes (or they could be stars, I guess).  She gave me a photocopied set of instructions, original source unknown.  I’ve been meaning to make some of these snowflakes for holiday decorations, but until now, I never got around to it.

My finished snowflake hangs in my kitchen window, a lacy wonder that lets in the light.

Here are step-by-step instructions for making your own paper snowflake/star:

Fold each square in half to make a triangle. Then fold in half again. And again.

You need six square of paper.  I used 5 x 5-inch squares.  Fold each square in half along the diagonal, making a triangle.  Then fold in half again.  And again.

Cut slits into each triangle.

Now, keeping the little triangles folded, cut four parallel slits on the solid side.  Cut almost all the way across.

Open the paper squares and press flat.

Open each piece of paper back into a square and flatten with your fingers.

Cutting some of the inner square just to free two corners.

Next you will bring two opposite points of the inner squares together in a sequence.  In order to do this, you will first have to cut the corners free along one long diagonal fold line.  (Leave the other points/corners so that they are not cut all the way through.)

Starting with the smallest inner square, fold two points together and tape.

Starting with the smallest inner square, fold two opposite points together and tape into a cylindrical shape.

Turn the square over, and bring the points of the next larger square together.

1. Turn the square over.  2.  Bring the opposite points of the next larger square together and tape.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all of the opposing points have been taped in the center.

You’ve finished square one!

Your square should now look like this.  You need five more.  Start folding and taping!

Staple three sections together at a point.

Once you have completed all six sections of the snowflake, take three and match up at a point.  Staple at this point.  Repeat with the other three sections.

Finished paper snowflake

That’s it!  Your paper snowflake/star is complete.

Hanging snowflake

DIY Gift: Homemade Granola

Gift jar of homemade granola

In keeping with my “Simple Christmas” theme, this year I made homemade granola for holiday gift giving.  Lately I’ve been enjoying fresh apples, cut into chunks, topped with Greek yogurt and a generous spread of granola.  The crunchiness is quite satisfying.

 I found my granola recipe in Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl.  Here’s the recipe:

Tawny Granola

2 c rolled oats

1/2 c pumpkin seeds

1/2 c sliced almonds

1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c agave syrup or honey

2 Tbsp apple juice

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1/2 chopped, dried fruit (apricots, cranberries, cherries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and oil a rimmed cookie sheet.

Combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds and coconut.  In a separate large bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients and the spices.  Combine the dry ingredients with the wet.  Spread mixture out evenly on the cookie sheet.  Bake for around 40 minutes, keeping an eye on the granola.  When it starts to brown, turn the mixture over with a spatula to make sure it toasts evenly.

When it is nicely brown, remove from the oven and cool.  Then add the dried fruit.  Store in an airtight container.

Oatmeal, coconut, almonds and pumpkin seeds

Mix up the granola ingredients in a large bowl

Spread the granola on the baking sheet

The granola makes a crunchy topping on yogurt and apples

Handmade Money Plant Wreath

Simple wreath of seed pods from money plants

The book Fairie-ality Style: A Sourcebook of Inspirations from Nature by David Ellwand is one of the most gorgeous over-sized books that passed through my hands recently.  I loved the colorful photography and whimsical creations made of found materials in nature.  And I was inspired to make my own simple wreath of money plant seed pods after seeing one in the book.

Fairie-ality Style book by David Ellwand

Sample page from Ellwand's book

Page showing wreath made of the pods of a money plant

 

Seed pods from Lunaria annua, money plant

I love the translucent pearly pods.

Detail of wreath hanging in my kitchen window

Valentine Papercrafts: DIY Hearts

Woven paper heart

I remember making these woven paper hearts years ago, and I found the instructions here: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Heartbasket.shtml.  I made half a dozen hearts so that I could string them together and hang them in my kitchen window.  They are constructed in such a way that each heart forms a pocket, so instead of stringing them, you could use them as little heart baskets.

Paper pieces for six woven hearts

Weaving the first row

Four rows woven, one to go

Strings of hearts and snowflakes in my kitchen window

I made another hanging heart ornament by adapting the instructions for my star ornament (see https://rosemarywashington.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/christmas-papercraft-3-diy-paper-star-ornament/) and cutting heart-shaped pieces instead.  This was a project originally inspired by a tutorial on the Craftynest blog (http://www.craftynest.com/).

Hanging heart ornament

Slender Rosemary Heart

Slender heart wreath of fresh rosemary

It’s not too early to be thinking about Valentine’s Day, is it?

I got the idea for this simple heart-shaped wreath from the book, Swedish Christmas Traditions: A Smorgasbord of Scandinavian Recipes, Crafts and Other Holiday Delights by Ernst Kirchsteiger. I adapted the instructions he provided for a “Slender Lingon Heart” and used rosemary, the herb of remembrance, instead of lingon sprigs.  I love the simplicity of this project.  Smells heavenly, too.

Finding inspiration in this book of holiday crafts

Winter Papercraft: Snowballs

Paper snowball

I remember making these paper snowballs when I was a kid.  They would make a nice ornament for the Christmas tree. 

One of the secrets to successful papercrafts that even an adult can find pleasing is to make multiples of an item.  Whether the same size or graduated sizes, multiples can be strung into garlands or displayed in other ways.  Repeated patterns make their own visual beauty, I think.

Here are instructions for making paper snowballs:

You will need 20 circles for each snowball.

Trace twenty circles on pretty paper.  I used a page from an old art book.

Cut out the circles

Cut out the circles as carefully as you can.

Folding

Fold flaps on each circle so that the remaining flat surface is an equilateral triangle.  (I trace a triangle on each circle so that I can use the pencil markings as a folding guide.)

Glue together

Glue five triangular pieces together into a circle.  Repeat.  These will become the top and bottom of the finished ball.  Now fill in a band around the middle, always creating circles of five pieces, to shape into a sphere.

Finished snowball

Make several more snowballs in varying sizes to make an interesting winter display.

Three snowballs on display in my kitchen window