A Call for Holiday Help

'Tis the season...

I was planning to post a Q & A, with some of the questions I’ve gotten during the many shows we’ve done this fall, when the following arrived. This call for help came in a rather long letter that I have shortened considerably here. Since it seems to me to have broad application, not just to the questioner, but to readers in general, I'm going to address it today because it is time-sensitive.

"Annake, please help! I was married last spring, to a gentleman who had been a widower for some time, with a grown son and daughter. I met them at the wedding and they were very cordial. They are bringing their families here for Christmas. Each family has a daughter, one 10 years old and one 12. They will be here from several days before Christmas until New Year's Day, and I am not sure how to keep the girls occupied and entertained for so long:  I have never had children or ever worked with them! My husband has decreed this as "family time" and asked everyone to limit time spent watching TV or using electronic devices. The adults are eager to visit friends in the area while they are here. We are going to take them to see "The Nutcracker", and we have planned some activities for the girls, like sledding and caroling, but those will depend on the weather. Your blog has all kinds of interesting activities, but I don't have any idea which ones are appropriate or even possible for girls this age. Please give me some ideas! Please answer in a blog post but don't use my name; just sign me "Nervous Nellie"!

Well, Nellie, I was a first-and-only wife and mother, but I do understand your concerns. I had two sisters-in-law, and a family get-together included up to seven boys ranging from toddler to late teenager, and two girls about the same distance apart in age as your guests.

First, some general suggestions. You don't mention harvesting, shopping for, or decorating the tree as activities for the girls, so I am assuming you plan to have a tree decorated before they arrive. Is there a small evergreen somewhere on your property which could be "their" tree to decorate and to cherish every time they come to visit? Or would the budget stretch to purchase a small live tree which could be planted after Christmas? If a live tree isn't possible, a small, undecorated artificial tree for each girl might be a possibility.  Let them decorate as they desire.

Crocheted Cookie Cutter Tree

Second, enlist their help with the festivities. Ask them to decorate placemats and/or place cards for all the members of the family for Christmas and New Year's breakfasts. You will need colored construction paper, a box of mixed greeting cards, white glue or rubber cement, scissors (they are old enough for sharp tips — don't insult them with kindergarten scissors), and a roll of clear contact paper to cover both sides of the finished work.

Invite them to help you make and decorate cookies, cupcakes, gelatin desserts or puddings. Don't expect perfection and do expect some mess, but include clean-up in the activities.

Crayon batik of an orchid

Here is a new activity they might enjoy. You will need two men's cotton handkerchiefs for each girl. Please wash and press them beforehand to remove any sizing. You will need a large box of good-quality wax crayons — not the ‘washable’ kind, which will come out. You will also need paper towels, an ironing board and iron, a sewing machine or needles and white thread, and a small bag of polyester pillow stuffing. They may want to outline parts of their pictures with permanent marker, so be sure to protect the work surface from ink that might come through the fabric. Let the girls decorate both handkerchiefs with the crayons. They should press hard and go over darker areas several times. Cover the ironing board with several layers of paper towels. Cover the tops of the pictures with paper towels. Set the iron on "Cotton" and iron over the paper towels, pressing firmly and replacing the towels as needed until the wax of the crayons is completely removed. Place the handkerchiefs with the picture sides together and sew them together by hand or machine, leaving a big enough opening for the girls to stuff their pillows with the polyester. Turn the pillows right-side-out, stuff, and sew the opening closed.

For the rest of these, you may have to bend the rule about Internet use a little:

Butterfly "Window Wonder"

Revisit my "Window Wonders" article (April 29, 2015) or type in window wonders on our Search Engine in the sidebar of this post. These sun-catchers are still popular, but have developed over time. Now we make graduated hangings of three pictures at a time, usually a #4, a #5, and a #6 hoop, held together with small lengths of aluminum chain, available at many hardware or craft stores. (Ask the men of the family to cut and fasten the chain lengths if you need to do so. There's no reason they should not take part in their daughters' activities!)  If chain is not available, sew or tie the hoops onto a strip of wide, flat ribbon. The rest of the directions from the original article still apply.

Another appropriate activity would be the paper designs some of my students made to look like the wonderful patterns made by Hawaiian quilt makers. The student designs shown on that blog post (January 1, 2018) were made by girls and boys in the 5th grade who were studying the state of Hawaii at the time. That is in the age range of your girls. All you would need is colored paper, scissors, and glue.

You may want to look at that post and the one on four-way designs from Hawaiian quilts from March 21, 2017 before suggesting the activity.  Let the girls study the examples on the post before they begin their own designs. The paper to be cut out should be folded into four equal parts. If they draw their design on one square, starting at the center point and extending it to both sides of the square at one point, it should hold together when it is cut out and the paper is unfolded. You can turn the paper over so that the drawing does not show. A couple of "practice pieces” may be necessary.

Finally, I suggest that you and the girls type in the word puppets on our Search Engine. The girls might enjoy the story of the Little Pink Pig. It may even inspire them to do a project of their own when they get home: there is a downloadable pattern for the pig puppet. In addition, there are several other articles which show various puppets from both front and back to give the girls ideas for designs of their own. After seeing the performance of the Nutcracker, they may want to make a puppet for one of their favorite characters from that story. Here are a couple of puppets that I don't believe that we have shown before:

Some seasonal puppets

Relax, and enjoy! And, Nellie, keep thinking about those seven boys who are NOT coming for the holidays! Let me know how it works out.

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Crocheted Trees -- They Aren't Just for Christmas

Colorado Avalanche fan with her tree

There are some craft items I never tire of making, even after several decades of making them. One of these is the tabletop tree. It all began many years ago with two patterns in a McCall's magazine. One pattern was for a little Christmas tree to be made with cotton crochet thread. It was to be crocheted in the round, then partially flattened to be made into a lapel ornament. The second pattern was for a Christmas wreath lapel pin. Considering my preference for yarn over thread, I couldn't help wondering what would happen if I substituted knitting worsted for the thread and the larger aluminum hooks for the smaller steel ones. I couldn't wait to find out, so I collected green yarn and crochet hooks in sizes G through K. I began to experiment and soon had a neat little layered tree shape about 10 inches tall and a wreath between 10 and 12 inches in diameter.

Crocheted tree for a "Feliz Navidad"

The original tree and wreath were supposed to be starched to make them hold their shape and then be laced onto pin backs from a craft store. That obviously would not work for my yarn creations.
 

My husband volunteered to make a “tree trunk” from a block of wood and a dowel and to bend a wire coat hanger into a circle as a frame for the wreath. He made these items and painted the tree trunk brown. I laced the wreath onto the wire circle and decorated it with small ornaments and a bow. I glued felt to the bottom of the tree base so it couldn't scratch furniture and arranged the crocheted layers an the trunk, decorating them with miniature ornaments. We were both pleased with the results and immediately set to work to produce a tree and a wreath to add to each of his sisters' Christmas boxes.

"Heartwood", a Valentine's Day-themed tree

My best friend was teaching second grade in another state. When she received her Christmas tree, she called me to ask if I could make trees for other holidays that she could display in her classroom. I began collecting tiny items with holiday themes. Eventually I made her trees for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Memorial Day, Back-to-School Night, Halloween, and Thanks-giving. I began to make themed trees for relatives, friends, and co-workers. Our children, niece, and nephews graduated from high school and went off to college, military service, marriage and jobs away from home. Each of them needed a “starter” tree for their new beginnings. I made more than a hundred trees in this way and am proud to say no two were ever alike. Trees for the men were always fun. I trimmed them with everything from fishing lures to tiny model cars to dice and poker chips.

One of several trees made for Broncos fans

Along the way I acquired a son-in-law who is a devoted Denver Broncos' fan and a grand-daughter who is equally loyal to the Colorado Avalanche. Of course they had to have trees in their team colors to decorate with memorabilia. I'm a die-hard Bronco fan myself, so it is a little bit embarrassing to admit that my favorite among the team trees I have made was one that I made recently as a special order for an Oakland Raiders' fan. I did it in black, white, shades of gray and metallic silver and it looked elegant. I'd like to do a Seattle Seahawks' tree because I love their colors.

Undecorated tree with an alternative shape

Over time the trees grew larger and more complex. I came up with ways to alter the technique to give me several different tree shapes. I began to get requests for special trees: a baby's first Christmas tree, trees for limited spaces like dorm rooms and suites for assisted living, even a tree to fasten to the dashboard of an RV! A teenager wanted a special tree for her parents' silver anniversary. I made a pair of extra-large, extra-tall trees for a friend who makes fused-glass jewelry. She wanted them to display her handmade earrings at shows. She requested a white tree for displaying predominantly “cool” colors like blues, greens, and purples, and a deep blue tree for “hot” colors like red, orange, and gold. They are easy and safe to transport and it only takes a moment to remove or replace a pair of earrings. She uses them for shows year around, not just during fall and winter holidays.
 

Moonlight on Snow, appropriate for a bridal shower

Small trees like these make nice centerpieces for wedding and baby showers and can then be given to the guest of honor. They are nice for hospital visits, especially for men, who may not care for bouquets of flowers, and for visits to shut-ins. They make thoughtful house-warming and hostess gifts and “bon voyage” gifts for friends or neighbors who are moving away. Other “tree” occasions include: birthday, confirmation, quinceanera, engagement party, silver anniversary, golden anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduation, Cinco de Mayo, Fourth of July, and any time a person receives a special honor.

The Patriot, available in our Etsy shop

Speaking of honor, do you know a returning serviceman or servicewoman whom you might thank with a patriotic tree in red, white, and blue? The little trees make nice door prizes. I've even made one to raffle off for a Sons of Norway fundraiser.

I hope you've enjoyed this little stroll through my “forest”. Best wishes,

Annake

Crocheted tree Cardinals and Cranberries, available in our Etsy shop

 
   This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.