Many years ago, I was a bundle of creativity at Christmas.  Hand-stamped Christmas wrapping paper, tied up with twine; hand-made cards; hand-crafted gifts.  Since becoming a parent, with much less time to devote to such Christmas creations, they have taken a lower priority.  Until this year.  I had to dig out the hot glue gun to help Katie with something or the other when I came across the beginnings of a project I had started long ago: miniature Christmas trees made of wooden dowels, spools, faux greenery, ribbon, buttons, stars, etc.  My early prototypes were still unfinished, but it inspired Edith and I to work with the kids to create these trees as small gifts for teachers, family and friends.  We all went to work cutting, painting, gluing, and decorating; the finished products were incredibly beautiful in their simplicity.  It was nice to have created these little trees, now with our kids helping out, and hopefully as the kids grow we will be more inspired to again work on these simple yet fun projects.

Katie asked me last week if we had any clay – she wanted to make a Christmas present for her family.  Specifically, she wanted to make a snowman, for William.  I picked up some air drying clay at the store, and helped her design her snowman.  I showed her how to make the head, and the torso, and the little eyes, mouth and buttons, while I made the base and the carrot nose.  We put it together and waited for it to dry, so we could paint it today before giving it to William. It is still not completely dry, and will need a couple more days, but will be a wonderful hand-made gift from Katie to her big brother!