G.I.F.T. Challenge 2006

Only two weeks left to do this challenge, so I will start with the familiar ones, and find something new to partake in soon. Before the 24th!

GIFT 1: Christmas Traditions

There are so many in our family, it's hard to know where to begin! But perhaps that is the best one to share... Christmas for us begins with Craft Dinner. It is a day of good company, good food, and fun crafts. I think perhaps the part I like the best about Craft Dinner, besides the Danish lunch table that tastes so wonderful and makes me fill myself far fuller than I would on any normal occasion, is the absolute variation and personality in the crafts we make. For example, this year, we made walnut mice. Essentially, you take a half walnut and a hazelnut. Fill the half walnut with stuffing and cover with fabric to create the bed, then add the hazelnut to the top, with felt ears and face drawn on. Finish with a yarn tail and hanger. Consider this sample:



So much difference! So much personality! And the same holds true for the years we make crafts from Mary Maxim kits. We all follow the instructions, and each final product is filled with its creator's personality. I do so adore Craft Dinner. To me, it is the way the season starts, no matter if we hold in at the beginning or end of November, and from there, the rest of the season follows.

GIFT 2: Christmas Movies

There is a part of me that half expected to spend this part of the post extolling the virtues of It's a Wonderful Life. And that is one of my favourite movies, not just for Christmas, but for all time. But for the last several weeks, it's been another James Stewart movie in my mind: The Shop Around the Corner. I have only seen this film once, but it sticks with me. Christmas is the backdrop for the story, and the young James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan find themselves both in hate and love in a jolly, busy season. This movie was recently redone as You've Got Mail, with the redoubtable duo of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the main roles, and it is indeed a good film. But the original, with its 1940s charm, has a special place in my heart. I wish I'd seen it more than once.

For GIFTs 3 and 4, I believe I will turn to literature, and see what kinds of novels, short stories, or poems I can experience in the time I have left.