Developing my eye

Part of cleaning up after Christmas is dragging out the "general decorations" box. That's where I put everything that I take down to make room for Christmas stuff.

Last year I was on a minimalistic thing and didn't want anything put back up. Sort of an extreme response to Christmas decorations that I didn't like. The cool thing is that there was stuff in the bottom of the box that I forgot I had.

A Taiwanese friend of mine, Janet, gave me three beautiful postcards. I wanted to use them. My daughter broke the glass that was holding her portrait. Since I couldn't put her siblings' pictures up without her, I decided to use the three remaining frames for the postcards! Perfecto!

The postcards were too small and I didn't have any matting, so I put black construction paper behind the postcard and slid it into the frame. It was okay, but that's it. I scanned the room, What could I use instead of the black paper? My eyes fell on an Urban Outfitters catalog, and then I knew.

I perused the pages, looking for color schemes that would go with the postcards overall look. When I found one that looked right, I traced the frame, cut it out and carefully taped the postcard to the new "matting."

Overall I'm super happy with the results. They look so much better than just plain-Jane black paper. I have to credit the beloved Mej for this. Previous to knowing her, I would have settled. But not now. Now I've seen too much to go back. I can never be who I was. Once you've tasted beauty, nothing else satisfies...

(How was that for over-dramatic?)

The Christmas Bug finally bit!

Holy cow. I thought I would never get excited about Christmas. I normally start the holidays with the beginning of Advent, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This year, because I was the auctioneer for our church's Christmas auction held on the first Sunday of Advent, because Dug had a business trip in Oklahoma starting the first Monday of Advent, because I was sorta in charge of our home schooling co-op's Christmas party held on the first Wednesday of Advent, because while Dug was gone, my children and I left our house to spend time with our Lute-friends on the First Wednesday and Thursday of Advent, because of all of this, I didn't unpack any Christmas decorations. Because I didn't unpack any Christmas decorations and my house was devoid of any and all holiday items, my mind felt no need to change the status quo. I felt nothing. I was empty of holiday spirit.

And then I needed to sweep my dining room.

From my vantage point I could see the dust under the purple chair in our living room. I moved the chair to sweep all the lost toys and dirt, when I noticed the dust behind the end table. So of course I needed to move the end table...I'm sure you can see where this is going. At one point, all the furniture in our living room was scattered about with no "place" to call its own. I knew Dug was wanting to get our tree sometime during the weekend, so I figured I would at least put the furniture back in such a way that would accommodate the future Potter family tree.

Since the house was now clean and the furniture was expectantly facing an empty "holding spot," I thought maybe I could attempt the dive into the cubby, an under-stairs storage area. The upside: the cubby is very organized. The downside: Christmas decor is in its deep, dark recesses.

I couldn't stop now. I had to go in.

I opened the two little doors and began. Out came the lamp shade, the bag of unknown electrical wires and the box of unused home decor items. I removed the extra rolls of paper towels and packages of napkins, but left the two huge speakers and stacked stereo equipment in the corner. I'd rather shimmy around them than move them. Stepping one foot into the narrow space, I grabbed the box of the broken 5-disc DVD player and heaved and hoed until it joined the lamp shade and paper towels on the couch. I stepped back in and when my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw them. The little hand-drawn holly leaves and the words "Christmas Decorations" whispered "Merry Christmas" to my soul...and my soul heard.

With a slight smile I lifted out each of the three boxes. The kids and I opened them all and pulled everything out. It looked as if a tornado had spun through Santa's house and then dumped all its spoils on our floor. This was Christmas!

Finally!