Holy Day

This is the card I illustrated and mailed to friends and family for christmas. I apologize for the blurry photo!

And this is the lovely poem Matt wrote on the back:

This year instead of giving gifts let's celebrate for free 

with something more impressive than any Christmas tree

Don't need bows or ribbon

Don't even need a box

Don't need something from a store

Don't need gloves or socks

Don't need snow

Don't need ice

Don't need lights (though lights are nice)

Don't need cookies

Don't need elves-or anything from merchant's shelves

Don't need whiskey

Don't need toys

Don't need spoiled girls or boys

Don't need stockings filled with treats, or cavities from eating sweats

What we need most of all is something we don't lack

Imagine good old Santa Clause could reach into his sack-

And pull us out some Brotherhood, loving Kindness too, 

Courage, Hope, and Peacefulness (which all belong to you)

Joy you have already

Though you may not know

END OF WAR

END OF HATE

These are things to celebrate

Remember that what money buys will always turn to dust

Even brand new shiny cars eventually rust

Look to other human beings for

"Nothing gold can stay"

Love each other deeply

Happy Holy Day

Even though I 'm excited to wrap my handmade gifts in a box with bows and ribbons, to decorate my tree and house with twinkling lights, and to host my first cookie swap with whiskey cocktails, this man sure does keep me grounded.

This poem and illustration are of personal property and should not be used without permission of the owners.

Christmas Wish List

This year will be the first year my family and I will not be celebrating the holidays at our home in Wichita, Kansas. My parents moved to Westcliffe, Colorado over the summer to retire and build their dream home which I have yet to see. Driving to Colorado would make for an excruciating drive from Missouri so we decided that my older sister, Hollie, would host the Christmas festivities this year in Pratt, Kansas!

We also decided that we would cut back on gift giving this year and make it more about spending time with family, which I am tickled about! I will be making gifts for my nieces Nicole and Jaysa and nephews Devyn and Clint. I am very excited to get started on something handmade and thoughtful for the youngest members of our family. Those gifts will be posted after the holidays as to save the surprise for those tech savvy kiddos.

Though we decided to not get gifts for each other as adults I am so used to making my annual wish list I couldn't resist to skip the tradition this year! Something to replace painful contacts, something useful, something beautiful, something to set brews on, and a little sparkle for my feet.

1. Walden Glasses 2. Inclinable Lyre Easel 3. Capsized print

by Clare Elsaesser 4. Celestial Coaster Set 5. Eager Beaver

Bootie by BC Footwear

Deck The Halls

I got a little excited for Christmas and started decorating a tad too early but the house looks lovely and wintery even though it's it was nearly 70 degrees today the day before Thanksgiving. Matt and I made candles and snowflakes. I made a mistletoe ornament. We thought about purchasing a real Christmas tree this year but they are extremely expensive, so we thought about getting a larger faux Christmas tree instead but they are also extremely expensive for a nice one. We ended up using the miniature lime green tinsel tree I got for the dorm room my freshman year of college and stringing up fair lights around the windows in the house.