Christmas Chaos and Craft
Last week I managed to badly injure my eye, whilst rushing to do all things and be all things. This week I am departing from a weekly recipe and sharing instead some beautiful mid-Winter craft ideas.
Last week I managed to badly injure my eye whilst rushing to do all things and be all things. It was the silliest of accidents which involved bending down to catch a falling umbrella and squarely knock my eyeball on my son’s scooter. It was agonisingly painful and even though I knew I’d caused damage… I tried in vain for the next hour to convince myself it couldn’t be that bad. Finally after around 60 minutes of this pretence I conceded defeat with my eye streaming, swollen and tearing every time I tried to blink. I got myself to Moorfields eye hospital where upon examination I was told I had cut the cornea of my eye. I was lucky that the damage was superficial and didn’t require further medical treatment just rest, antibiotic drops and various other drops to stop the eye from drying out and preventing healing. I returned home both relieved and embarrassed that that cause was that I’d been rushing.
The injury forced me to slow down and take stock of my pre-Christmas mania. Rushing between pick-ups and drop-offs, working, buying endless gifts and writing thank you notes for all the people who we love and cherish, decorating the house, hosting friends for drinks and dinners. The list goes on. It is however not possible to do everything and no one has asked any such pressures of me; in fact I suspect all my family and friends would ask that I do less and enjoy my time with them more. Discussing what had happened to a friend she explained that she believes different injuries can have different spiritual meanings. If you stub your toe then you need to let go, and so on… The eye represents clairvoyance, omniscience and a gateway into the soul; an eye trauma can lead to new gifts or an acceptance of gifts that were previously rejected, or insight. I loved this slightly deeper explanation for my immense clumsiness and tried to do less. Whilst recovering for the past 10 days I have strived to maintain this slower pace, despite endless demands and commitments. Trying to be kinder to myself and write myself achievable daily to-do lists. Most importantly I have tried to be present with my children, rather than striving endlessly for perfection this holidays.
In light of my injury I didn’t manage to write a newsletter last Friday, staring at screens even to type was too painful. I thought as I ease back in this week I might depart from a recipe and share instead some very simple mid-Winter craft ideas, in time for Christmas. My daughter loves making things and it’s become a small tradition of ours to try new crafts at this time of year together.
Craft of the Week
Dried Orange Slices
Choose similarly sized oranges, or other citrus. Blood oranges are very beautiful if you can find some early ones. Cut into rounds, of a similar width, and place on lined baking sheets in the oven. Bake on the lowest setting for 2 hours minimum. You are trying to evaporate the liquid from the fruits and dry them. Once they are dry enough they should be brittle to touch. Cool them on a rack and tie with string, or ribbons.
They smell wonderful and make beautiful decorations.
Weekly Edit
A Crafty Christmas
If you are looking for inspiration and want a quick browse here is my pick of the week’s beautiful ideas of things to make and do:
Waldorf Window Stars for these you only need to buy a pack of kite paper, which is essentially a translucent wax paper that is easy to fold. To start with a basic star I like the beautiful instructions from Woodlark Blog. At this time of year beautiful white and gold window stars are magical.
Straw Star Decorations are a German tradition at Christmas called Strohsterne. You need a good kit with a straw splitter and a placement ring to help you build your star. You then tie the straw pieces together by weaving thread through the straws, to bind the star together. I recommend this kit from Conscious Craft which has everything you need, we also followed this simple video guide to get started.
Tin Lanterns are also a beautiful way of enjoying candlelight in the darker months and we have used this kit from Myriad Online. The lanterns can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Paper Chains always look beautiful hung from bookcases or ceilings. These kits made by the Cambridge Imprint are the ones I have chosen this year.
Gingerbread decorating kit - for an easy shortcut to baking your own gingerbread I love this kit from Biscuiteers of gingerbread snowmen. It contains 12 ready baked biscuits, piping bags, icing sugar and decorations.
Origami Christmas Tree decorations the very beautiful online store the Fabled Thread has some beautiful ideas for crafting this Christmas and I love their colourful paper craft packs. They have an easy-step video on how to fold origami stars and fans.
Pottery Cafe the Fulham Rd Pottery Cafe is our local pottery craft shop and we love to go with friends at this time of year and paint a present for a loved one. My daughter often hand paints me little bowls, which I use to keep bracelets and and hairbands in, they have such special meaning. If you can find a local pottery cafe near you it’s a wonderful way to keep busy for an afternoon.
Christmas Embroidery Kit I love these MakeBox & Co embroidery sets. They are an achievable size and contain all the necessary treads to complete the design.
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