a bird for all seasons

Wedding accoutrements are so often ephemeral. The flowers fade, the ribbons fray. But this lovely little peacock feather--originally a boutonniere for the summery lakeside wedding of Jason & Dawn--has a new purpose. It makes a fine ornament and actually goes very well with all the other bird-themed things on the tree. (The shells, incidentally, are associated with another seaside wedding. I may be a chronic sentimentalist.)

Everybody's past was somebody's future.

You know what just happened? The 25th anniversary of the MST3K Turkey Day Marathon. This ornament is a bit older than that--you do the math. At home, I had a tree, but not many things to put on it. So I made some ornaments during a slow night at work when I was a bookseller at Harry W Schwartz Bookshop (RIP). I had office paper and a printer. I had construction paper and scissors and glue and shiny gold thread

a little cuppa

The fairy light is included for scale. This is indeed a tiny teacup. Originally, the cup and saucer were separate. A hot glue gun solved that problem. Now it is suitable for hanging, especially because it is labeled "December" and has little pointsettas painted onto it. I know my lovely peeople Fra & Paul brought this back from a warm island. I think it was Puerto Rico, but it might have been Lilliputia.

Stocking up.

'Tis St. Nicholas Day, a lovely saint day in which we commemorate a kind man's gift of gold to some poor, dowerless daughters! The gold got tossed through a window or a chimney and landed in some footwear, as per usual. A holdiday was born! (By extension, this story is also the reason for the symbol pawnbrokers use on their shops...talk about mingling god and gold...)

Anyhoo, it's also my birthday! Huzzah! More gifts for me! Over the many

Citrine

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clemons...

Well, mostly lemons. This little lemon slice earns a place on ye olde holiday value tree because a) i very much adore the shop where i bought it (Watt's Tea Room FTW), b) citrus is totally classic for Christmas, and c) it reminds me of the Sicilians in my life (Giovanna, I sometimes dream of your lemony espresso). That's a triple threat ornament! Talk about a holiday value...

Light in Darkness

My background in mostly German. I like the prototypical German-style Christmas decorations, especially the carved wood ones. They feel real. Authentic. Krampus never beat kids with a plastic bat, is what I'm saying.

Anyway, my sweet aunt Edith bequeathed me this candle arch a few years ago. It has been said that the shape of the light resembles the openings to the passageways that miners looked forward to seeing at the end of their long days of working in the