Christmastime is Here

When I was a kid, I loved Christmas. My mom put up beautiful decorations, pretty songs played everywhere we went, and Christmas specials played on Nickelodeon. I would lay on the floor with my favorite thing, a small skating rink filled with miniature ice skaters and carolers that played music box holiday music - for hours I would watch this thing, mesmerized by the tiny people and tinny tunes. Best of all were the traditions around Christmas Eve. We’d make cookies, leaving them out with milk for Santa, who was going to come down our chimney (but only if we went to bed early!) and in the morning, the tree would overflow with presents for me and my sibling. 

Then I grew up.

…Sike! I still love Christmas, more than any other day of the year. I don’t think I ever lost my child-like innocence, no matter what my life had to say about the matter. Even as my friends and family outgrew the holiday, I remained enamored, but for different reasons now.

I’m not a traditional person by any means, but I think more than anything I love the traditions people find around the holidays. You see the people you love, cook certain meals, listen to All I Want For Christmas is You on repeat for a month (just me?). Recipes, movies, ornaments all get passed down with love from person to person.

For me, Christmas is the epitome of coziness. It’s my perfect morning. A dusting of snow outside, but warm and comfy inside. The smell of your favorite meal cooking (or, as my family has done the last few years, the smell of takeout Chinese food), mingled with pine, cinnamon, apples, vanilla. Cats playing with the presents we bought them. Hot chocolate in the morning, mulled wine in the evening. Jazz renditions of Christmas songs playing in the background.

Perfect.

Christmas for crafters tends to start a little early. I know people that started their holiday knitting while the temperatures soared into the 90s and fireworks boomed in the sky. I made gifts for a few years after I first learned to knit and crochet, but I found it sucked the fun out of my favorite time of year; suddenly I was stressed about finishing presents on time, or whether they would be good enough for the person they were meant for, or whether the person would like and appreciate them. My crafting is almost purely selfish now, almost all made for me, and is so much more fulfilling that way. If you get a gift from me, you KNOW without a doubt that I love you.

To those who don’t craft, who may receive something handmade this year: cherish it. Appreciate the work and tears and frustration and love that went into it. Keep it safe, yes, but actually use it! Nothing makes me happier than seeing people use the things I made for them.

And to those who do craft: don’t stress yourself out too badly. Christmas is, above all, a time to be with the people you love. No one will hate you if that hat isn’t done until January.

Happy holidays, y’all. I hope you get all you need and more this season.