Christmas, Seasonal & Holiday

Christmas in July

July 11, 2011 by admin No Comments

My name is Elaine and I’m addicted to Christmas. No seriously.

Okay, so I’m not crazy-put-your-stuff-out-in-October-crazy but I do LOVE the holiday season. I love the warmth, the tradition, the coziness, the shimmering lights, the hustle, the quietness, the FEELING. I love Christmas.

I also love crafting and making things and that is how my little annual tradition of Christmas Craft Night was born. The concept was to get some girls together, drink some wine, chat, enjoy each others company and make a Christmas craft! And it took off. Big time. So now it has become an annual tradition that my friends say they love. And I love hosting it. Love it. The best compliment I received was from a friend who told me that the craft night was, for her, the sign that the Christmas season had begun. She looks forward to it every year to kick off the season and get her in the Christmas spirit. Wow.

So how I start is, I pick a craft that seems doable in a few hours. The point of Christmas Craft Night is that every girl leaves with a completed craft. I always host it right at the beginning of December so that the ladies can enjoy that years craft for the whole month.

After I choose the craft I do a trial run to make sure that it’s doable in an evening and work out any glitches. Then I design an invitation to send out that features what the craft will look like. In earlier years I’d include a list of supplies for the ladies to bring but now I just pick up the supplies myself (to save them running around and take advantage of bulk deals) and then just charge a fee that covers their potion of the supplies. I aim to always keep it under $20.

Here is what last years invitation looked like:

and some close ups:

In the past I have taken my own photos to feature the craft but this year I chose a Martha Stewart craft so of course the photo was great.  
Here are the two little elves that I made while trying out the craft. It was very easy to make so a great choice for the evening.
When the ladies arrived to craft they found their station set up like this. Even though the Martha Stewart Craft came with its own template (found on this page if interested) I’m a little bit of a coordination junkie so I designed my own template to match the invitation. Call me crazy but I think its the Graphic Designer in me. I think my friends appreciate those little touches.
When the ladies arrive we have a flurry of wine pouring (I especially like the mulled wine that I brew every year on this occasion), appy nibbling, chatting and catching up. Then we get down to some serious  CRAFTIN’ BIDNESS and the real fun begins! Here are all the elves ladies crafting away. The main floor of our home turns into a bit of a Santa’s workshop!
Even my mom and mother-in-law get in on the action!
Here are some pics of my friends making their little elves…
Note the wine – key crafting ingredient. 
Coming along nicely Jaime! But not all elves fared so well. Stacey’s little elf lost a finger….
And some were just too little still to craft (but as cute as an elf)!
Concentation ensued. Perfect little elves were being built. Serious stuff.
But of course there was a lot of laughing and enjoying good friends along the way. Just what the season ordered!
Once everyone was done we had a little elf party! Seriously adorable, I love how the ladies put their own spin on their elfing creations…
At the end of the night I always send the ladies home with a little favour. This year I found cute little Christmas themed post-it notes!
The note read “sticking with the spirit of the seaon, please take a little Christmas post-it to enjoy”. ‘Sticking’ – ha. Punny.
So that’s it. A great tradition that I can’t wait for every year. Looking forward to doing it again. 166 days until Christmas!

Check out my other merry Christmas posts!


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