my favorite time of the year – robin maderich – write-brained scribbler and crafter-on-the-loose

And So, It Begins

(Jeez, I didn’t realize a certain repulsive had made this same comment about something else entirely right when I was putting up this blog post. Believe me, separate topic and no connection.)

Well, it’s November. Officially the start of the holiday season (for me, anyway). I have plans. Lots of them. Always do. The only thing I don’t have is enough time to implement them all, especially since I still have end-of-the-growing-season jobs outside to do and all the book signings coming up. So, I guess I must pick and choose.

I always dream big this this time of year. Dream big and wonder why I didn’t have these dreams in July instead of November, when there’s a little more time before Christmas. After all, the whole Christmas in July thing is going on then. Why don’t I jump on the bandwagon while the sun is still hot? To be honest, I do. I start thinking about Christmas then (sometimes I start in January—depends on my mood), but I don’t buckle down in July. Instead, I walk around with all these Christmas-y goals in my head, and my hands rarely implement a single one.

Christmas in July, anyone?

Christmas in July. Some folks scoff at it, but those of us who recognize the early draw to the upcoming holidays revel in these days when we start readying for and looking ahead to the Christmas season—despite the awful heat.

Stores take advantage of “Christmas in July” by touting sales, but what we early birds revel in is not the bargain found. It is the thought that soon, relatively soon, less than six months away, Christmas will come again. The season of joy

Christmas thoughts in May

Anyone who’s read less than half my blogs will still recognize how much I love the Christmas holidays. It’s May now. May 22nd, to be exact, and the temperature at 12:06 is still 49 degrees. I’m debating with myself as my fingers grow chill and I put tights on under my sweats, whether I should turn the heat back on. It is in the low 60s here in the house and the temperatures aren’t going to get any better outside over the next several days. And it’s raining. Did I mention that?

I’m thinking I wouldn’t be too off-base saying it’s darned chilly. In the meantime, my darling cousin Pattie is lounging outside in shorts and a tee shirt expecting a high of 91 (in Georgia, before you get too excited).

Crafting with little hands

My kids are all grown and I have fur-baby grandkids. As for the latter, their lack of opposable thumbs means I can’t do Christmas crafting with them. However, for those of you who do have children around at the holiday season, I found this Good Housekeeping article with 50 Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids. Some of them look like fun, for sure.

I just might have to teach the dogs and cats how to use those dew claws.

50 Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids.

Happy crafting!

Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

I may have mentioned elsewhere that I love to craft. I used to try selling my crafts on Etsy, but because I love to do so many things I really didn’t have the focus I needed for my shop. One of these days, I might just pick one and get back to it, but in the meantime, I decided to start posting crafting videos on YouTube. As of this post, my most recent is about making a wooden Christmas tree advent calendar.

What the Dickens.

This isn’t actually a blog about Dickens, although, yes, I love his works. At least all that I have read. This blog is about a particular gift I received.

My youngest son’s fiancée, Lauren, gave me a beautiful wooden advent calendar several years back. The days leading up to Christmas are numbered on the front on twenty-four little drawers. She has filled the drawers in the past with chocolate and themed objects, the first year being Winnie-the-Pooh, which included snippets and quotes on small, rolled papers as well as adorable Winnie, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet charms and erasers. The next year was a Charlie Brown theme. Plenty of Snoopy and Woodstock, as well as Charlie and his friends. Each year’s efforts have reflected an obvious labor of love. Opening those little drawers to find out the items secreted inside has been a great pleasure.

‘Tis the season

I know, Christmas is still more than a week away. However, I made my video greeting a little early and posted it on YouTube, am getting ready to post it on Facebook shortly, and I have embedded it above. The video is (subtly, I think?) about how special Christmas is to me and for all who celebrate it, no matter who they are, where they come from, gender, age, skin color, background. It’s about respect, too, because even though the message is Merry Christmas, it doesn’t mean people who do not share the same faith are excluded from the significance of that message. It means we all care about humanity. Or should.

Holiday “feels,” anyone?

It’s that time of year and, as an author, I do have to try to sell my books, but it’s much more than a monetary thing. I believe in these stories and their ability to lift the spirits, and that’s what the holidays are all about, yes?

Connor Falls Christmas is a family-friendly–indeed, family-oriented–series with a touch of light romance, a healthy dose of holiday “feels” and set in the fictional small town of Connor Falls, Pennsylvania. If you read any of them, let me know what you think. I love feedback!

And while we’re on the subject of Christmas, is that moose/tree/heart garland in the picture at the top not the cutest? I’m going to have figure out how to make that and post about it!

Off to a quirky start

Okay, I did make a list of my ten favorite Christmas movies last year (wait…no, it was 2020! WHAT?), but I’m starting off with a different bunch in 2023. I will, however, leave a link to my former list below, just in case you are mildly curious, or need a little inspiration.

So far, I’ve watched:

Make this lovely wreath!

This is one of the simplest wreaths I’ve made (especially since I make ones from real greens closer to the holidays), but I absolutely love it. The grapevine wreath I used is 30 inches across, but you don’t need to go that big. This project can be made with grapevine wreaths of any dimension, as long as you adapt your greens and ribbon to the proper size. You certainly wouldn’t want to use three-inch wide ribbon on a six-inch wreath–unless you’re going for a different sort of look, of course.