My Christmas Memory

Nana Moosie asked for everyone to share their favorite childhood Christmas Mememory – and I thought and thought and thought and thought and thought….

And while so many of our childhood christmases were fantastic – I remember the doll and the clothes that I accidently stumbled upon in the sewing room that nana had made for me – how excited I was! I remember scavenger hunts to find the ‘big’ gifts – my hope chest being one. I remember the barbie shopping mall that mysteriously showed up on our doorstep one year – I never did find out who gave that to us, but oh! the shopping my barbies did! (and oh! the sympathy for nana and papa now as I step on stupid little barbie shoes in the middle of the night!)

But really – my favorite christmas didn’t involve a gift that I received, or even something from childhood. insteady, my all time favorite gift that i gave had to be Nana’s christmas tree. See, I am not much of a crafter. I don’t like to knit or crochet or needle point, or the like. I have absolutely zero patience for it (but I’ll spend HOURS pixel picking an image without thought. go figure.) and I just never got into it. But one year, I saw a project in a magazine. It was 7 counted cross stitch settings – size 8in. square, depecting scenes from A Christmas Carol, arranged in a fabric christmas tree framing to make a holiday wall hanging, complete with golden bells tied to the quilted fabric. It was BEAUTIFUL. And I wanted more then anything to make it for my momma.

So I got all the materials, and told her that I was making it for Kevin’s gramma, who loved handmade things, and had made me a whole bunch of handmade earrings (that my girls love to play with now.). So mom, being fabulous, said if I needed help to let her know. I started work on the cross stitching in october and worked on it every spare moment. I Stitched. and Stitched. and Stitched. The boy was 1.5 years old at the time, and in between taking care of him, i Stitched and Stitched and Stitched. Each completed one was a triumph. Alas – I was running WAY behind schedule.

I finished the last one on December 23rd. As I don’t sew, Mom knew I’d need help piecing together the fabric frame. I went to her house that night and asked for help – telling her that if I got it into the mail on the 24th, I’d feel it were close enough. We worked together.

Then mom finished it. She cut and sewed and helped me put that puppy together, actually FINISHING it for me in the end. I tied on the bells, and we boxed it up ready to send. I thanked her profusely – and even now I can’t figure out how she missed Kevin’s laughter about the whole thing while we worked.

When we got home, I unpacked and repacked it, making sure to shove tissue paper around the bells so the gift wouldn’t be discovered until completely opened. On Christmas morning, I proudly handed her that gift, and watched her face as she opened it. Just as she opened the box, one of the bells rang – the tissue had fallen out – and her jaw dropped and she looked at me with an expression I can’t describe, but can still see perfectly – shock, incredulousness, and amused laughter all mingled with the tears as she unwrapped the gift she had helped me finish just a mere 48 hours before.

It turned out beautifully! [and maybe Nana will take a picture of it for you see the pictures below – click through for details.] There’s mistakes in there, but there’s also MONTHS of planning and needle pricked fingertips and a ton of love in every little bit. And laughter too due to her finishing it for me.

The next year? Gramma made me my own wall hanging, which I hang faithfully every year. Except this one – I’ve not relocated it yet. *L* but soon as I find it, up it will go.

Love ya nana moosie! – that’s still my alltime favorite christmas gift – and it wasn’t even mine!