Slowly, Surely

The Christmas gifts are coming along - slowly, but surely. It's amazing how much time goes into hand-making things. Take the Christmas stockings I'm busy with at the moment. It would be really easy to go and buy a factory-made one in the shops, but here I sit, making them and individually writing the owner's names on. In felt letters. Stuck on with fabric glue. (Or at least, that's the plan) I'm still busy sewing them though - all 7 of the things. Each one has to be cut out, stitched, the felt collar measured, stitched, sewn on the right way around to turn over and look good - and a ribbon added at the right place to hang it from.

And then there's the cushions, covers and table runner for one person. Those took me the entire day yesterday, bar 2 hours at the office (required, thanks to folk panicking for visas). If anyone asks me for large amounts of cerise stuff next year I'm going to scream! :) Last year I made another family member the same number of cerise items, and after a few hours looking at that bright pink colour, you look up and the world seems to have taken on a greenish tinge!

Still to do today is a huge job - vegetarian turkey. It takes hours and hours to make, but it's worth it. And it has to be done today, as it needs at least overnight or more to marinate after cooking and cooling.

So I'm getting there. Each year it's a mission to hand-make the gifts, and I should probably have started weeks ago, but sometimes inspiration strikes later rather than earlier. The nice thing is though that these gifts are truly appreciated for the hard work and individual thought that's gone into each. They're not run-of-the-mill shop-bought things, which anyone could pick up for a price. They're crafted (I love that word!), lovingly made with each person in mind.

And that, I think, is what makes them special.