A CHRISTMAS MEMORY

As soon as the Thanksgiving table was cleared and the dishes were done, my mom would start thinking about Christmas decorations - - - and entertaining her three children over the rest of the long holiday break.  Our family didn't have a lot of money, but we had a mom who was able to take the supplies she had on hand and foster the creative spirit in her children.  She was also a wise mom who knew that busy children were less likely to fight with each other  when they were occupied.

Martha Stewart must have taken lessons from my mom, as she was a huge fan of gold and silver paint and glitter!  We learned that even the simplest objects became exquisite holiday decor when painted, then dusted with glitter.

Another decorative staple was aluminum foil.   While mom saved and reused foil (after she washed it, of course) we were allowed to pull it right off the roll . . . fresh and uncrumpled. . . for our decorative purposes.

 

I recall tracing stars on salvaged cardboard (usually old cereal boxes), cutting them out ever so carefully, then. . . .

with the fresh foil in hand, start the process of . . . .

of snipping and folding until . . .

 

a beautiful silver star was fashioned.  We would make them in all sizes. . . placing tiny holes in the top points and inserting  bits of thread to form  loops to use as hangers.  They would be positioned on our tree or in windows.  Then, we would make a large one to place on the very top of the tree.  In my eyes, they were magnificent items.

 

My mom was great about giving us the supplies, then letting us create on our own.

I clearly recall, when I was about eight or nine, coming up with the idea to make bells out of old cottage cheese cartons.  (We had a supply, cuz my mom saved ANYTHING that could possibly be reused at some future date.)  Also, in the Olden Days, when I was eight or nine, cottage cheese cartons weren't made of plastic.  They were formed out of waxed coated paper. . . like some milk containers we still see today.

Anyway, I clearly remember carefully draping the cartons with the treasured aluminum foil . . . then smashing and smoothing it to fit the containers.

 

The only ribbon I remember having around our home, when I was a kid, was curling ribbon. . . and I LOVED it because I could make even the smallest, unspecial looking gift a knockout by adding piles of curled, curly ribbon!

On to the next step.

I punched a hole in the bottom of the carton. . . which would be the top of the bell. . . then I inserted a long length of ribbon.  I knotted it several times on either side of the hole to keep the ribbon in place.

We always had a cat when I was growing up . . . I'm certain they loved to play with the curling ribbon just as much as little Twiggy does!

Next, I tied a glass ornament onto the ribbon inside the bell to serve as the clapper . . . making certain it was visible when I held up the the decorated carton.  For demonstration purposes, I selected a RED ornament, cuz Beverly said PINK is a derivative of RED!!!

I also decided to add a little greenery to this bell. . . it came from the Christmas tree we cut down last Saturday afternoon!

After I added the greenery, I formed a loop from the ribbon for the hanger, then I CURLED some of the ribbon!

I hung this bell on our front door, but I quickly realized it was just waaay too tempting for little Twiggy, so . . . . .

 

I relocated it to a spot less desirable for curious kitties!

I recall that the bell creation I made when I was a child was actually two bells which I had tied together, leaving one to hang slightly longer than the other.  Every Christmas for years, my mom hung them on a wall in our living room---in exactly the same spot each time.

Not only did she nurture our creativity, but she celebrated our attempts.  She always made me feel so good about my efforts.

THE STONE RABBIT was so impressed with my little Christmas memory that he decided to decorate his tree with little foil stars.  I promptly gave him my box of foil and the the rest of the cardboard.  Let me tell you, that little project kept him busy alllll afternoon! :)

Please visit Beverly, at HOW SWEET THE SOUND.  She has a long list of others bloggers with lots of sweet holiday memories to share with you!

DANA

 

Comments

[Caren]

Oh Dana ~ I think my Mom and your Mom must have been buddies! OMGosh, we made the same things when I was little. I think maybe we used jingle bells in the cottage cheese carton bells.

Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories that I had forgotten.

Happy Pink Saturday!

[Jean]

Dana,
I loved reading about your special creative memories!
I can remember making foil wrapped stars in elementary school. I had forgotten about them until I saw your post. Thanks!

~Jean

[Nancy]

Now that makes me want to make some bells. When I open my kitchen decorations, they are the ones that make me really smile...the ones that my kids and grandkids made. I understand completely your mom hanging them for years. Beautiful memories and a great tutorial!!! xoxo Nancy

[Anne Fannie]

Hi Dana,
What a precious memory you shared with us today! I love your bell and star out of tin foil!
Happy Pink Saturday!
~Hugs, Ann

[suzeeez]

Very cute post and wonderful memories. Happy holidays to you !

[tami kenner]

Dana..how sweet are you?..Loved your little crafted projects & Twiggy was such a good helper too. All the money in the world can't replace those memories made with cardboard and tin foil.
hugs..Tami

[Mimi]

On this first Saturday of December ♥Jappy Pink Saturday♥. I was away for a while and sure missed running around the blogs arnd seeing all of the goodies everyone was sharing.

Thanks for the memory...I made the very same things when I was a kid. You sure brought back some oldies but goodies for me! And, a craft idea for the next time the grandsons spend the night!

It was a blessing for you to make my morning so much fun. Hoping that you and those you care about spend a wonderful weekend making memories that will last a lifetime☺

[Sue@MyArtsDesire]

Dana,
Yes! I remember the waxy cardboard cottage cheese containers! How blessed you were to have a mom who encouraged such fun creativity. Priceless memories. I loved the idea of making bells out of old containers.
xo
Sue

[Terri Steffes]

Dana, you are right on with your Christmas memory today... I am feeling nostalgic today, probably due to my forced menopause, but lets not go there... I loved the bell especially. I didn't remember the waxed cartons but I am going to ask mom about it!

[Marie]

What a lovely little project! And I love the kitty pics for authenticity. That's what happens at my house as I craft!
Marie @ Lemondrop ViNtAge
Charmed giveaway!

[Ceekay]

Great memories Dana. I remember making the constuction links for garland. I really don't think that was probably very safe on the tree, but we didn't seem to worry about that then! Your bell is really quite cute!!

[Keetha]

What fun!

I'm rather impressed with that cottage-cheese-plastic-container-silver-with-red-ornament bell!!!

[Sheila]

Dana, I remember making ornaments, and I think we made some bells, too. I'm trying to remember what we used. Can't recall now. But I remember making the clappers from ornaments. Do you know that I made a tinfoil star a few years ago to go on top of our tree? I read Truman Capote's Christmas memories and was inspired to do so in his honor.

Love to you on this Pink Saturday. Carrots to the Stone Rabbit...

XO,

Sheila :-)

[Beverly]

Look what your mother started. She nurtured all of that creativity you still have today. I love your stars and your bell, and I especially love your sweet memory.

I hope your sale is going great. Happy Pink Saturday, dear Dana.

[Sherry]

Dana...
Happy Pink Saturday sweetie. I so loved your story of Christmas memory past. It is just precious, and weren't our Moma's so clever with things they came up with to keep us busy. With the weather so cold outside we were driving them nuts inside they had to come up with something for us to do. I love the bell idea, that would be good for my grandkids to make or even the star one would be fun for them. I think even the two year old could cover something like that. Maybe a ball shape better.

I so love the Stone Rabbit. Thank you for sharing him with me each week.

Please stop by and let me share my Christmas memory with you.

Country hugs...Sherry

[Mary]

What wonderful memories you have of your Mom and the way she stimulated your creative abilities. I love your bell and the instructions you have given us for making one of our own. Have a wonderful day.

[CC]

Such a wise and loving mother you had. My mother was the same..our creations were always displayed..and we would be so proud. Happy Pinks and have a wonderful weekend.
p.s. Give Twiggy and the Stone Rabbit a hug for me. :)

[heather]

what a special memory. i love the bell idea! and yours is so cute!

[Liz]

Darling!

~Liz

[Mollye Self]

Oh Gosh Dana, Those were a blast from the past. I think you must have also made miles and miles of red and green chains for the tree! The bunny might like doing that. Hugs, Mollye

[Sue]

Dana, What special memories and a special project you shared with us today. I remember bells made w/tin foil from grade school. Curling ribbon was all we had around, too. Life was simpler, wasn't it?
:-) Sue

[jeanne]

Dear Dana, I am sorry to visit so late. Today was our church luncheon and I was gone most of the day. Just my life lately. I love the story about your mom. She was terrific to let you create so willingly. I too love the stars. This is a sweet memory of your mom.

I am falling asleep writing this so I will be back tomorrow.

Goodnight my friend, Jeanne

[Sandy]

Thanks for the memories, Dana. I had forgotten all about making those stars with "Reynolds Wrap". I also recall one year we decorated pine cones with glue and glitter. I even had a few pine cones that were still green when I decorated them like trees and placed on the little plastic doileys. A few days later we heard this wierd snapping sound. They were drying out and popping open....my little trees became quite strange looking.
We are expected to receive approx 6-8 inches of snow by Tuesday so I think ole man winter has arrived here. :)

[bj]

This is a wonderful Christmas memory, Dana..
Your mom sounds so much like mine..
Merry Christmas, dear friend.
xo bj

[Vickie]

I love your Christmas story, brought back memories to me. Thanks for sharing.

Merry Christmas, vickie

[Betty @ She's Sew Pretty]

How fun! I remember doing the same thing with my kids. Making memories! Happy Belated Pink Saturday!

[Barbara]

Dana, Nice to have yur Mom around to entertain the kids. Mr Rabbit should stay busy for days.

Barbara

[Darlene]

Hi Dana,

Those are wonderful Christmas memories. I LOVE the foiled star and the little bell....just too CUTE!!

[jeanne]

Hello Dana, It isn't exactly tomorrow is it. Laughing. Sunday we had a dinner party for twelve and Monday we baked cookies all day. I will post it on Foodie Friday. In fact you were one of three people I visited on Pink Saturday. Today I am making an all out effort to visit.

Was this last show your LAST show for this year? Beverly said it was very successful. I am so glad. Are you ever going to post any of those wonderful things you make? You just might add to your sales. You should take photos of you and Bonnie at one of your shows. I would love to see what you are selling.

I finished, well almost finished my decorating. I still have to do my pink tree. Because CC is such a little biter right now I can't do my regular fruit tree. I did a tree and it is small and too high for CC to destroy. I like it though.

This coming pink Sat. the theme is our all time favorite Christmas decoration. I haven't seen mine (fave) since we have moved here. I just had a revelation!! I think it must be in a box of decorations I haven't used sine we moved here. I am going up to the attic to check it out.

I have missed your comments and I haven't been any better. The fall is busy for both of us. Ours is the football games and yours is your shows. I hope life will calm down a bit now. My shopping is almost done. How about yours?

Love you and miss you my dear friend.
Jeanne

[joy]

Dana...thank you for sharing a lovely memory! I will be sure and pass this idea on to my preschool children...well maybe next year. There are fewer and fewer days left for Christmas projects this year. Can you believe it?!

[Sally]

What a sweet story/idea, Dana.

[Jean]

Dana,
Glad to see that you are back! Thanks for stopping by to say 'hi' - I don't think Jillian took BeBe out into the snow as Jillian has had a really bad cold! Hopefull she'll be good for the Christmas holiday!

~Jean

[Lynn @ theVintageNest]

Dear Dana, I love that comment you made about your Mom. "She celebrated our attempts". xo

[Kathy]

Oh, what sweet, sweet memories, Dana. Did everybody's mom save foil to use over and over? I know mine did - still does!

Merry Christmas, Dana,
Kathy

[Spencer]

Very clever! And, what a great project for my little grandson (the artist) when he comes over tomorrow!

Warm blessings,
Spencer

[Ramona Owen]

Good Morning ~

Our Mom's are from the same cloth...how blessed are we!?!

This is a precious post.

Merry Christmas.

Smiles ~ Ramona

[Pat]

Dana, reading this brought a tear to my eye as my Dad helped us to made bells like yours on his last Christmas. It was a cold snowy day and my brothers and sister and I all wanted to do a craft together, and he helped us ppunch the holes in the top and tie on the ribbons. We were so excited to see how pretty they looked!
Sadly my dad died a few months later. My Mom always makes a pair of bells to hang on his gravestone at Christmas time in memory of that last holiday we had together.

Hugs, Pat