Yesterday afternoon Rylie and I hosted a holly jolly gumdrop-wreath-making and holiday-toddler-dance party all in one! Whew! It was a flurry of activity and a visual feast. From little Nordic sweaters to arty kid book gifts. From the big bright Christmas tree in the corner to the inimitable How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And at the end of it all we had gumrop wreaths (and a gumdrop tree) to show for our efforts. Our space is small, but that made it all the more cozy amongst dancing toddler toes and chocolate gingerbread cookies.
This group of friends has been coming over each Thursday afternoon for a little bit of toddler art and mama knitting/crafting. I mentioned it here, but I realize that I owe you a proper post dedicated to our group. We have done so many fun and interesting projects over the last few months, I can't wait to share that here. Coming soon, I promise. Anyhow, yesterday's holiday edition was admittedly a little more of a mama-focused craft. Oh, don't get me wrong, the littles definitely helped out and got involved. Only their participation was more on the sporadic side than the intense attention that us ladies were exhibiting. We made a lot of comments about how fun it was to kind of destress a bit from the holiday hustle in this way. This relatively mechanical and repititive task is the best kind of handbusying activity that facilitates mind-wandering, stream-of-concious conversation to emerge. So relaxing, so fun and so special to spend a few of these precious holiday hours with a great group of gals (and kids.) And while we plugged our little gumdrops into styrofoam, there was abundant dancing, pillowfighting, Charlie Brown watching, high pitched screaming, cookie snatching and your garden variety toddler tomfoolery happening.
If you are looking for something fun and easy to make yet in the next 10 days or so, I can not recommend the gumdrop wreath enough. Get a 12-inch foam ring at Michael's (although they may be sold out at this point, so call first) alternatively, you could check a less commercial source, like a local floral shop, they may have more selection than the supermega Michael's. The crafter's literally come out of the woodwork this time of year. So get a wreath, wrap masking tape around the spot where you will wrap a wire or whatever you coose to use for a hanger (I used heavy duty twine for the yesterday's wreaths) break a lot of toothpicks in half, I used scissors to cut them in two, and then buy like 4 to 5 pounds of gumdrops/spice drops. You can get them offbrand and pretty cheap in the candy aisle of your grocery or drugstore. You could also look at a store with bulk bins. Put the blunt end of the toothpick in the bottom of the gumdrop and stick the pointy end into the wreath. Repeat, repeat, repeat. When you are finished placing the gumdrops, pick out the perfect ribbon and tie a bow at the top. Put on a Christmas movie and settle in for some last minute, mediative crafting . . . the very best kind, I dare say.
Hello! I'm Liz Scott - mama to two little ones, maker, and all around curiosity chaser. I live with my family in Los Angeles, where we seek to fill each day with adventure, joy and creativity. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting.
