Me and the Women Who Run With the Moose have been wicked busy making crafts for our table down to the Christmas Bazaar at St. Hyacinth’s. It’s all part of our Down Home Holiday Festival here in Mahoosuc Mills, which is always the second weekend in December. Oh, folks come from all over to check out our down home holiday fun. Why the toboggan races alone are worth the trip.
This year for our craft project we’re doin’ Pine Cone Pets and Christmas ornaments. Can’t say it’s our strongest effort. Not like the year we did crafts with the shoulder pads we cut out of our dress, shirts and sweater. People couldn’t get enough of the throw pillows decorated with shoulder pads, shoulder pad pot holders, trivets, a mobile for over the baby’s crib and wreaths. Those shoulder pad wreaths were the most popular item we’ve ever made. But then we run out of shoulder pads. The year we had a Drink Safe theme was good, too. We made wine glass markers and crochet beer cozies. Practical and cute! Who could ask for more?
Sadly, I think the Pine Cone Pets are gonna sell as well as the hat trees we concocted a few years ago: fake trees about a foot tall with little hats glued to the bare branches. Gotta admit, that was my bright idea. But the girls got on board. We had hat trees with a wintry theme, Valentine’s Day ones (hats decorated with little hearts), red, white and blue hats for the Fourth of July, witches hats on a Halloween tree and a Thanksgiving one featuring little Pilgrim hats and bonnets with a turkey perched on the top. We even made a bunch with purple trees and red hats figurin’ Snowdell Holden and her Red Hat crew would just snap those up ‘cause they’ll buy anything with a red hat on it. Turns out they won’t. We made about forty of those hat trees and sold two. Heck, we couldn’t even give ‘em away. God, did we laugh!
But Rita come up with the idea for the Pine Cone Pets and we wanted to encourage her ‘cause, honey, Rita is craft impaired. I mean she’s an “avert your eyes, burn yourself with the hot glue gun, super glue your fingers together, in the name of all that is holy, what the heck is that” kind of crafter. Yet I gotta hand it to her, she’s always game to give it a go. When it comes to crafts, Rita is a living, breathing reminder to reward effort, not outcome.
So this year, when she actually come up with a craft project, how could we not do it? Rita was just so gosh darn excited about it. And us girls could all see the potential of it. But, my friends, craftin’ is alot like life. Sometimes the idea is better in theory than in practice. But the Women Who Run With the Moose have a motto that goes like this: if you have fun doin’ something, even if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you’ve planned, you know what? You’ve still had a good time.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA’S PODCAST: Pine Cone Pets
Coming up:
December 20: Live PPMtv Holiday Celebration hosted by Ida, Portsmouth, NH
December 31: A Holiday Visit With Ida, Maple Suites, 7:00pm, Dover NH
Check out videos of Ida’s Christmas stories.
http://www.idaswebsite.com/ida-shows/a-very-ida-christmas/