Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Light Dawns

Okay, so I'm probably the last person in the cosmos to come to this earth-shattering realization but yesterday, it dawned on me that baked goods count as hand-made/home-made gifts. 

Duh.

So there I was, baking up a storm last weekend, thinking, "Well, good thing you're not making handmade gifts this Christmas, or imagine how busy you'd be, with all this baking-cookies-for-teachers already going on!"

Why do I not have a brain? Or, why does my brain compartmentalize itself so effectively that it has never occurred to me that baking = sewing = cooking = cardboarding = crafting?

Anyway, so - phooey- it turns out that, in spite of my best efforts not to, I am doing the Handmade Thing this Christmas. And I worked so hard to neglect my sewing machine this advent season. Darn!

But since this is Advent after all, and the season of goodwill and warm fuzzy thoughts, let me reframe my pathetic epiphany for you all: you know all those times you slave in front of a hot stove at 5pm, cooking meals for your family? Even if it's Hamburger Helper? Or Rice-a-roni? That's handmade, friends. You're crafting with food, and you're giving your family a gift you made yourself. Sometimes with swearing and grumbling, yes, and sometimes only to prevent starvation, but you do it because you love them. And because you do it every day, several times a day in mind-numbing repetition, it also counts as mass-producing. Handmade Mass-producing - now doesn't that make you feel capable, productive, efficient and superhuman? Yay, you! 

11 comments:

  1. Well, aren't we awesome then! Haha, I loved this. Thanks. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel so much more accomplished now! Thanks. There is nothing like completing a home made project, though. There is a real sense of accomplishment rather than the fleeting ones we get from finishing the dishes or laundry or cooking, because those things are never really done. But making baby Jesus finger puppets and Mary and Joseph to go with them, that is completion, unless you want the sheep, donkey, wise men, angel and manger to go with them! I am making several sets of the 'main three' this year in the hopes of adding to the collections in the coming years, we'll see how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My five children have asked at various times "Mom, you are such a good cook, why don't you open a restaurant?" Are you kidding me? You couldn't pay me enough to cook in a restaurant. I do the three times a day from scratch out of love. And I've always considered it to be very creative and "crafty" to cook. My husband used to complain that there were only ingredients in the kitchen and he couldn't find anything to eat. Then I'd take those same humble ingredients and put together a tasty, nutritious meal and he'd be super impressed, and brag on me to his co-workers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for your post! It's very inspiriting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am sending out boxes of truffles for Christmas. I fill my freezer starting in October and am only slightly more neurotic about chocolate than I am about fabric, but there are still the Christmas tree molds I wanted to use but didn't get around to, the mango white chocolate ganache idea still waiting to be played around with. So yeah, exactly like my sewing. (BTW, pm me if you'd like a box. I feel as though with all your tutorials and encouragement you've pulled more finished projects out of me than anyone.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. He he he, you guys! Alright, I'm going to start being properly productive soon. Look out, world!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Totally in agreement with you here. And what is even better is my husband thinks so too - every day! Of course, you can have too much of a good thing - tonight's task is to ice 80 cupcakes for the Year 1 Christmas party tomorrow (5&6 year olds).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cindy Aus
    YAY THE HANDMADE!!!!!!!
    I never thought of cooking as that either.
    Loved how descriptive you are.
    I may not comment very much/if ever, because of stupid blogger ra ra ra, but I love seeing you wonderful, imaginative creations.
    THANK YOU!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for talking to me! If you have a question, I might reply to it here in the comments or in an email.