Let the Spirit of Christmas Inspire You!
The year is 1976. It is Christmas Eve, and a 3-year-old little girl is trying to listen for Santa and his reindeer to arrive. She has been told that she has to go to sleep before Santa will actually come to her house. However, between all the excitement and really wanting to catch Santa, she is lying in bed just being very still and super quiet. Her thoughts are that if she looks like she is sleeping, maybe he will come. Then, maybe she can open her presents early too!! Oh, this is just super exciting! She has been planning this for what seems like forever!
Every couple of minutes, she gets up and peeks out the window. This has to be the 6th or 7th time she has peeked. So far, nothing. She climbs back into bed, pulls up the covers, and again pretends to be asleep. What is that noise? It kind of sounds like jingle bells. It is jingle bells!!!!! She lies there frozen with her eyes wide open trying to hear more and figure out what exactly this may be and where it is coming from. The bells continue to get louder and sound like they are so close to the roof of the house. Then…..it sounds like a sleigh has slide across the roof! She just can’t believe it! Santa is here!! He just has to be!
What happens next not only solidified that Santa was real, but that he really is arriving at her house! There was a knock at the door. She quietly climbs out of bed and sits at the top of the stairs trying to hear everything going on downstairs. Her mother answers the door, and she can hear her mother greeting Santa. Oh boy! She wishes so badly that she could see him, but knows that she would be in trouble if anyone knew she was still awake. “Ho, Ho, Ho!” As she hears Santa talking, she can just imagine this white-bearded, jolly man wearing his beautiful red suit and smiling with such joy. He wishes her mother a merry Christmas and eventually the door closes. She rushes back into her room to look out the window to try to catch a sight of him in his sleigh being pulled with his reindeer. Maybe she will even see Rudolf! She hears the sleigh slide across the roof and the jingle of the bells. She stares intently out the window. However, he must have flew the other direction, because she never saw him. She was not disappointed though. Santa had stopped by her house!! She heard him! She, for the last time tonight, climbs back into bed, pulls the covers up, and eventually falls asleep. Tomorrow is Christmas and she is looking forward to opening the presents that Santa brought!
This little girl was me. It is the fondest childhood memory of Christmas that I have. As an adult, I learned that my father and my uncle pulled my sled across the roof and jingled the bells. My dad played Santa at the door. What a gift of joy and happiness they gave that little, 3-year-old girl. My parents showed me the spirit of Christmas, and I will be forever thankful and inspired!
Have you got a fond childhood Christmas memory? Maybe a certain gift you received. Or maybe there is a certain smell that takes you back. Different traditions are also fun to hear and learn about. Many of us celebrate Christmas or another holiday during this time of year, which allows us to share this time together. However, I also see it being a bit individualized within the differences. Those heart-felt memories can be the inspiration to your next quilt project. For example, I could make a lap quilt with all the special parts of my memory-Santa, jingle bells, sleigh, a door, a little girl in pjs or by a window at night, just to name a few ideas. If you learned that someone remembers the smell of pine in their memory, you could make a hexi ornament with printed pine or pine cones and add the smell of pine to it. Maybe someone remembers baking cookies. You could make a mug rug with a cookie theme or even quilted oven mitts (you could even include a cookie recipe)! Because heart-felt memories always warms our spirits and brings joy to our hearts, using it as an inspiration will connect that memory to that project and bring you back every time you use it-bringing joy and happiness over and over and over!
We would love to hear your Christmas memories! You could either comment below this blog, email us at stauffer@haloinspired.com, or comment on our Facebook page. In quilting, it is in the stories where we all find inspiration, joy, and love to see all the beauty you are sharing in the world!
2011-Military Christmas Ball One of my favorite things about this time year! I simply love dressing up and playing a “princess.” I find inspiration with the colors, the decorations, people coming together to enjoy each other and the successes of the past year. What are your favorites of this holiday time?
The Christmas Spirit is alive in children! They remind us of our childhood Christmas feelings and the wonderment of the season. Tapping into that can ignite a special inspiration within you!
Until next time, may you continued to be inspired, productive, and joyful! And may you never stop making your dreams in quilting come true!
XO-
Angel
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