Christmas - grace grits and gardening

Dear Santa – My Christmas Wish List

December 23, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’ve been thinking about my Christmas wish list. A list with a bit less. A list with a bit more.

Moving from Dallas to Fayetteville put me in touch (literally) with every single item we have collected through the years. Every juice glass and dinner plate I carefully packed in wrapping paper. Every dirty garden tool—many duplicates because you can’t have too many garden tools. Every book—those memorized and those waiting to be read—every candle stub and picture frame. Every Dallas Mavericks t-shirt. Every.Single.Thing.

So.

This year’s list is different. I’m still too close to the move to get excited about anything new, other than the fence going up in my backyard. Plus, I need nothing.

I want less.

Less hustle and bustle.

Less stress over selecting the perfect gifts.

Less glitter and glitz and jingle all the way.

Less casseroles on the Christmas buffet.

Less.Less.Less.

Yet I wish for more.

More peace and quiet and relief for those struggling to survive each day. More time with family and friends and people who make me laugh until my sides hurt. More flickering candlelight and fireside chats. More silent nights spent wrapped in a good book, warmed by faithful dogs curled at my feet.

On a cold December morning, I want to walk through the woods and enjoy the raw, silver beauty of winter.

I want to watch for Santa’s sleigh among stars that went dark long ago.

This Christmas, I want to hear heaven and nature sing.

morgueFile

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]This Christmas, I want to hear heaven and nature sing. #Less #More[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Pentatonix – White Winter Hymnal

Christmas Gift-Wrapping Party!

December 22, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Last week I hosted my first gift-wrapping party, something I’ve thought about doing for years. Unless you are some sort of party-throwing ninja, it’s too late to arrange a party this year, but keep this fun idea in mind for next Christmas. A gift-wrapping party is the perfect way to spend time with friends and family while knocking out what some folks see as a huge chore—wrapping that growing pile of gifts.

Confession: I love to wrap gifts. I truly do. And sitting around chatting and laughing with friends, listening to Christmas music, drinking a little vino while wrapping Christmas presents elevates gift-wrapping to a new level.

Since I’d never hosted or attended a party quite like this, I did what made sense to me. Everyone left with happy tummies, bags of wrapped gifts, and a little more Christmas spirit, so overall I’d say it was a success.

Invitation. I created my event on Facebook which is easy and works well if your invitees are Facebookers, but you can invite friends via paper invitations (what?) or e-vite. The important thing is to get the word out in advance because the Christmas calendar fills up FAST with parties and school events. Don’t stress about your invitation. Here’s what I included on my “invitation” which took all of one minute. (Feel free to copy.)

Food and Drink. Set up a buffet of hors d’oeurves and a few sweets. Keep the food simple and easy to eat. The point of the get-together is to wrap presents, but let’s be real, a party without food is no party at all. It’s a meeting. Arrange food on the kitchen countertops or island to free up table surfaces for wrapping. My party was a BYOB event, but I had extra wine and beer on hand, along with a few soft drinks and a pitcher of water. Gift-wrapping makes one parched.

Gift-Wrapping Stations. Designate your dining room table and/or kitchen table for gift wrapping. Pull out leaves in tables to provide as much room as possible. Remove tablecloths, table runners, centerpieces, etc. Add folding tables if necessary. This is serious gift-wrapping business—think Santa’s Workshop… Have rolls of paper within easy reach. And don’t forget tissue paper.

Ribbon, Paper, Scissors. Since I am a gift-wrapping freak, I already had lots of ribbon and gift tags. Even so, this was a good excuse to pick up cool new paper and embellishments like glittery stars. Flea markets have lots of interesting vintage items for gift decorating. Start collecting now for next year (and forever).

Gift-wrapping supplies become the decorations for your party. Arrange spools of ribbon and tape in bowls (first picture). Egg dishes make great containers for tags, jingle bells, etc. Personal Motto: There’s no such thing as too many egg dishes.

Wrapping. Wrap until everything is wrapped. Wrap each other’s gifts. Be sure to take pictures.

Leftovers. At the end of the night, if there are leftovers, get them out of the house asap unless you are trying to gain weight over the holidays in which case we can’t be friends. Just kidding (no really). Provide your guests with Ziploc bags or plastic containers for take home treats.

Alrighty, that’s a wrap on this year’s gift-wrapping party. The best thing about it? When everyone leaves and you are left with the wonderful messiness of a fun evening, your heart is filled with gratitude for a season that brings friends together.

Merry Christmas and may all your gifts be beautifully wrapped. Or at least have fun while wrapping:)

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis url=”http://wp.me/p58902-1dZ”]The best thing about a #Christmas gift-wrapping party? Bringing friends together + chocolate + wine.[/tweetthis]

[tweetthis]Gift-wrapping makes one parched. #Wine #Friends #ChristmasParty[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Pretty Paper – Willie Nelson

The Scary Side of Christmas

December 21, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

As a child, Christmas was my favorite time of the year. Homemade stockings hung by the chimney with extra-care. Daddy was in a semi-decent mood. Yummy food spread on the kitchen countertop morning, noon and night. School was out for weeks. Sometimes knee high snow fell while I slept. Plus, Christmas was Jesus’ birthday which included certain church perks like singing Christmas hymns instead of regular hymns and receiving tangerines at the end of the Christmas program.

Brinkley Chapel Choir. (l-r Monica, Staci, Lesa, Mitzi, Me, Kim, Karen, Jamie)

But.

In my young mind, there was a scary side of Christmas, too. A dark side that adults glossed over or ignored altogether. Two worrisome things in particular kept me awake at night during the most wonderful time of the year.

Number 1 Scary Christmas Thing: Jesus was born to a very young virgin mother. Although the specific details of being an unspoiled virgin versus “one of those girls” were fuzzy, I had a vague idea of what it meant.

WHAT IF THAT HAPPENED TO ME?

I wanted no part of it.

When the angel Gabriel said, fear not for behold I bring you tidings of great joy, Mary and her whole family went right along with everything. Mary was so wonderful and worthy she even sang a song about it.

If Gabriel visited me in the night, such tidings would not be well received by Thomas Tate.

Daddy (Thomas Tate)

Not at all.

I also believed the more I stewed on something, the more likely a self-fulfilling prophecy would occur. So I tried to focus on other things—anything other than being a pregnant virgin child like Mary. Like trying to be extra good and not pouting because Santa Claus watched my every move.

Number 2 Scary Christmas Thing. The Naughty or Nice List that controlled Christmas. I knew Santa made a list and checked it twice, but that’s all I knew about his curious list.

When did he make the list?

What were the list guidelines?

Exactly how bad did I have to be to find myself knocked off the good list and onto the bad list?

I had lots and lots of questions that no one seemed qualified to answer.

Each year, I felt certain I had NOT been good enough. All throughout Christmas Eve night, I worried that I would wake on Christmas morning to no toys, no new Barbies, no clothes even. Nothing at all. After all, I wasn’t nearly as agreeable as Mary (see Number 1 Scary Thing above).

Worry-wart much?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]The scary side of #Christmas…Yikes! #VirginMary #BetterNotPout[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Mindy Gledhill – Santa Claus is Coming to Town