Homemade for Christmas

Archive for the ‘Traditions’ Category

Last month we were wandering the gift shop at a local tourist attraction and my daughter fell in love with this

A great way to share old family silverplate that you don't use anymore.

set of windchimes made from old silverware. I looked at the $100 price tag and sucked in my breath. I can make that myself, I thought. And so I did, for $4.00 including recycling what I had  lying around the house. What a great homemade Christmas gift.

After repeated trips looking fora sugar bowl, I finally found one at a  thrift store. It’s stainless steel surface didn’t quite match what I had in mind, but a few dings with the hammer a, some touches with the wire brush, and an indelible black marker gave it the patina I was looking for.

The silver was purchased a few years back, to add to our current collection which I rarely use. I have wonderful stainless and I think it looks better on my table. Garage sale.

The glass beads came from old necklaces I no longer wore, or had already fallen apart. They needed restringing anyway and I like the beads better in these, then I ever did around my neck.

The chain is not silver, only silver colored. Why would you use real silver in a wind chime, anyway?

I flattened the silver plate pieces with a regular hammer and a steel plate. You could just use a cement block. Flattened they make a much better sound. Stainless is really too hard to work.  Stick with silver plate. It’s easily found by digging through the bins at the thrift store or hitting garage and estate sales. The trick I learned after breaking the drill bit, is that you need to hold the drill straight and push slowly.

I strung the beads on heavy fishing line. Using a double back string, to go back through the beads I’d already strung and then securing with a bit of permanent glue. This should hold for a while. My daughter plans on hanging this in her kitchen. Outside, you might to do something a little sturdier. The jump rings that hold the chains to the sugar bowl should probably be soldered for outside use.

So there you have my first attempt at beading, and wind chimes. It took me about four hours, mainly because I don’t know the tricks of beading, but they’re coming. I found the project relaxing and a sure savings over the gift store’s $100 price tag. Another thing that is really cool about this project is that most of the materials are recycled.

If you have old silverware or silver objects that you’ve inherited and have a family history when was the last time you used them? This is a good way to recycle not only those pieces, but to share the family treasures with your children in a way they will appreciate. We have a silverware case full of tiny demitasse spoons that we will never use. We plan to turn them into bracelets for our grand daughters this Christmas, but that’s another story.

A Christmas tree plate full of Christmas cookies.

I spent the afternoon today baking cookies with my niece. There’s something to be said about homemade cookies besides their infinitely better taste. The process itself seems to encourage easy conversation and intimate confessions; building family relationships. Just two females working side by side in a kitchen, sharing secrets and deepest desires.

Christmas carols played softly in the background as we talk about her past and why she ended up living with us. I clear up some misinformation, which always seems to occur with her. We talk about her future life, where she might be going, and what she might end up doing; about boyfriends, past and future; about her talents and what she likes and doesn’t like. Cookies it seems force a neutral ground that dispenses animosity. There are many hands-off topics broach able under the guise of baking.

She practices reading, following directions and problem solving. I hand her a package of cookie mix and tell her to go at it, without my help. “We don’t have any oil” she says, reading the recipe. “I can run over to my mom’s, (a half a mile away), and borrow some.”

“Does that make sense?” I ask, “We’re right in the middle of this, and it’s snowing like crazy outside. What could you substitute instead? She didn’t get it. I suggest melting some butter. And she sees that it does look like oil. It works just fine.

The afternoon drifts on as the snow continues falling outside. The oven fills the house and outside with smells of cinnamon and vanilla. The rest of the family drifts in and snatches some of the finished goods, or chunks of unbaked dough.

With the rich traditions of Christmas, making cookies, despite the time they take seems like one that should continue. Even if you use a mix, I suggest that the warmth and smells coming from your homemade cookies are well worth the time spent. It’s a fun way to bring part of you into the gift giving. With all the cooking sites online, there are plenty of recipes to choose from. Start or continue the tradition in your home, and make it a homemade cookie Christmas.