christmas crafting our cares away

After receiving what seemed like an endless chain of bad news, I made the decision to wrap up my worries with tinsel and garland until the holidays arrive. I'll face these troubles on December 26.

I understand the reasoning now behind my late grandmother's obsessive Christmas decorating – for just a few weeks, she'd surround herself with memories of the past, blast her old movies, and perhaps only for a few minutes, forget she was all alone.

So I filled the weekend with Christmas related activities so as not to share my troubles with this little guy. First up: candy house decorating.

This was something I loved doing with my mother growing up. She'd invite the neighborhood kids over so everyone could bring one back for their family.

Instead of gingerbread, we use a house shaped cake mold. Slather the cake with peppermint icing and apply candy - really, it's so simple.

And it was fun giving the control to a 3 year-old and not worrying about how pretty the outcome would be. He managed to eat just as many gum drops as he put on the house.

And afterwards, we took it to Bobby's parents' house, trimmed the tree, and ate it for dessert. Create and destroy - yum!

I inherited these eerily lifelike deer from my grandmother. She would proudly display them on her hearth and I adored them as a young girl. And I love setting them out in remembrance of her, but...they're kinda creepy.

So I painted them white with gold accents. I wish I could do that with everything that troubles me, don't you?