Sunday Smiles

How was your weekend? Mine was great and full of lots of smile-inducing activities and people! My sister and brother-in-law came home for Thanksgiving at our parents'. There was lots of fun, good food, and some Christmas prep! (And there was also a dramatic Thanksgiving dinner save...)

Normally my sister and I have a more concrete plan for our holiday dinner tables... My mom calls us "table divas" if that gives you any idea of how seriously we take our "tablescapes." However, we've both been really busy, so we decided to wing it (I know, crazy right?!). We mixed and matched some napkins, and I arranged some grocery store bouquets into a vase. It was fun, and a relief to see that we were able to pull together something simple and easy, because really, the focus should be on the food and people - all the the things we are truly thankful for anyways! 

But then, thirty minutes before I was to go get Gram and before my brother-in-law's mom and brothers were to arrive, Gin and I were in a slight panic about place cards. (I suppose it wouldn't be a holiday dinner with us if there wasn't a DIY project in there somewhere.) Gin had the idea to use some sort of natural decoration like a branch, some leaves or a pinecone, but after a quick trek in our snowy backyard we couldn't find anything (realizing, "oh yeah, it's fall, most things are dead, and now covered in snow"). Determined not to go place card-less lest we create total chaos and anarchy come time for all (9) of us to sit down, we kept thinking. All of a sudden I yelled "FEATHERS!" Yes, it was as dramatic as it sounds. Luckily we had a stash of feathers, so we tied little bunches of them together with embroidery floss along with pieces of kraft paper with everyone's names on them! Simple, cute and Thanksgiving was saved! (I hope you read a little sarcasm into that last bit. We may be table divas, but we also don't take ourselves too seriously haha!)

And what a great family dinner! Delicious food and funny conversation! I laughed so hard I was practically crying a couple of times.

By the end of the dinner several of us were wearing our feathers. Putting the feathers in my hair immediately brought me back to elementary school, second grade to be precise, where I chose to be an "Indian" over a "pilgrim." We had to make either a feather headband or a pilgrim's hat, and I remember feeling really weird about the whole situation. I'm sure we hadn't discussed the harsh and disgusting reality of the fate of the Native Americans, but I knew there had to be some shady business that was being left out of the story. Obviously something unfair and awful had happened, so choosing the feather headband was a no-brainer, a personal incontrovertible necessity. As I walked to our special Thanksgiving school lunch with my fellow Indians and pilgrims, I think my head bore more than just the weight of that paper feather headband. But anyways, where was I going with this? Oh yes, the inadvertent symbolism of the feathers on our Thanksgiving table made me smile.

I was also smiling Saturday night as we decorated the tree while watching White Christmas. "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..." Don't you just love all the memories attached to each ornament? It's fun seeing ornaments you made as a kid, thinking about the people who gave you certain ornaments, and remembering the places and times you bought other ornaments yourself...

A tree full of memories is certainly something to smile about it!

So this post became a bit more verbose than intended. I apologize! Perhaps I was subconsciously trying to make up for my unwanted absence from the blog lately. I just want you to know that I am so thankful to have all of you lovely readers to share in my crafty love and to put up with my occasional ramblings!

I hope you are all doing well and have plenty to smile about and be thankful for!