I started something back in 2018, when I went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy some red felt fabric. With that fabric, I made a pointy hat, which has been at times used as an elf hat, or a gnome/tomte hat as the need requires. I went to the local arboretum with my husband (I didn’t have my own tripod yet at the time!) and we took gnome portraits. I wore the pointy hat with a Scandi looking green sweater, and I carried a basket of gifts.

The other day I was chatting on Messenger with my friend, D.M. Anderson, a brilliant artist and creative person, and she mentioned something about how a trip she had taken last year to Europe for the holidays gave her such a new perspective on holiday celebrations. I immediately said “Will you write this as a guest blog for my website?” and she agreed. Please enjoy this lovely post by D.M. Anderson!

Lately I’ve had presents on my mind, but not the receiving of them. Instead I’ve been pondering the heartfelt and personalized generosity that I was lucky enough to grow up with in my family each holiday. My mother was, and is, a gift giver of incredible skill to respect and admire, and she embodied the idea that making a gift for someone imbues it with a love that radiates from every inch of the item created.

It’s here! I put so much heart and work into each year’s holiday house tour, and this year’s tour is probably my favorite yet. Which is apt, because my decorations are my favorite yet as well!

Ahh, but sometimes the best plans go awry. About a month ago while I was perusing Pinterest for copyright free art to hang on my wall for the holiday, I stumbled across the (to the best of my knowledge, not copyright free) art of the artist Lennart Helje. I had seen a few pieces of his before, but I was freshly intrigued, and looked up his name on there specifically. I was in love with all of the pieces I saw.