You would think that the heavy gift-giving would be over with by now but no... I have birthdays in January, the Lunar New Year coming up, my beloved's birthday, Valentine's Day, and then my baby brother's birthday. So I'll still be riding that wave for at least another two months.
It's a good thing that I like making stuff and giving stuff to others, lol. Striving to become a teacher is just going to kick that gift-giving into overdrive and by the time I get used to it, I'll probably start a family of my own and it will be taken to a whole new dimension. XD Oye.
Why am I mentioning this now? Just before all of the holiday craziness officially started, I was on a home decoration-inspiration kick. There's only so much I can do under current circumstances but I need to get it out of my system somehow. So, I started up a big ole folder collection on my external hard drive full of crafting ideas, holiday ideas, and general dream home ideas. All meticulously sorted into little categories and started to fill them with pictures. In the past, I've been guilty of clipping pictures, saving articles, and furiously adding to my vast collection of web bookmarks of anything that struck my fancy.
Well, tons of things strike my fancy. I'm an easily amused person. What a big and continuous mistake. My new rule is not only does it have to strike said fancy, but be something that I would realistically try at that very moment and down the line. There is plenty of scenarios and set-ups that I thought were stunning or fun but I would never have it in my own home. They simply didn't fit my personal style and that was what this hunt was all about. It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of who has a strong sense of self too.
Bless his heart for keeping up with my insanity and humoring me when he can't or just doesn't want to at the moment. It's also practice for meshing our styles and dreams together while giving us an opportunity to fine tune the assumptions we have about each others' style. I don't know exactly why, but I've found that very comforting about our relationship. Since before the beginning, we've made it a mission to lay all sorts of our cards out on the table, explain them in a personal way, listen to a different perspective, and then accept it with as much understanding as possible. Often, it seems like we would never get along with how differently we look at situations or the world, but more often than not, we're reaching the same conclusions. We often like very different things too but there's plenty of satisfying compromises in that aspect as well.
Hey, me. Focus. Remember?
Inspiration ideas.
I saw one about a gift-wrapping station tucked into a corner of a hallway closet. Wrapping paper is often stuffed there anyways, so why not keep a pair of scissors, some tape, the ribbons, tissue, and gift bags there too? Maybe throw in a well-rounded selection of greeting cards while you're at it? Voilà! A go-to spot on your way out to the unexpected house-warming party or impromptu cocktail get-together.
I wouldn't go that far in my own household, but I like the general idea of having a gift spot in the closet where you can store things you find early and throughout the year with special people in mind. I started one of those in the corner of the tippy-top shelf in the closet where I was already storing wrapping paper and gift bags I got after Christmas last year at heavily discounted prices. As I make crafts that I'd like to share with someone one day, I am starting to put them together up there until the occasion presents itself. This also prevents said goodies from being lost in my crafting supplies and stashes. Hooray!
I have two recently crocheted quirky scarves there now. Yay me! This year is absorbing the "Just Do" attitude of last year and refining it by giving it meaningful purpose. It's only the third day of the year but it should keep going! I can't lose steam! Lol.
