The holiday season is upon us, and crafters everywhere are investing heavily in multipacks of Hothands, wearing their wooliest hand knitted socks, and braving the extreme cold to bring their beautiful wares to you. This is all for you!
But what does this time of year feel like for crafters? Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but here is what the month of December feels like for me:
It is that time of year when…
- You can find me slowly dragging boxes of inventory up and down stairs. Finishing all my screenprinting early feels absolutely fabulous, until I see the swollen boxes of products in my house and wonder how on earth I will sell it all? Gulp.
- The calendar already looks packed before December has even started, because every weekend, there is a holiday show to work at, or a party to attend. Woohoo!
- I start frantically looking for a babysitter because, oops, I forgot that one of my shows is on a Friday night in DC, and requires me to set up midday. Hi there friends who find my kids ever so charming, wanna play Boggle and eat pizza at my place on Friday? Wink, wink.
- I think twice about inviting people I don’t know well over to my home, because it looks like a Noctiluna warehouse on the inside. I continually lose my cell phone, scissors, tape, cup of tea, and mind in the chaos.
- I start heavily fantasising about what I will do once all the Holiday shows are over. I’m looking forward to some painting, baking, and general loafing around later this month.
- I start designing and ordering for the Spring/Summer collection, and planning for summer camp this month. Yes, really. The wheel just keeps turning.
- I punctuate every workday with multiple frenzied bouts of online holiday shopping research (Of course, taking into consideration all the lovely things I will buy from fellow makers at this season’s markets!). A dangerous trap for those of us working from home.
- I dress like an eskimo, refuse to go out to collect the mail, mainline hot tea, and give thanks that I work from home. I basically hibernate through the weekdays, because I just can’t handle the cold at all.
- The neighbors finally stop wondering why I have lights up on my house. I put them up early for Diwali, but not many people know that. I guess they must just think I’m super enthusiastic about the Holiday season!
In conclusion, it is a busy, chaotic, but ultimately fun season, and I may complain from time to time (all the time, according to my kids), but I look forward to it every year.
See you at Grump on Saturday?