Yule is on its way... home made decoration

I am really trying to get my Yule preparations and stuff done as early as possible. As a solitary Witch, Much of my learning, comes from books, and the Internet (I start my searches at sites I have learned are "respectable," usually starting by following links from websites and blogs run by well-respected members of the Montreal Pagan Community.

The book, "Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth" by Dorothy Morrison is a good source of arts and ideas for Yule (and Christmas) celebrations. I use other resources too, but this is one of the first ones I refer to

Easy-to-Make Sun-Catcher - from "Yule" by Dorothy Morrison

• Wax Crayons
• 2 sheets of waxed paper
• 2 sheets of construction paper (black suggested, but can used whatever color you wish)
• Large Paper bag
• Saucer
• Compass, pencil, pencil sharpener, hole punch, scissors, Glue
• Ribbon
• Iron (& Ironing Board)

1. Use saucer to trace circle on each sheet of construction paper, AND each sheet of waxed paper.
2. Place the compass point in the center of each construction paper-circle and draw a 2nd circle (about 1/2" smaller than its measurement. Cut out center, keeping resulting paper "rings"
3. On top of of paper bag, place 1 waxed paper circle.
4. Insert different colors (your choice) of the crayons into sharpener, allowing resulting wax shavings to fall onto the circles.
5. Arrange crayon shavings as desired, ensuring there are small mounds with a bit of space between. When done, place the 2nd circle of waxed paper on top.
6. Plug in the iron, set to Medium heat. Gently slide iron over top of waxed paper circles until the crayon-shavings melt in-between.
7. Allow to cool for a minute or two, then glue the construction paper "rings" to the front and the back.
8. Punch a hole in the top, thread the ribbon through, and tie it into a nice bow.
9. Hang decoration in a sunny window, and enjoy.

**The beauty about this craft (or any craft) is that although colors may be written in the instructions, it should never be considered to be set in stone... Use your imagination, and allow yourself the freedom to modify the craft according to your preferred colors...

Extra Ideas: sprinkle sparkles in along with the wax crayon-shavings.

For example, my major colors of preference for decorating my home for the Yuletide Season are Deep Blues & Gold... but I do add some complementary colors in appropriate places

Tuesday..

Zach seems to be on the mend, but I am still keeping him home from daycare until I'm sure he's fully better. He's full of beans and buggerment which is a good sign.

Today I will hopefully tackle some much needed decluttering, as it is time to start thinking about decorating for Yule. But I can't decorate until I do a few things around here. It shouldn't take too long, but we all know I have a motivation problem, right? I think this year I will add a string of lights to the garland on the mantle since I now have a place to plug it in that's inaccessible to the children. Aside from that, the only other decorating I really need to do is to put up the tree, but it's waaaaaay too early for that. This is the first time in a long time that I'm looking forward to decorating; I guess having a 4-year old helps. For the past 2 years we didn't decorate at all, but this year there's no way we'd get away with that. Zach is already trying to draw multiple pictures of Christmas/Yule trees, and he keeps asking when we're going to decorate. Now I just have to figure out where we put the decorations!