I finally decided to pull all my collections that were all over my house, in my office and in my studio and I built them into one delicious altar. I am so excited that this is now in my studio. By surrounding myself with things that matter deeply to me and remind me of important experiences is such a warm and delightful feeling. I love looking at this altar.
In my ongoing Roald Dahl obsession of late, I workshopped BFG Dream Jars with the kids in my daughter’s classroom.
I used images of Mason jars that I found online and copied them onto cardstock. Download the  Mason Jar Image File
In the classroom, we talked about the BFG and how he collected dreams in jars. I asked the kids to think of the best dream they could imagine waking up to in the morning. They wrote those dreams down on the cutout paper jars and then decorated the paper jars with markers, stars, glitter and hearts. Â Then for the final step, we put dots of glow in the dark paint, just like the glowing lights in the book/movie.
Saint Lucy’s Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day celebrated on 13 December in Advent, commemorating Saint Lucy, a 3rd-century martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend brought “food and aid to Christians hiding in the catacombs” using a candle-lit wreath to “light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible”. Her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year before calendar reforms, so her feast day has become a festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy’s Day is viewed as an event signaling the arrival of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ on Christmas Day.
Saint Lucy’s Day is celebrated most commonly in Scandinavia, with their long dark winters, where it is a major feast day. In Scandinavia, where Saint Lucy is called Santa Lucia in Norwegian and Sankta Lucia in Swedish, she is represented as a lady in a white dress and red sash with a crown or wreath of candles on her head. In Norway, Sweden and Swedish-speaking regions of Finland, girls dressed as Lucy carry rolls and cookies in procession as songs are sung.
Because my ancestors were Norwegian we celebrate St. Lucia Day. The girls dress in white with red sashes at the waist and a crown of light on their head. They serve rolls and coffee to their parents symbolizing the generosity of giving to others.
This year even our Elves on the Shelf got into the tradition.
Tis the season for pumpkin deliciousness! We made pumpkin smoothies that were awesome. The kids loved them.
In a blender, we put a can of pureed pumpkin, Chobani vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and a little bit of stevia. We then chilled them for a bit and served them in mason jars with festive straws. I never get tired of pumpkin.
