an optimistic advent {blog along day three}

One of my mini goals for this month is “all the alongs”. I love the festive season, and all the fun that comes with it. It can be a busy time of year for all of us, though, so I love bringing in some extra fun in alllll the Christmasalongs, and dragging my friends along with me. Even as we get busy and the chat all start dying down as real life calls, having concurrent projects we can share and compare gives us a brief moment of connection. We can share our progress, we can pop by to cheer each other on, and in between, as we work through our lists, I know for me anyway, it’s a touchstone where I think of the person I’m working “with”.

The last few years, Advent has required a little bit of extra work to bring the magic. From Black Summer, through to what is now a third pandemic Christmas, the last few years have been A Lot. More than ever, I need the alongs and the connection they bring, to give me an anchor each day and keep me focussed on what I need to be doing this month – making the season magical for these four precious souls who are trusting me to wring the most amount of joy I can for them, out of what remains of their childhood at home.

And so, I’m signing up to all the things, to find all the festive spirit.

Many are repeats, but that’s just the sign of a good project!! For Advent 2022, I’m planning on:

December Daily + Art Journal Advent – in theory this is joint project, in my Little Golden Book. In practice, I’m wondering if I need to run them as two seperate journals, with the first three prompts inspired more personal introspections that I don’t particularly want a) in the family album and b) on the blog in my weekend wrap ups. Tomorrow is catch up day; I print my photos at home 2 or 4 to a photo, so I tend to do a few pages every couple of days, rather than daily work. I will ponder as I work, and decide what will be the best option for this year.

12 Instax Of Christmas – in theory part of the above project as well, I still need to dig out my install camera for this year. I do have my film camera floating around needing to be used up as well, so I might even do 12 film photos rather than 12 instax. Again, another question for tomorrow!

Christmas Readalong – like the last few years, Car and I are both planing on reading five Christmas books between now and the 25th. I’m one book down, and have two more on indy reads, three on my kindle, and one on audible. All over it.

Gnome stitchalong – a revisit from 2021, because I am incapable of judging both the difference between 5 inches and 5 centimetres, and exactly how long those 5 inch gnomes will take to stitch. I’ve gotten five finished, number six should be finished tonight, and then I only have two left for the main piece. Another miscalculation, I won’t fit all 12 straight across my fabric. The remaining four I will do as standalone pieces to be mounted in hoops.

Advent blogalong – like most years since 2015, I’m attempting a daily blogging project, with a twist. Not only will I be blogging daily here, but I’ll also be blogging every second day over on our podcast blog! Holy content production, batman. it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how I go with so many posts to write, but I plan to give it a red hot go.

At home, I also have the children’s advent activity calendar, loaded with fun crafty goodness and activities to get us all excited for Christmas.

On top of the alongs, I also have our 12 Days of MOCSmas gifts to make. I’m about a third of the way through, with a week until posting. I also need to make a plan for the children’s Christmas Day outfits. The podcast needs wrapping up for the year. Christmas cards need making and sending. Community organisation committments need to be handled and Christmas parties attended. The best way to get through it – one day at a time. Christmas isn’t Christmas without a million projects and lists and messes all over the house. When it comes to projects and lists and messes, I am all over it. Festive fun mode – activated. Let’s make some magic.