christmas in july

How great would these look on a red sweater?! Even in a non-Christmas way. Probably I will buy them. Look at them.



Fashion Gingerbread from Pattern People

I don't know much about fashion, but I know that I love exquisitely decorated gingerbread people. Lots more cookie models at Pattern People. This guy looks like a picture from my junior high yearbook, circa 1991. Down to the slicked-back hair and giant sleeves with scrawn arms! Seriously.

I Didn't Know!

How have I never seen this incredible piece of television? Have you seen it? What does Oprah do? So many questions!

Mary Blair Knows Christmas

I base my existence on the color palette of Mary Blair. She really does Christmas right, too! 

 I love this little lady's chubby little limbs!

I wonder if the artist herself was as fun as her work?

I am pretending that I don't have to get up at 4:15 AM tomorrow morning for a 12-hour workday; I will try to spend each moment until then enjoying Christmas bliss and this cozy day. Try being the operative word.

WHAT?!

I have a lot of expectations from Santa, but this is not one of them.

From Etsy seller IDConnection. Dang. Oh man; I just read the note, too! "Mom has died and gone away, Daddy seems so sad most every evening?!" I know I've vowed to stop collecting things that just sit in boxes, but this may be a must-have.

(Please note that I wasn't looking at Christmas stuff on purpose, I swear. It just happened.)

"You can visit Santa in the SUMMERTIME!"

A few weeks ago, I saw my first lit Christmas tree in an Oakland window. Either they were having a late "Christmas in July" party, or there are people in this city who love Christmas more than I do. However, the existence of that September tree reminded me of a major childhood memory. Of a place I never visited.

My parents have always given me everything I wanted, within reason (well, and then some). They are wonderful, generous people. If I had asked them to take us to the Santa's Village theme park in the San Bernardino Mountains between 1983-1998, I know they would have complied. But inexplicably, I don't think I ever wanted to go there while it was still around!

The above advertisement for Santa's Village played during every single cartoon-watching commercial break of my youth. I cannot emphasize enough that I have seen this ad thousands and thousands of times. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that rewatching it this morning felt extremely comforting, like going home.

But with the option of Disneyland less than an hour away from my Ganny's house, I guess I never felt like settling for what seemed to be a low-rent substitute, as much as I loved Christmas and Santa. Also, the San Bernardino mountains seemed really far away at the time. But boy, I wish we had made just one trip. The kitsch factor is through the roof!

According to their great memorial website (which honors "the memories, the parks, and the Santas"), California's Santa's Village actually opened a month before Disneyland in 1959.

In the 90's, California decided they'd had enough of Santa. Santa's Village closed, and one of my favorite landmarks, the giant Santa peeping up along the coastline near Carpinteria which signified that my family was halfway to our LA destinatation, was deemed too tacky and relegated to a sad lot in Oxnard.

Did anyone ever visit Santa's Village? Was it a pleasure to "see Santa in the summertime," or confusing-inducing?

Thanks to a fellow child of the 80's glued to KTLA for many an afternoon, Jason of Southern California News Wire, for his tireless reporting on California's bygone Santas.

Christmas Comes But Once a Year

This is the week I invariably start falling apart during the holidays; I just can't seem to get things done and enjoy the wintery wonderland simultaneously! But I just watched this cartoon and it helped a lot.

Basically, this guy named Grampy rolls up to a sad little orphanage and turns into a hardcore Christmas machine! If he can do it, so can I.

BORING!

I've been a bit remiss in sharing my holiday joy this year; but don't fret. I still have some magic up my sleeve for you. Let me begin with this. When I drove home from my parents' house after Thanksgiving, I listened to Christmas music on the radio almost the whole way, except for the patches where I could only get Art Bell or Spanish-language talk radio. I was enjoying the usual jingle jams, and then I heard something that confused me big time.

It was beloved opera star Andrea Bocelli, singing a slow-ass version of Jingle Bells. Like, really slow. "Jeeeengeeeel beeeells, geeeenegelle beelles, jeeeengelle all ze waaaaaay..." I thought, "is this a joke? No one sings 'Jingle Bells' as a romantic ballad." But there he was, drawing out each syllable in his lovely Italian accent. Simply put, It was AWFUL! Then, to confuse me even more, the MUPPETS started singing along with the chorus! But it was still totally subdued and serious. What a miserable incongruous pairing! Why did John Denver have to die? My brain exploded, and I was forced to refocus on theharrowing task of driving.

Fast forward to tonight, when I was hunting down humorous holiday videos for you all. I found this, which is actually very, very charming and sweet, and explains a lot. Why did they take all the good stuff out of the radio edit? Fools.

Merry Christmas!

Dearest friends,

I hope you've had a lovely holiday season. I know I have. As usual, I didn't get around to doing all the things I had planned (like updating this blog every darn day!), but the wonderful hours I've been able to spend relaxing with my family have been absolutely worth it.

Depending on your mood, you can watch young Judy singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from the lush, delightful, and surprisingly hilarious film Meet Me in St. Louis, or older Judy singing the same tune from her Christmas special many years later. Both versions are pretty touching, if you like that kind of thing. Merry Christmas!

Are you a human living in an elf-sized house? If you are, you might be finding it difficult to decorate for the holidays. At my house, nearly every surface is already occupied by a necessary item like a toaster, or an equally necessary item like my Playmobil sink full of Playmobil hedgehogs, so where to put my hundreds of holiday knick-knacks when the season requires?

This year, I've cleared my mantel and just put as many decorations as I could fit there, instead of placing bits and pieces of holiday cheer throughout the room, which might go unnoticed due to the dearth of non-seasonal clutter. Our mantel is great and we're lucky to have it, but it's above a ruse fireplace which is actually home to a hideous, immovable heater box. So just pretend there's a roaring fire beneath my display. I used red and green books to create height, and our fake tree is the perfect size.

If you don't have room for a real tree but can't survive without that fresh tree smell, I suggest getting a swag (available at Trader Joe's this year!) to hang on the inside of your door, or go to your local tree lot and ask if they have any free branch clippings. Sometimes you have to pay, but you can put the branches on a windowsill or mantel. You can even rest twinkle lights within the branches.

Heed my words: don't let anything stop you from decorating this year!

Dec 6-7: Making Up For Lost Time

I'm back! My goodness, I was busy this weekend! Yesterday I made some Christmas money at the CCA Holiday Fair, which is actually money to help our little family squeak by until 2009 without real jobs. I had a great time; it's really fun selling directly to my target audience of 16-24 year-olds. They really like my stuff and I get a big ego boost out of it. 

But enough with this chatter. This Christmas song I found may beat Slade in the awesomest, weirdest, spookiest categories. Again I plumbed the holiday depths of the UK to find this for y'all. Without further ado, I present to you Wizzard, performing "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Eery Day." Enjoy!

Poll-i-day Christmas Blog, Day One!

Longtime readers of this blog may already know how I feel about Christmas. For anyone who's still in the dark, let me make it clear: I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I love gingerbread, wreaths, egg nog, twinkle lights, fireplaces, the pre-Jim Carrey Grinch, holly, and cats/dogs/bunnies wearing Santa hats. Every day, for the month of December, I'll be posting holiday projects, photos, craft tutorials, stories, recipes, and the most wonderfully unsettling old-timey-videos I can find.

I'll also address how to celebrate fully while on a serious budget, including making your own gifts, buying handmade, making your house smell great even if it's too tiny to hold a fresh tree, and dealing with the always unexpected but ever-present holiday stress.

Amazingly, the Poll-i-day Christmas Blog already has a spinoff! Beloved friend Squidhelmet needs your vote so that the world will finally, officially know The Worst Rendition of Baby, It's Cold Outside.

The photo above is from my old lobby when I lived in the Rena Villa during the Christmas of 2004. Helen, my elderly, chain-smoking landlady, reigns supreme as the most Christmas-obsessed person I've ever encountered. There was a special secret storage room in the building filled to the brim with decorations, which she tirelessly used to create a kitsch wonderland.

I once stumbled home drunk at 3 AM, and upon shoving my key in the front door, discovered Helen, a cigarette hanging from her lip, stringing twinkle lights around each staircase post. This level of dedication is something I'll be striving for in the weeks to come.