A Williamsburg Christmas

Back in the 1980s, before digital cameras, my Christmas gift from my husband was a trip to Williamsburg to enjoy their holiday festivities and decorations. I fell in love with the concept of decorating with natural materials especially after taking a workshop with Libby Hodges Oliver who was in charge of the designs for Christmas decorating at Williamsburg for many years. Around that same time, she published a book, Colonial Williamsburg Decorates for Christmas, which became a favorite part of my permanent library of books.

For years I used that book as my guide in creating wreaths, centerpieces, and even an apple fan that hung over our door with a pineapple in the middle. As the years went on though and we aquired two more kids, I began to cheat a bit with artificial greens and fruit. Life changes and sometimes we need to make tradition a bit easier to handle.

Two quick funny stories about my Williamsburg decorations. The first year we had our adopted kids (they were 5 and 6 years old) in the house, I set out the fresh fruit arrangement on the dining room table and later, when we were entertaining, I noticed that someone had taken a bite out of each piece of fruit and replaced it carefully upside down so the bite would not be noticed.

Then another year during one of our weird winters where it froze one day and warmed up nicely the next, I didn't realize that the pineapple had ripened even more in the sunny weather and when it wasn't frozen, it dripped on our guests as they came in the front door.

If after all that, you are still interested, check out Oliver's book in the library or try to pick one up at Amazon. The original was published in 1981. Some copies are available from used book dealers. Meanwhile, here's a link to Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg. There's a page that has directions for making a wreath of greens and fruit.

Hooked on Chocolate--Godiva Chocolate

I'm not much of an online shopper--for that matter, I'm a disgrace to my gender regarding shopping. Even when we are traveling, I don't spend much time in souvenir shops or those "bargain outlets" you find in the Caribbean. I do have a favorite story however about being on the receiving end of an online gift.

My husband had a company he did business with that always sent us a gift at Christmas. One year they chose to send Godiva chocolate. Unfortunately, when the box arrived, we opened it to find that many of the candies had been crushed. Trust me, it did not hurt the taste one bit. I had never had such an indulgence before and after the first taste, I was hooked.

Knowing that the company had probably spent a great deal on the gift, Bob called the sales rep and told them the condition of the chocolates when they arrived. The company called Godiva and complained and a week later we received a second box--beautifully intact and scrumptiously delicious! Now I'm addicted and worse yet, there's a Godiva chocolate store in our mall that I have to pass--well, it usually calls my name and I indulge. Can't let those fresh chocolate covered strawberries go to waste.

Do you have a good chocolate story?

Anticipating Christmas

Early Christmas wishes from Karen Robbins! Nothing like warm sunny weather to make you think about Christmas. Actually that’s what the six of us have been doing all year round for about a full year now. Thankfully, most of my creative work for A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts was done when the weather around Ohio was snowy and looking like a “traditional” Christmas. But Christmas tradition for me has evolved and changed as I have grown ol. . .er, shall we say more mature.

My husband (of 40 years), Bob, and I have passed through the stage of hectic Christmas seasons with five children and have moved into hectic Christmas seasons with six grandchildren. Hmmm. Seems nothing changes even with semi-retirement. Since our family is scattered literally from one coast to the other and North to South, we get together for the holiday as a family every other year. And the years in between, Bob and I plan a holiday cruise—sort of like the Kranks in Grisham’s story, only we actually take the cruise. We are avid travelers and we’ve had the opportunity to see how Christmas is celebrated in several other areas of the world.

While I loved the writing/compiling of A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, and I’ve published hundreds of articles and essays over the years, including my current grandparenting column at Positively Feminine.org, my first love in writing is fiction. I have been working on several novels: a cozy mystery, a hilarious story about a 70 year-old pickle entrepreneur, a historical from the Great Depression era, and am currently trying my hand at a romance novel. As I told my writing friends at ACFW Ohio, I guess I'm a genre jumper. But enough, if you'd like to know more about my travels, writing, and speaking, you can hop over to my website.

So, tell me, have you ever spent Christmas away from home? Where was it and what was it like?