The Magazine Perfecting the Ideal Christmas

I can't remember one particular issue of the Christmas Ideals Magazine over another. I do, however, recall how anticipation built waiting for it to arrive. It came through the mail so every time the mailman pulled up to the mailbox sitting by the side of the road, possibility loomed. And when it was finally there, Christmas had arrived out in the country to those four houses in a row-at least according to reaction by my mother and aunts.

The Christmas edition of that magazine was an art form. From amazing photography to creative decorating suggestions-beautiful illustrations-seasonal music-poetry-and short stories, that magazine offered something for everyone all wrapped up in a big red bow or better yet-a poinsettia as poinsettias were always featured throughout the pages. When I could pull it away from others, I'd slowly make my way from the front glossy cover to the back. I'd read everything even though I was young. That didn't matter. It was the Christmas Ideals issue!

After studying the magazine my mother and aunts would get busy creating. They'd go to a local florist and buy Styrofoam squares-a few different sizes. They'd buy all kinds of decorative accents like shiny balls-some big and some small-in seasonal colors attached to tiny wooden stick-like things with one end pointed so they'd would go into the Styrofoam. Ribbons and bows were also purchased unless it was my grandmother who saved such things year after year. Branches sawed off of Christmas trees being readied to come inside were the last items needed for creating centerpieces that would sit on tables and hutches and mantles-just as centerpieces had year after year.

For awhile my mother, aunts, and grandmother met one evening a week. They called it their Busy Fingers Club. They'd do all sorts of creative projects. One of my aunts was very good at making candles by using milk cartons and little bits of used crayons. Her most beautiful candles were white-covered in glitter and wrapped in tissue paper. She somehow whipped the paraffin to get a certain effect. I don't know how. I just remember loving them. Maybe they were in one of those Christmas Ideals magazines-maybe not. It really didn't matter because when I think about it-my mother, aunts, and grandmother always put their own twist to whatever they created. I bet that magazine just got them in the mood-and they took it from there!