Advent Simplicity

My theme for this first week of Advent is to "Cherish and care for the earth". My aim this advent is to celebrate simply and consume less.

The modern way of observing the winter holidays supports an increase in waste; one statistic says that Americans throw away 25% more trash– an additional 5 million tons– between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. A fun holiday season doesn't have to be a wasteful one!

Tips for a Simple Holiday:

• Simplify your expectations. Think about which traditions are most important to you. Find meaning and fulfillment in spirituality, and your relationships with family and friends.
• Be frugal and spend less money this year; reduce your purchasing of wants.
• Make your own gifts or buy simple, durable gifts; avoid the latest fad; buy gifts made locally and made from recycled materials.
• Use cloth napkins and reusable plates and cups for holiday parties.
• Make reusable bags out of pretty fabric to use as gift-wraps for family. Make tags from last year’s Christmas cards.
• Make decorations from found materials, and from materials collected in nature.

Agenda Today:
1. Journal queries
2. Make fabric bags
3. Deck the halls

1. Journal queries:

What are the most wasteful things I do at advent?
What can I change to show solidarity with the poor, respect for the earth, and a desire to live more simply?

2. Make fabric bags:

Each year I make a few more reusable fabric bags to hold gifts. I think everyone appreciates my wish to conserve paper, and they can save the bags to wrap their own gifts next year.

I've been using a stockpile of Christmas fabric I found at our local recycled art supplies store, but any pretty cloth will do.

Materials: Colorful 1/2” ribbon, pretty fabric scraps

1. Fold a piece of fabric in half, and cut it so that it‘s the size you want, plus 1-inch on all sides for the hem. (For example, for a 12” x 12” bag, cut fabric to 14”x 26”.)




2. Hem the top and bottom edge of the bag, either by hand or with a sewing machine.

3. Fold the good side of the fabric to the inside, and pin the edges. Stitch the two side seams and turn right-side out.



4. Cut a ribbon at least 12" long. Stitch the middle of the ribbon to the bag at the seam, about four or five inches from the bag opening.


3. Deck the Halls:

I've been collecting fallen branches of evergreens for the last two weeks, and now I will bring them inside to deck my halls.

My daughter and I made a beautiful wreath with six different genera: Douglas fire, spruce, coast redwood, western red cedar, incense cedar, and hemlock! 



Then she made a garland from the leftovers!

Evergreens are a symbol of eternal life, and also symbolic protection against trouble. Today I bring the protective spirit of nature inside.