Childhood Christmas in July

 After two years of successfully avoiding COVID, I started feeling a bit off and subsequently tested positive the day after the school year ended in May. I used up box after box of Kleenex and needed a bottle of decongestant spray within reach to help me breathe during the fourteen-day quarantine, but I thought it was a good sign that I didn't experience a fever.  I could smell and taste food for all but three days, and I was able to sneak out to my greenhouse on multiple afternoons in order to enjoy some mask-free time. I slept a LOT and used Lysol spray on everything. I crocheted, read, binge-watched several series, and slept some more.

For some reason, I dreamt of childhood Christmases from almost fifty years ago and remembered clearly ornaments on the trees that had either been lost, taken, or left behind when Mom decided to hastily move our family from Texas to Alaska in 1980.  The ornaments don't appear in any of my holiday pictures, which, by the way, are all in black and white except for holiday portraits taken with Santa at the mall, all still considered "vintage," and I have only one ornament from those early memories that she gave me when I first married, so obviously some decor made the trip north.

Mom had me when she was in college.  Holiday magic was provided annually by my grandparents, uncle, and the family of my mother's best friend, Tommie Sue.  Grandpa would have my birthday meal and our Christmas dinner sent to mom's college apartment, complete with a gingerbread house (he lived overseas), and G.G. would always bring presents and plenty of sparkle.   I remember Mom painting pieces of wood to hang on the tree one year, joining strands of lights where the bulbs were surrounded by mini-reflectors in the shape of clear flower petals, strands of metal beads she used as garlands, some pushpin and sequin ornaments that had been received as gifts, and some styrofoam Santa elves, one wearing red, the other white.  Small white rocking horses, mice, teddy bears, elephants, and trains trimmed in red and white gingham would join the tree a few years later. Wooden diorama-type ornaments were also on our tree, but the curved, shaved arch above them was terribly fragile.  She stopped using silver tinsel on trees after moving to Alaska and our adopted cat ate and later casually excreted it along the living room floor. Mom's wooden nativity would come out of its box, and the plastic popcorn snowman and Christmas tree wallhangings were taped and tacked to furniture and doors.  We always reused the same beautiful paper advent calendar, and Beistle honeycomb decor and a Gurley Santa candle were some of my favorite items. But those painted wooden ornaments... I had forgotten all about them until I started sleeping extra hours at the start of summer. 

I haven't searched eBay regularly in years, but the hunt was on.  Three, almost four weeks later, after having completely forgotten what must have been a marathon of online searching, two boxes arrived. One with an opened but never used set of Paint by Number Christmas Ornaments and the other containing a baggie of gingham-clad animals and trains. 

These ornaments would have been considered very affordable in the early 1970s, which would have helped a single mother just starting her teaching career provide some Christmas magic each December.  Mom likely would have had a heart attack if she saw that replacing them didn't qualify as a Sears and Roebuck special in 2022, but perhaps if she's peeked back in on me from the ether, they've put a smile on her face. 

I'm no painter, and the flimsy brush provided in the wooden ornament kit could NOT have been what any artist, amateur or experienced, would have wanted to use while working on each character.  The paint was dried solid in each of the glass containers, so my tub of acrylic craft paints was put to good use.  I painted outside of the lines. I used colors different from what the instructions mentioned.  I made plenty of smears, and I committed to adding glitter once the paint was dry.

Another COVID-brain purchase was a black wrought iron ornament tree that arrived a week and a half later. It will work wonderfully for October, but for now, it's providing a spot in my craft room for my childhood Christmas in July.

All of the ladies except for one angel in the kit were supposed to have their hair painted yellow.  Oh, no-no-no-no-no. 

In true 70s fashion, Raggedy Ann and Andy are included in the set:

... and there's just a bit of cheekiness featured on one ornament in particular:

No, no, not there... here:

It's interesting where the wiring in our brain that controls memories can take us when we're sick, moving through loss, and experiencing our fifties.  Yes, I've found some examples of the diorama ornaments on eBay, but have only ordered one... for now.  

I spent four or five days painting, glittering, and stifling leftover coughs before assembling the tree to display the results. The ornaments aren't precious to me, but the process, while messy, was enjoyable and such a nice way to travel down Memory Lane.