I am a Magic Maker

Let me transport you for a minute.

Let’s pretend that you are Sleeping Beauty. A spell was cast upon you some time ago and you took a really long nap. [Once you get past how glorious a really long sleep would be, keep reading mama.] You wake up starving, reaching for a venti iced coffee, and without a clue of what day it is.

If you had woken up in my childhood home, you would at least know the month you were in within about 10 minutes without any people, internet, or your smart phone.

My mom has always decorated for every holiday. She decorated long before I was born and continues to do so in her 70s. She decorated for all the holidays before the Target Dollar Spot and their $3 holidays garlands and sussies were a thing. Some holidays are minimal, while others are extravagant. But whatever the holiday — she decorates. She decorates the inside, the outside, and everything in between. She dresses in the color of the season and more often than not, her leggings match. 😉 She is a walking talking magic maker.

So, what I am trying to get you to understand is that it is in my blood.

Sure, sure whatever — maybe this is one of those nurture v. nature things. But look — if you are raised by a Christmas elf then you act like a Christmas elf, right? You’ve all seen that movie. I decorate and celebrate every holiday with as much gusto as I am allowed because it is all I have ever known.

The decorations that surround me during any given season remind me of the time that I am in when sometimes I do not know what the day is. The decorations spark magic in my soul even when I feel less than magical. The decorations remind me that I get to keep these little people within these walls of my home for only a little while and how much I want to fill it with as much magic as possible.

The New Year

When the Christmas decorations come down after the Epiphany, we start the year with Valentine’s Day decorations in my house. And I know, it is a holiday created by the hospitality industry and greeting card companies. But what does it hurt for you to stimulate the local economy a bit?!

And Valentine’s Day is even more to me now. It used to be the holiday where we celebrated my first nephew, but it is now the day that we also celebrate the life of our Theo baby because he was born on Valentine’s Day.

The Mardi Gras decorations remind me to get my krewe costume cleaned and in good order. And to hydrate.

The Easter decorations remind me about my Lenten Penance and hopefully remind me of why we celebrate Easter.

After Easter and Mother’s Day, come the summer decorations. Here come the swimsuits and the red, white, and blue. We’d look through and display camp pictures and get the camp trunk ready for another run. Four of my immediate family members have birthdays in the summer, so there are lots of balloons and cakes to celebrate.

As soon as school starts, so does Fall. When I was in high school, the school colors and homecoming tags would come out. Go Blue! Go Gold!

And then it is pretty much “THE holidays.”

Pumpkins on pumpkins on pumpkins.

Typing this almost makes me as excited as I get when that time comes. To me, the very start of the holidays season, starting with Fall and all that it brings with it, is the wonderful time of the year.

From there, the Fall pumpkins bring the jack-o-lanterns, then the pilgrims and the turkeys.

For the last couple of years, we have traveled out of state for Thanksgiving. Because of this, I pretty much get out all the red and green I can find as soon as Halloween is over. That way, when we return from Thanksgiving, the house is ready and is a full on Christmas wonderland. I had so much peace traveling home this year knowing that I did not have to rush to get my decorations up because we would walk right into Christmas. I even left some Christmas scents going in my Pura so that we could walk into literal Christmas.

Sometime during the week before Christmas when the Christmas tree lots are done selling trees and the Christmas decorations go on sale, a sadness comes over me because it means that the holidays are almost over. I try to convince myself that cleaning up after Christmas will bring me joy and so will the Valentine hearts. But if I am honest with you, I would freeze time anywhere between September and Christmas. It is magic for my soul.

Because I am a magic maker.

I was raised to fight for the magic. And I make the magic for no other reason than to facilitate and create happiness.

So as you follow along this year, I hope you will see me working hard to make magic for what it is and not for any other reason — not to make you feel like you should do it, too or to make your pristine home feel any less serene than it makes you feel.

I will be forever grateful to my mama for being a magic maker and for carrying on the magic for my kids. I will do everything in my power to carry that tradition on.

And if y’all see something in the dollar spot that hollers my name and makes you think of any holiday magic, you better slide into my DMs. 😉