It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. We broke out the Christmas sweaters, our tree is finally up and decorated (that was a near debacle after we realized our first tree wasn't drinking any water after it was completely decorated, so we had to completely undecorate it and lug it back to trade in for a healthy tree, all while trying to sweep up the pine needles on our back steps since we're not technically supposed to have a tree [shhh, don't tell our landlord]), the cranberries are strung, the pomanders made, and the paper whites planted (traditions I started our first year of marriage and look forward to continuing in future years with an extra set of helping hands, and hopefully many more). If you've never made cranberry garland or pomanders, you should definitely try it this year. I appreciate the historical tradition of the two; it always makes me feel like I'm in a Louisa May Alcott book. It's pretty straightforward and easy, but I'll give you some tips to help you out.

For the cranberry garland you'll need:

• 2-3 bags of fresh cranberries
• needle and thread
• seed beeds (or other small beads)
• thimble

Thread your needle and pull out a double length of thread at arms length apart. Attach a seed bead at the end to keep the cranberries on, and string away, finishing off with another seed bead. I find a thimble helpful when pushing the needle through, but you can also press the eye of the needle against the table or another hard surface.

Beware of curious babies, or you might end up with bite marks in your berries. . .

Repeat the threading and stringing process, but instead of ending in a seed bead, attach the new strand to the seed bead on the end of the previous strand. Repeat this process until you reach your desired length (you can also start stringing it on the tree and add strands until you have enough.)

(Alan takes about 99.9% of my pictures. When I came across this pic in Lightroom, he said it was his "cameo." I figured I owe it to him to post it.)

(Stay tuned for pomanders and paper whites [and possibly some more alliteration] tomorrow!)