This is my favorite time of year. I love the anticipation of Christmas and the weeks that lead up to it. I love slowly decorating, gathering the light, putting lights up, lighting more candles, and bringing out little pieces of Christmas one moment at a time. I love all the preparation and the anticipation that fills the house long before Christmas Day actually arrives.
Last year I started our Advent only a few days after Halloween, and I might do that again. I like breaking out my Christmas teacups and pulling out the tree early. We got an artificial tree for the first time last year, which means it can stay up for months. I love that. Every couple of days I add a little more. The nativity goes here. Lights go there. Stockings get hung. Garlands get added. The Christmas china comes out. I would keep warm white Christmas lights glowing from the middle of October until February, until the days finally get longer again. I love the hope and the feel of that warm glow inside when it is dark and cold outside.
I think my favorite part of Advent is the lights. When it gets dark out I want to hide under blankets and drink warm drinks, but I also really love adding soft white lights to the tree and candles to the windows so the house feels bright and cozy.
This is the time of year when I start breaking out the glitters in the studio, it's my way of coping with the dark in art form. More shimmer. More glow. I am always drawn to a champagne gold, but really any glitter feels merry and bright and cheery when the nights get long. A touch of shimmer can make a painting feel like a night sky full of quiet stars or tiny distant lights. It is the same feeling I love in my home, but in a different form. Little bits of light brought into the dark.
When I first learned the idea of Advent versus Christmas it made so much sense to me. Christmas is the day we celebrate the world being set right, but Advent is the time before it. Advent is the longing and the ache for things to be made right. It is the darkness before the light. It is the season of preparation and hope. I love being in touch with that longing and gathering the light during it.
As a kid I loved Advent calendars. The chocolate ones were my favorite. Those tiny bits of chocolate every day felt like magic. We look for those for our kids now, and sometimes I wish there were grown up Advent calendars too, something simple and joyful to look forward to each day. How about you?
Maybe that is part of why I love creating this holiday collection. It feels like a way of bringing light and beauty into the season. A moment of warmth you can hold. A small keepsake that means something special. This time of year can rush by so quickly, and I want The Playful Peach to feel like the opposite of that. Stillness. Hope. Tiny glimmers of joy. Pieces that remind you to look for the light and gather it.
If you are planning your holiday shopping, I hope you choose gifts that make moments, not just gifts that fill space. Things that feel meaningful. Things that bring a little glow into someone’s day. Our shop is full of pieces created in that spirit. Art that becomes jewelry. Keepsakes that hold memory. Subscriptions and creative experiences that last longer than a single morning.
Gifts That Feel Like Moments
I hope you take this season slowly. I hope you find light wherever you can. And I hope the pieces I am creating for Christmas add a little warmth to your home and your heart this year.