Writing By Laura

I have been documenting my creative pursuits (besides writing) in a feature on this blog that I called #CreativityForDays. It started off as an extra blog post but then turned into a feature in my weekly blogs. My thought was that any form of creativity (whether it’s painting, drawing, baking, graphic design, etc.) helps in my creative writing. So I figured if I am encouraging myself to write I should encourage myself to be creative in general.

After my severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) I have been more creative in a variety of mediums (more so than before). I have always been creative but the severe TBI and the injuries I sustained from it are causing me to SLOW THE COURSE OF MY LIFE WAY DOWN (and in some cases completely change course). And because of this slowdown, I have less chaos and stress in my life and more energy to put behind creativity (even though my energy is decreased since my brain injury, the forced slowdown makes my limited energy seem almost more plentiful).

Each season and holiday that rolls around I find new avenues to display my creativity. In this Merry Christmas post I would like to show you how I have been creating for December.

The Christmas season has revved my creative engines and I’m happy to show the various ways I am #creating.

Homemade Cards

A few months ago I started to use blank cards and postcards to draw pictures and jokes. It’s fun, artistic and creative and allows me to keep in touch with those who have supported me during my recovery. (Note: I feel like all the readers of my blog have been encouraging my recovery, so since I don’t have your addresses please accept this graphic design below as my holiday card appreciation to you)!

I think I may do an extra post after Christmas to show the cards I made because they haven’t been given to everyone yet and I am super proud of the work I’ve done.

Homemade Gift Tags

Last year I discovered blank gift tags that I drew pictures on along with the usual “to” and “from.” This year I ordered a pack of 100 blank gift tags from Amazon that were on white paper (intended for weddings, I think). So I will be set for a while with these 100 gift tags!

Personalized Gifts

I think I want to do more of these next year because I had such a fun time creating the cards, etc. I did two Shutterfly photo albums and one Shutterfly calendar. I had grand designs of doing paintings too, but I lost sight of that. I won’t share the photo albums but here is a glimpse at the Shutterfly calendar I gave to my parents with pictures of Selby and commentary about the crazy year of 2020.

Crafting

The month started with days of chaotic decorating. We have a lot of decorations. I have started to do seasonal craft projects. In October I decorated pumpkins, in November it was various autumnal decor, and in December its been different things including a project to display our holiday cards. I also really enjoy decorating the tree especially now that we’ve started draping ribbon on it. This year we used two different alternating ribbons and I love it!

The next project was more of a hassle than I intended. I made a display for the Christmas cards we receive. The original craft was probably far easier but I couldn’t find the right materials so I made due and adapted and that took longer.

I also added some embellishments to some art we purchased to make them match our decor. The first is sheet music of “Silent Night” that I got glued berries and ribbon to. The second is a print my sister got for free and I purchased an inexpensive matted frame and put one of the ribbons we put on the tree around it.

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Baking

Ever since I was little my Mom has baked a large variety of Christmas cookies. We haven’t baked quite as many cookies (we’re not giving them as gifts this year since we weren’t sure about handing out food in the pandemic).

So far we’ve made these recipes and can recommend each one:

• No Roll Sugar Cookies (from Betty Crocker)
• Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (from iheartnaptime.net)
• Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies (from twosisterscrafting.com)
• Peanut Butter blossom cookies (from my baking addiction.com)
• Santa’s Whiskers Cookies (from sallysbakingaddiction.com)
• Sachertorte Cookies (from Taste of Home) (German/Austrian and a tradition in our family)

We still have plans to make more. We haven’t done traditional roll-out sugar cookies with frosting and those are always a personal favorite!

A Selby Sweetie Conclusion

I hope you’re able to be happy, healthy and comfortable whether you’re celebrating Christmas or another holiday.

I thought it only fitting that I leave you with pictures of my little pup!