Holiday Rituals Remembered and Artified

I am so excited about my latest project.  Kate Crane posted a photo of a journal page recently on Facebook and I was immediately struck, as if by lightning!, with inspiration.  The theme of her page was the Christmas hymn, "We Three Kings".

When I was growing up we had a table in the family room dedicated to gift wrapping at Christmas time.  We were a very fortunate family and this area was a beehive of activity in December.  My dad would cackle with glee when he tricked us into helping to wrap one of our own gifts (usually by requesting a finger to secure the bow while he tied it).  We also had friendly competitions to see who could create the most outrageous bow.  (I wish I had photos of some of those - they were pretty amazing.)

One of my favorite traditions, however, was the one my third sister, Kim, and I shared.  We would each hold a wrapped gift in one hand and hold our other hands together up in the air regally.  Next we would belt out the hymn "We Three Kings" as we marched from the family room to the living room where our tree always sat.  We would do this for each gift we wrapped and I suspect some members of the family grew tired of the song.  We didn't though.

When I saw Kate's page I KNEW I had to create something for my sister.  I liberally borrowed from her to create this mini We Three Kings canvas.

It's been years since Kim and I have celebrated Christmas together - we live in different states. While I won't be there to see her open this, I'm confident that she'll grin.  And I know for a fact, that the next time we do get the chance to spend Christmas together, there will be some processionals to the tune of "We Three Kings".

Wishing you a fabulous Christmas!

Day after Christmas Update:  She liked it!  :)