Out of Paint

When Dave & I were preparing for our first Christmas together, I was really set on finding actual knit stockings…until we spotted these at our favorite import store.

We fill each shoe with small gifts on Christmas morning.  They are fun & different than stockings, but our favorite part about these are the stories they tell.

Each winter solstice, before our night hike, we paint our shoes.  We each commemorate a signifying aspect, memory or overall theme for that year through our painting.  In the end we may end up with a neatly-tied-together scene or a fun, mish-mosh collage of our life stories.  There is no way of telling, but the making of our stories is sure fun — in every aspect.

My [2007]star & [2008]tree were more symbolic, telling of new beginnings & finding harmony & balance through nature’s example.  2009 is a more literal image of our expanding family as Bodhi chases a recently adopted Eisley [she was our early Christmas last year].

Dave’s book is a year of introspection, reading & sharing information between us.  We learned a lot about each other & ourselves that year.  His joined “bands” & holly represent his Christmas Eve proposal to me that year — he was very sneaky because he painted that before he proposed.

From our three weeks together in Thailand to our desert wedding to moving to Arizona, how do we portray 2010?

Before our hike on Monday, we turned on Christmas music…pulled out the brushes…got our shoes ready…had our visions in mind…then realized we had left the paint in another box that was still at Christine’s.  😦 boo.

Looks like our shoes will be accompanying us to my parents’, so we can borrow mom’s paints & create on Christmas Eve — wait, if you are reading this now, then that is tonight!

~

I hope you are already enjoying your holiday celebrations!

Do you have a similar tradition of “journaling” through art or craft [it doesn’t have to be during Christmas]?