Finding Happiness

I do not begin to know where the creative spirit comes from, or why some people are so gifted with it. But I do know that sometimes creativity sprouts in the darkest of times, and can haul one’s spirit back into the light of day. This is how it was for me.

My family had been faced with a number of hardships, one after the other, but nothing insurmountable. But then my eighteen year old daughter came into the house, only five weeks from her high school graduation, and told us that she was pregnant. We could handle that, I thought. We had seen worse. But when she decided that she could not return to school out of embarrassment, I was devastated. No matter what I said, I could not change her mind. With only five weeks until her graduation, she dropped out.

My coping mechanism for troubled times has always been to “get busy." So to help me cope with this new hurdle, I thought about what projects in the past have kept my mind and hands busy, while giving me pleasure. Over the past few years, I have gifted many of my friends with handmade items at Christmas time. Such joy I received from the giving of these gifts! I needed a lift, so I began to think of what I could make for the upcoming Christmas seven months hence. This became my therapy, and “Staircase Santas” was born.

What a joy! First came pattern making for a prototype for a somewhat “traditional” Santa, designed to sit on a stairstep. I had not made my own patterns in the past, so this was a new adventure! A snip here, a tuck there, and a whole lot of stuffing! To weight him down, I used scent-free kitty litter in his bottom. Specialty and upholstery fabrics made the best coats and pants, trimmed with faux fur or fleece. Each Santa held a wooden , toy, colorful gift, or unusual item. Every one was different in some way; no two Santa’s were alike. I traveled to antique shops to find the perfect buttons! Whenever I left the house, I kept my eyes open for anything that could be used for Santa. When I was satisfied with my first few creations, I took them to work with me, and they were a hit. Before I knew it, several co-workers had asked if I would make them to sell. I was delighted that they were well received, and gladly took some orders.

Second, came the “morning after” Santa wearing pajamas and a robe, holding a newspaper and enjoying his coffee after the long night of delivering gifts. I became even more busy, locating just the right pajama and robe fabrics, socks, slippers, and miniature coffee mugs for him to hold.

From there, things grew! Next it was creating a Santa for everything: The question was, “What does Santa do during his off season?” Let me say, Santa does just about anything you can imagine. People were ordering Santas in so many walks of life: Baseball playing, skiing, bird watching, race car driving, guitar playing, fishing, gambling, firefighting, University of Michigan Superfan...you name it! I had orders for all kinds of Santas. My favorite was a Santa sitting on a stump with a fresh cut Christmas tree slung over his back with a wooden hatchet in his hand. I scouted out the stumps on the roadside, and baked them in my oven for six hours to dry them out. Another favorite of mine was the “sewing Santa” that I made for a home-ec teacher. He was covered in about every sewing notion one could imagine. Yes, even a miniature pair of orange Fiskars. I had so much fun! I went shopping for Santa, searching for toys for him to hold, little work boots for him to wear, items to hang from him, and unique fabrics! Locating thee gems was a rewarding challenge. Miniature tennis rackets, guitars, golf bags and clubs, even a race car helmet. And because no two Santas ever wore the same exact outfit, I was shopping a lot. And I loved it, both the shopping and the creating. Let me say that I had busy Fiskars scissors, as well as the rotary cutter, a must for evenly slicing the felt for every Santa beard! Most of all, the making of these little Santas gave me joy. And that people really appreciated them, punctuated that joy. My therapy became “my happy.”

I have always loved Christmas. And as mentioned before, I loved making homemade gifts. Several of my closest friends and family members received a carefully selected Santa as a gift that year. But the best gift of all came to me that Christmas. At eleven o’clock p.m. on Christmas Eve, five weeks before her due date, my beautiful granddaughter was born. And I was there as the birth coach for my lovely daughter. How fitting that the reason I first had the need to busy my hands through creating something, was now the reason for the greatest joy of all. I saw my granddaughter as she was brought into this world, the perfect creation and the best ever Christmas gift!