Things Made by Hand

Inspiration for DIY this holiday

In the Feb ‘23 podcast episode from On Being with Krista Tippett, she interviews actor Nick Offerman on, “Working with Wood, and the Meaning of Life.” The episode was full of gems and surprises about Nick. There was one special and almost insignificant comment Nick made about cards—birthday cards, holiday cards, and any day cards—that stuck with me. He said cards should always be handmade. Even if the card is a heart scribbled on paper, it carries more meaning and intention than grabbing a card from a rack and signing your name to it.

I agree with Nick. No card is better than a handmade card. I still remember the heart my husband scribbled on a piece of paper and left under my car windshield wiper while I was in a yoga class twelve years ago. Less so, I remember the poems and song lyrics (80s rap) he’s recently generated for me using ChatGPT. 😂

With the holidays approaching and parties of every sort already rounding out our winter schedules, it’s easy to click a few buttons on an app to make a few gifts arrive on our steps. But sometimes, we need a gift that leaves a heartwarming impression for years to come. One that requires thought, a little bit of time, and a few visible knicks of human imperfection.

I’m talking about things made by hand.

For a recent teacher appreciation day, I assisted my son’s junior kindergarten class in creating an art piece inspired by Dutch tulips titled, “Thank You for Helping Me Grow.” We used mixed paper and tempera paint. I spent unreasonable hours in my atelier snipping tulip stems out of paper, but it made me feel good to create something special and unique to help my son’s class show their teachers how appreciated they are. (This could be a cute holiday DIY gift for grandparents.)

As the holidays near, I am excited at the thought of what else I can create on my own, with the kids, for parties, friends, neighbors, and for teachers...

I have one particular handmade project in mind, with the world being in the state it’s in: Picasso’s Dove of Peace. I’m kicking around the idea on recreating the Dove of Peace artwork with children. I’ll have the children do an observational drawing with high quality materials on canvas and frame it to museum specifications.

I liked this idea enough that I pitched it as the anchor of our class’ auction item at the school’s winter parent party, and it was voted in. We’ll also include with it a large donation to World Central Kitchen and the WCK cookbook. I’ll report back on if it’s generative with parent bidding. I know I’ll certainly place a bid on it!

Several other handmade items I have in my holiday project lineup this year are—some may or may not be fan favorites, but they’re favorites of mine:

Creamy Chicken Liver Paté: Gifted in a french terrine accompanied with warm, crusty bread. Believe it or not, this recipe only takes 20 minutes.

Gingerbread house: Every year, I’ve bought the grocery store gingerbread house. Not only is it impossible to assemble, it’s flavorless, and an eye sore that sits on display in my kitchen for a month. This year, I’m using this NYT gingerbread cookie recipe and attempting to make a gingerbread Eiffel Tower. I found a gingerbread Eiffel Tower pattern on Etsy we’ll use to cut the patterns. Souhaite-moi bonne chance.

Cranberry Curd Tart: I love atypical desserts. I am also the one-in-a-million who loves anise, black Neco wafers, and orange marmalade. Also, candied orange peels, vegetables like rhubarb in my dessert, matcha tea, and pure cacao (although Switzerland made me fall back in love with pure milk chocolate). With over 7,000 NYT 5-star reviews, this Cranberry Curd Tart looks like it is the perfect holiday hybrid: a party favorite and atypical. The cranberry color is so beautiful—a gorgeous, simple, show stopping dessert centerpiece.

If you’re able to carve out some time to make something by hand over the next couple of months, I’d love to know what you create. Wishing you peace and an exciting creation journey.

Next letter, I’ll share a cheeky holiday party idea I have brewing. One for the women.