Something drops, a fumbling sound, a distressing grunt, silence. When I experience these things, I still react the same way I did on that October night: My heart races, I freeze, and, if my fears are not resolved quickly, I run. I thought my young and healthy husband was dying, and now, I’m always afraid he’s going to die at any moment.

As I sit next to my softly lit Christmas tree (way too early in the morning), I wonder if this Christmas feels different because we started reading the Bible this year, or if it's because I'm still processing Jon's ambulance ride last month, and wonder if it's our last Christmas together.

Ah, yes. Dehydrated oranges. Every one and their is dog is making dehydrated orange slices for Christmas (or orange garland), and for that reason I’ve been resisting it for a few years. Then I gave it some deeper thought… I was resisting it because it’s trendy, and I want to be disciplined about things like trends. I’d rather do things “the old fashioned way” – popcorn garland, salt dough ornaments, orange and clove pomanders, paper ornaments, etcetera. And then I realized, dehydrated fruit “old fashioned”. Fewf! I actually really like this trend and now that I’ve concluded that dehydrated fruit is straight up primal, I’ll bite.

In this post I will show you how to make classy paper ornaments.Perhaps it’s because I live in the middle of nowhere and rarely leave home, that I am able to really enjoy making these simple homemade Christmas decorations. I’m so removed from all Christmas marketing.

Fluffy, flashy white popcorn garland offers a snow-like contrast of color to a Christmas tree, or strung along a mantel. It’s a relaxing craft that can be done while you listen to music or watch a Christmas movie. Our 4-year-old was a fan of this one – he ate the popcorn, I threaded the popcorn. That’s usually the way it goes.

In this tutorial I will show you how to make classic, “high-end” salt dough ornaments. This is an activity the whole family will love!Every day this week I will be posting a new traditional Christmas decor idea. I almost didn’t add salt dough ornaments to the docket. They always seem to look so…kindergarden. No doubt, your little ones will love to squish their hands in the dough and shape their own ornaments, then goop their primary coloured paints all over them. The results are so charming and deserve a special spot on the Christmas tree.