Christmas time is everywhere                                                          Christmas time is in the air again…

Ho ho ho…. that is not Santa laughing, that is me laughing out in glee. One can’t but feel positively happy, wrapped up cozy, in the magical festive glow & warmth X-mas time exudes. Green pine trees decorated with ornaments, stockings filled with brightly wrapped gifts, candles & mistletoes, eggnogs & wine, carol singing & mid night mass, cakes & puddings spiced with nutmeg & cinnamon, warm hearty meals & joyful times with family & friends. It is indeed the time to eat, drink & be merry…. we can sit, think & be sorry about those extra calories later. Every religion celebrates ‘GOD’ in their own unique yet spectacular ways. Does it matter if one does it by lighting candles, the other by burning lamps & yet another by not lighting anything at all???

I am not a Christian, but have been celebrating X-mas from my childhood. In Kerala, where I was born and brought up, people go the whole nine yards to celebrate the festival. A significant portion of the Indian Christian population resides here and Christianity is the third most practiced religion in the state. Even after getting married & staying out of Kerala since, we still celebrate the festival with the same gusto or in fact with more.

The X-mas of 2000 was one with a twist… Santa did not deliver the gifts, I did. I gave birth to a sunny, bunny sized boy on that day. From there the celebrations have doubled up, not to leave out, troubles too. ‘The Second Coming of the Christ’ is yet to take on the qualities of Christ, still in the thick of being an impossible teenager whose sole mission in life seems to be driving his parents to join Parents of Teenagers Anonymous.

Now! Now! I don’t want to lose my perspective and leave my joyful X-mas spirit and start looking for a support group. So back to X-mas festivities & decorations galore. This year, among other things, I made a simple flower arrangement to go as the centre piece for my dining table, making use of some flowers from a huge bouquet which was gifted to us with lots of love. It’s been staying packed since many years, because of its size & ‘doesn’t easily gel with the decor’ colours, which to my good fortune, worked out perfect for X-mas. Traditionally the colours associated with X-mas are Red, Green & Gold. I used some White too, to symbolise the snow that is absent in Sagar, MP.

I salvaged the flowers from this bouquet, leaving out the Lilies for later use.

 Tied the flowers onto toothpicks.

 Along with the flowers, used candles (wrapped them in red satin ribbons) and golden beads.

Made a container out of a bamboo section and placed it on a wooden stand.

Cut the oasis into blocks and fitted it snugly inside the bamboo.

Started arranging the flowers and candles as shown above (make a mental picture of how you want the finished product to look, before you start).

Did the other half of the arrangement in the same way…. Easy as that.

Lighted the candles…….. isn’t that X-mas spirit beckoning you????

Let’s all throw away our cares,                                                         Cause its X-mas in the air,                                                                      

WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!