Christmas Magic
Long before there was ever “Elf on the Shelf”, my daughters had their very own “Tree Elf”. The elf in the picture above, showed up with her sister elf way back in the Christmas of 1994.
They were not mischievous elves of today, like the ones plastered all over social media with their hijinks. They were elves that were the keepers over Christmas Spirit of wonder (magic).
That first year they made their appearance upon our tree was the beginning of memories that would follow my children to this day.
You see that year would be the girls and my first Christmas as a family unit of three instead of four. I was starting over and soon found that to be true in many areas of my life.
The tree and decorations that were stored in the attic the year before had collected some kind of spores on them that caused me to go into a severe allergic reaction requiring a trip to the emergency room. It very well may have been the stress I was under but denied to myself, I was covered in huge blotchy hives.
I was in the midst of a very nasty volatile divorce that had only begun two months prior and was still in the early stages of healing my childhood trauma. Thinking back to that time in my life, I do believe it is also the year I had shingles. I was far too young in my late twenties but that is what was. I was deeply upset given the tree and most of the decorations were that of my childhood and those acquired to that point in my life. I tried washing everything in the shower to remove whatever caused the outbreak but to no avail. Only a very few decorations were able to be saved. We had a handful of bulbs and a few plastic ornaments that survived being sanitized. The artificial tree, well over twenty years old, did not fare well and was tossed.
What was I to do? Money was more than tight; it was almost nonexistent. That year was hard enough on the girls and I didn`t want their Christmas ruined too. Born from necessity my creativity and frugality went into overdrive.
I managed to pick up a cheap four- or six-foot artificial tree and a couple sets of colored lights at one of the local department stores for under twenty dollars. It was the beginning to a humble holiday celebration yet there would be a tree, and I was determined to make it special.
The girls crafted garland from construction paper to be hung upon the tree. Pages from an old music book were cut into stars or snowflakes. Then the girls brought me all their past happy meal Christmas toys that they had collected from years before and we used them as angels tucked within the barren spaces between the branches.
While the girls were in school, I explored the clearance and craft departments of my local Ames dept store. That is where I found two elves (ok, actually they were scarecrows) waiting for me for .25 cents each, in the clearance section of crafts. The idea to re-invent them into elves hadn`t hit me yet but I knew I`d think of something. I also found some candy to put in their stockings and stashed it all in my room.
In order to make it look like the girls got a plentiful Christmas, I would separate any packages with more than one item. A package of 10 undergarments became 10 separate gifts. Some put in their stockings, some rolled and wrapped placed either under or within the tree. The same frugality was done with socks or outfits. Separate, wrap and scatter to fill the absence of abundance.
I can`t remember exactly if that was the year I used brown paper sacks hand decorated and the comics from newspapers I had gathered from friends and family, to wrap their gifts that year. Yet I did that too to save money where I could.
It wasn`t until late that Christmas eve when I took the two scarecrows out of the hidden stash of goodies, I had bought that day in Ames. Praying for some Christmas magic a story formed in my mind. Elves!!
First, I wrote each child's name down the pant leg of their very own elf. Then I simply took a velvet bow and twisted the tie around each elf`s waist. I crafted a note and placed each elf on a branch upon the tree for the girls to discover the following morning.
I can`t remember the exact wording but the note told them that their tree elf would oversee the tree and Christmas magic that would appear each year thereafter.
And that, my friends, is when the magic of Christmas blessed us with a new tradition. One of wonderment, hope and love that as long as we had each other, we had enough.
The girls still have their elves and place them upon their own family tree to this day. The introduction picture is that of my daughter's elf upon her tree this year.
A very Merry Christmas to you all and blessings in the New Year !!
✨Be the Light
What a sweet memory you have shared with us and the legacy of love that remains.
That is a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing that with us!! 😍💖