Dweezy reminded me of “Suzy Snowflake.” It was written by Sid Tepper in 1951, another of the group of songs that includes “Marshmallow World” and “White Christmas.”
Dweezy mentioned another of them, “The Christmas Waltz.” Here is a midi file of the tune. I like that song a lot, really. The lyrics are here.
Most of the popular Christmas songs (as distinct from carols) come from that group, beginning with “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland” in 1934. If you have been walking around cursing the continual Christmas muzak, then this is the stuff you’ve been cursing. The most recent Christmas song to hit the top 25 most-performed list is “Wonderful Christmastime” from 1979, and the ’60s gave us only “Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys (though there is that song about Snoopy which is quite popular in New Zealand). Apparently, there was something about the Great Depression and World War II that inspired people to write Christmas songs.
You probably have not been cursing “Suzy Snowflake,” though, because it hasn’t been recorded recently. Dweezy is lucky enough to have a vintage recording by Rosemary Clooney. The rest of us may know this from Barney 
(shudder) or the kids’ nursery school holiday pageant, but to my knowledge, the Cheetah Girls haven’t yet gotten around to it.
We got the tree decorated. I have always felt that the goal was to put an ornament on every single twig, but the boys assured me that it would make the tree “loud.”
We therefore stopped at this point. I may put on more, though, because it seems to me that the whole point of a Christmas tree is to be excessive. It is nice to know, of course, that my sons have such elegant sensibilities, but if you are going to do something as unreasonable as to bring a tree into your house and hang stuff all over it, then you might as well go all the way.
The soldered slide charms work very well as ornaments.
I kept half a dozen of them for my own tree, and have packed up some for various family members, but I may do more. I think that old sheet music and Christmas card images would make nice little tree ornament collages.
Thus far, my ornament slides have tended toward elegant simplicity, but I am rebelling against elegant simplicity. I will sing “Suzy Snowflake” and “Marshmallow World” while I work on them, to inspire a sense of cheerful holiday kitsch and cheesiness.
Here are some inspiringly kitschy commercial versions with 3-figure prices. More affordable ones here. These things make me feel good about the price of my soldering iron.
We also hung up the stockings. Our mantelpiece ends up looking like an altar to Santa Claus, but here again, why go just partway with such a silly custom?
It is not as though there were some decorous and sensible way to hang giant fake socks on your mantelpiece.
It is true that we have too many stockings for the current residents of the household. Neither daughter took her stocking with her when she grew up and moved out, and it didn’t seem right to leave them in the storage container. What I ought to do is get one for Son-in-law as well, fill them all up, and mail them to their owners.
We are hoping that #2 daughter will be here for Christmas, though, so perhaps we can keep hers for another year.
Once we had done the decorating and gotten a pot of beef stew on the stove, we settled down to watch the “Monk” marathon on TV, and I got on with the Christmas present table runner. This picture shows the shininess of the fabric.
This picture, I hope, shows the quilting pattern.
It was handy that the motif fit in a hoop. I was able to sit comfortably with the guys while I worked.
They were not sitting comfortably. They were whipping each other with bead garlands, leaping over the couch onto one another, enticing the dogs to climb onto the furniture where they are not allowed, and eating up all the snickerdoodles which I baked for cookie boxes.
I pointed out that I would have no cookies for this year’s cookie boxes if the boys continued to eat them all.
“Who really deserves a cookie box?” said #2 son in a voice he must have learned from courtroom dramas.
I suggested that all the people we usually gave cookie boxes to deserved them. I made an impassioned plea for the postman, hairdresser, accompanist, teachers, co-workers and family members. #2 son was willing to concede that his grandparents deserved their cookies, but argued that they deserved fresh cookies. He pointed out that I get up early and could bake all the Christmas cookies in the week before Christmas if I set my mind to it.
It is now time to make a decision about the quilting: whether it is finished or not. The circle around the rose motif is just the mark left from the hoop, and not part of the design. I will press it out.
I like the relative simplicity of it, and I know that the recipient prefers simplicity, but it might be nice to repeat the motif on either side, making a row of three roses. Or a line of quilting in a Celtic knot pattern along the center from one pieced end to the other might also be nice. I generally like a lot of close quilting, for the texture of it. In this case, since I am using contrasting thread, the quilting is more overt than usual. And, while I am currently rebelling against astere elegance, that will not last. On the other hand, I happen to know that the girl I’m giving this to bought a pair of Ugg boots and plans to get another.
I may go ahead and bind it and then see. Your opinions are solicited.
My vote is always for Celtic knots.
The people selling slide ornaments are really cleaning up. Personally, I like the ones you’ve been making better.
You’re right. Christmas trees and excess should be synonamous. And the stockings are great.
If I can get moved and find all my bags of stash before Christmas, I’m going to knit some stockings. There are some “fur” yarns that are shiny, and look like garland tinsel that are particularly nice to add here and there to stockings.
Why not knit a stocking for the new one instead of buying? You can usee a 16 inch circular needle, so it goes quickly, use up some stash, and have fun doing it.
It looks fine as it is. You did wonderful work. Good you got your Xmas decorations up…
The Christmas tree is absolutely beautiful. I’ve never been able to do that elegant “bunting” thing you’ve done — mine are never even and never symmetrical, and I’ve given up on them. Lovely tree, and lovely mantelpiece altar for Saint Nicholas, to whom stockings are presumably sacred.
I don’t have an opinion on the table runner; I trust your esthetic judgment. I happen to have the world’s most beautiful Christmas table runner myself, made for my by my own #1 daughter, and I treasure it. I also have what I think — based on close observation — has to be the very first quilt she ever tried to make, and it has kept me warm through the brief bitter weather we have here for at least the past ten years.
I vote for excess all around. Why not a trifold knot on each end? Like this, pointing towards the center rose?
I think the Pussycat Dolls should sing Suzy Snowflake. Purrrrrfect. Of course, I would never listen to it.
I started to respond to this blog, but then decided to turn it into a rant on my own. Thanks for inspiration! 😀
I like the idea of a decorative quilted border, roses or celtic knots. I do feel that celtic knots are a bit overused, but I know you’d do them tastefully. They are popular among the Ug boot crowd.
I agree that a Christmas tree should be excessive. Hang more ornaments. Make it sparkle.
looks great! I’m for excess in celebration too.
When we put up our Christmas trees we also tend to go for excess – ‘no branch undecorated’ is the motto and we also make sure that the branches at the back are also decorated even though no one can see them very well. We wouldn’t want any branch to feel left out. Of course, over here we are not really thinking about Christmas too much yet – it is still November – although the annual Santa Parade is on this Sunday. The earliest most NZers would start decorating is first week in December or maybe even a little later. For those of us who have Christmas trees, they will usually go up in the week leading to Christmas. Christmas trees need artificial lights in order to sparkle away – we on the upside of the Earth are heading into Midsummer’s Night Eve so it doesn’t get dark here until after 8pm and sparkly lights and tinsel have difficulty competing with sunlight (not that there is heaps of that just now we are back to normal pre-Christmas weather, alternating between beautiful sunny warm days and slices of winter showers just to give us some weather about which to complain should we feel the need to complain about something.