It's The Most Wonderful Time!

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Our workshop has been almost as busy as Santa's creating holiday gifts that will travel from our home in Northern Michigan to Illinois, Colorado and as far away as Oregon!

Although we still have a workshop full of gourds the majority of this year's creations were made of glass. Our kilns have been running nonstop, full of ornaments, soap dishes and decorative plates for the holidays. Our soap dishes included a bar of handcrafted soap made by our friend Chasta at Latter Rain Soaps. We highly recommend her work!

I love creating Christmas items. Bright colors and festive subject matter, so much fun! This year our inspiration came from our cold snowy nights and the beautiful holiday trees.

​We also made a few gifts out of junk. That's right, junk. It's amazing what can be recycled or repurposed. This is Jason's area of expertise. He finds almost all of our cool junk. I might come up with some of our junk art design ideas but it is up to Jason to execute them all. (He's more artistic than he thinks!)

​Every project has a supervisor and a slacker. Ours was no exception. This year we had help from our Boxer dog Theo. He supervised while our fat old cat Bailey slept.

We've been enjoying our time visiting family and friends for the holidays. Our trip home to Grandma & Grandpa Pillywiggin's farm was extra special this year. We celebrated Grandpa Pillywiggins 70th birthday and our family joined VFW Post 1454 to participate in the Wreaths Across America project placing wreaths on every Veteren's grave in the Veteran's Memorial Section of Riverside Cemetery in Alma, Michigan. Many volunteers turned out despite the bitter cold weather. I'm so glad we were able to participate in this wonderful event. It really was a heartwarming experience. One that our family will never forget.

So many volunteers!

Placing wreaths

Army National Guard, Alma, Michigan

WWII Uniform

VFW Post 1454 Honor Guard performed Taps & gave a 21 Gun Salute

This holiday season please remember those who have given us the greatest gifts of all, our safety and our freedom. Support your local Veterans and active duty military personnel. Find out how you can get involved. Contact VFW Post 1454 or your local Veteran's organization.

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Jason & Julie Sitzema
Pillywiggins Garden, LLC