It's another one of those tightening-the-belt Christmases for the bf and I, and so most people on our lists will be getting at least one homemade present. It's more meaningful this way--I love getting gifts that the giver made personally--but there's always the concern that you're putting all this time and effort into making something the reciever will find repulsive, especially if you're making it for someone who doesn't have similar tastes to yours. Which brings us to a little craft book I have called Have a Natural Christmas '77.
I was certain this book would be a treasure trove of fugly crafts made from pine cones, sticks, beans, feathers, and seeds. Once I investigated futher, it wasn't all that bad--the book was put out by Rodale, publishers of books and magazine titles such as Prevention, Men's Health, Women's Health, and proponents of organic farming since the early 40s (another of their titles you might have heard of is An Inconvenient Truth). It actually seemed touching that this well-intentioned publishing company put out a little book of natural Chistmas crafts.
Although the more I contemplate the cover project here, a gingerbread house with cashews as the snow on the roof and pumpkin seeds as, uh, pumpkin seeds on the chimney, the less I feel like eating, so thank you, Rodale, for that 30-year-old diet tip at holiday gorge time.
But as you're about to see, crafting got worse than natural ideas in the time of disco fever.