Oh, those Christmas magazines!

 
When I was growing up, no matter how tight money happened to be or how little extra she might have to spend on frivolities, my mother would always, always buy the Christmas issues of Woman's Day and Family Circle magazines.  She found great recipes and nice gift ideas in them.  My parents also subscribed to Farm Journal, which had a nice women's  section that in the December issue would be loaded with fantastic recipes and ideas for decorating and handmade gifts.  My mother not only read these  magazines; she saved every one.

So I guess it's not surprising that when I got married I would always eke out enough extra from the grocery money to buy those Christmas issues, too.  Like her, I saved every one.  And I saved others, like Taste of Home, Country Handcrafts, Crafting Traditions, Better Homes and Gardens, and more.  Every year I would get them out and pore over them for ideas for ornaments, handcrafted gifts, recipes, decorating, and all the rest.

Another neat thing is that for a number of years, when we have visited our faraway daughter (first in the South and now in the West) in the fall, she would always have a special Christmas issue of some magazine awaiting on my pillow as a sweet welcome gift.  Of course I have saved all those as well, and have made many projects and recipes from them.

Some years ago, my mother passed her stash of Christmas magazines (whittled down by then, but still impressive!) to me, so I have more than I will ever completely get through.  I no longer buy the Christmas magazines, but I still enjoy looking at the many on my shelves and finding new ideas to try.  Stay tuned in the coming days for a post about one of my magazine-inspired projects!