I originally posted this paper pattern in December 2010 with the caption “Poor Man’s Christmas Ornament.” I'm posting it again for new followers who have recently joined, and long-time followers with long memories who have persisted over the years. Consider this an early holiday greeting from me to you.
In 2010 I wrote:
When my daughters were still quite young, we spent a snowbound weekend cutting out and assembling dozens of paper birds to decorate our first post-divorce Christmas tree. We used sturdy white Bristol board, and loops of shiny cord to tie the folded wings to the birds’ bodies and fashion hangers. More than twenty years later we still have about thirty of them left. They’ve long outlasted the box of cheap dime-store glass ornaments we bought that same year, but we tend to lose a few birds each year to visitors who want the pattern. The birds that are left have become heirlooms of our household - emblems of sweet times spent together, and of difficulties overcome and only dimly remembered.
I start my holiday travels tomorrow, so I'm suspending posts for a few weeks. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the day, and Happy New Year to everyone, ready or not.
