Winter Solstice "Return of the Light" Countdown Calendar - An Original Homemade Creation

in #art7 years ago


I have just finished making this - an alternative to the popular advent calendar.  I love the festive season but much about it has become too commercial, and so I like to create my own traditions that feel meaningful and real.  The focus of my celebrations: people I love, nature's provisions, and creative expression.  My thinking behind this piece is that one purple segment is pulled back each day until the Solstice on the 21st, and when the final piece is pulled back we have a complete sun: this symbolises how the winter darkness gives way to the sunlight.  We will then light the candle in the centre and celebrate the return of the light.


Winter Solstice is a very simple tradition which looks forward to the returning sunlight and longer days.  Many people burn a Yule Log, light candles, gather with friends around a fire... all sorts of light-focused symbolism. You can read more about it here if you wish.


I know the Return of the Light is a pagan tradition, but I'm not a pagan.  I was raised Christian - I even did a degree in Christian Ministry & Ethics - but these days I feel I can no longer assign myself to that or any other religion.  At the core I guess I'd be Taoist, but I don't even call myself that... I don't think in terms of labels and boxes.  Truth is truth is truth, no matter who said it or what religion/way it 'belongs' to.


Since becoming a mother I give much consideration to what values I want to nurture. Only in recent years did I even hear about this idea of celebrating the return of the light, and I thought - what a lovely thing: to honour the sun that is absolutely essential to our very existence.  Taking the time to appreciate something that isn't about man or material.  I don't know what I think about advent and the nativity anymore, but I do know that I'm very thankful for the sunlight.  So it seems to me celebrating the return of longer days is a wonderful tradition, centred around gratitude and love - and away from presents and gorging on rich food!  I suppose my family traditions are a bit mix-and-match now, as we will celebrate Christmas day as well as the Return of the Light, but to me that's part of a spiritual connection with the wider community - sharing in the unavoidable atmosphere of merriment this time of year, and smiling at the smiles of strangers.  It's all good :-)


Also having something to 'countdown' means my son isn't going to miss out whilst other children are counting down with their advent calendars.  The Christian Christmas, or indeed the commercial Christmas, isn't the only way to bring excitement into the season.  When I was pregnant I had a conversation with a friend about Father Christmas - I was saying that I had no intention of pretending to my son that this character exists, as it's not truthful.  But she seemed to be of the opinion that this would deny him some of the excitement of Christmas, as Santa is an important part of childhood experience.  But honestly I don't agree at all.  I think excitement comes from the traditions you create together as a family, the time you spend with each other, and having the experience of something you feel is special and important.  To me, the festive season is a time for expressing what we carry in our hearts the rest of the year.


Anyway, in case any of you like my calendar enough to make your own I will show you, and it really isn't difficult.  This is something children can help to make too with adult's help.


What you will need:


Thick card (eg taken from a fruit & veg box)

Bathroom tissue

PVA glue

Ruler

Stanley knife or strong scissors

Paint - gold, yellow, red, blue

Paintbrush

Candle (I got one in a gold tin with a lid)

Fir cones (either bought or prepare your own)

Small cable ties

Snowflake or stars stickers

Glitter - red and gold


Method:


Cut out two circles of the same size from the thick card.  I drew around a 9" cake tin, but the size isn't too important.



Divide one of the circles into 24 equal segments, and cut using a ruler and stanley knife or strong scissors.  Sounds odd, but discard 3 of the pieces (or keep as spares).  Once the pieces are covered in paper mache, they will be larger and I found that doing this left me with the perfect amount of space for 21 segments to 'open' from the base.



In a suitable container mix together 2 parts PVA glue to 1 part water, I don't know the exact quantities but you'll need quite a bit!  You can always mix more if needed.  Tear off strips of bathroom tissue and dip into the glue mixture, and cover all the cardboard segments and the other cardboard circle.  Once dry this will make all the pieces nice and firm and textured.  Leave to dry somewhere warm - mine took about 2-3 days to dry, but it will depend how warm your house is (mine is cold!)  I used an old dish-drying rack to stand the pieces up in.



Once the pieces are dry you can now paint them.  I half-mixed gold, yellow and red paint together (I like a bit of streakiness).  



At this point I decided I wanted the circle more textured, so I got my PVA glue and bathroom tissue again and formed a spiral.  I painted the circle the same colours as the segments, and left them all to dry for another day.



Now for the final bit of painting - neatly paint one side of the segments a 'night time' colour, I mixed gold, blue and red paint together which gave me a lovely shimmering midnight-purple colour.  I did this one evening and they were dry by the following morning.



Place your candle in the centre of the circle (unattached so it can be replaced), and around it firmly glue on the fir cones using a glue gun or super glue.  Maybe let the adults do this part, as super-glued or glue-burnt fingers is no fun!



Now to attach the segments: I used a screwdriver to push small holes in the bottom of each segment, and in corresponding places in the circle base.  Using the cable ties, secure the segments to the base.  Don't pull them too tight - they need to be able to move freely outwards as the 'sun opens up'.  Tape the cable ends underneath the base.



I then mounted the whole thing (using superglue) on yet another thick cardboard circle, a little bigger though, and I spread PVA glue around the rim and sprinkled with gold and red glitter.  I also glued snowflake stickers on the purple side of the segments, as this is the 'winter sky'.  I had intended the segments to rest straight up against the candle, but they naturally fell to one side, giving a lovely spiral effect.  It looks way better like this!


Now it's ready to use as a calendar!



If you enjoyed this post, please follow me for more seasonal crafts and healthy recipes throughout December!


Many thanks.


All ideas and photos in this post are my own original.


You can also follow me as Natural Health Mama at https://www.facebook.com/naturalhealthmamma and https://naturalhealthmamablog.wordpress.com/ 



Logo kindly created for me by @papa-pepper

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