Christmas over for another year.

I love Christmas. This year I decided my family would benefit from home made gifts specially crafted by me with love.
My ginger bauble biscuits weren't great. The boys wont be seen dead with the delightful boot bags I made, each emblazoned with an ironed on picture of a monkey which I felt appropriately reflected  their character.
I also attempted to make some interesting candle holder bottles. I had seen on pinterest that you can make these really easily using an empty bottle, string, acetone and a naked flame. I poured the acetone into a plastic tub so I could easily soak the string in it. I  used a butane gas burner which I had freshly filled with butane, and I had my bowl of ice cold water at the ready to sink the hot, string wrapped bottles in, so they would snap perfectly in half when submerged. Lighting the string with the blow torch device worked reasonably well once I remembered I needed to hold the bottle with pliers rather than my bare hands. What wasn't so great was when the string which should have been securely tied round the bottle, dangled down and set fire to the piece of acetone soaked string dangling out of the acetone container which in turn set light to the acetone which flared up quite dramatically and set fire to the cardboard box containing the butane gas canister. I didn't panic as I had a bowl of ice cold water at the ready.
Nobody got a candle holder bottle this year, but I can always have another go next Christmas.
My exciting chain reaction reminded me that Christmas should be lighting up people's lives for longer than a few weeks during December. Christmas was meant to have a knock on effect that would touch people's lives for good for ever. Many people sweep the whole thing away with a sense of relief that it only happens once a year, but living the life that Jesus came to bring is exciting and eventful all year round.