Breaking From the Norm

I made an Advent wreath today. I had one that I'd bought about a year after I'd moved to Germany but it got all ratty and I hated to find the right candles for it. Little stump candles that couldn't be but so tall and so wide and I got all freaked out when they burned down too low. I have a healthy fear of house fires. Instead I wanted an Advent wreath that used tea lights. You see, aside from the fire hazard thing, using regular stump candles, or tapers if that's what your particular advent wreath takes, means that the candles will be uneven from week to week. You light the first candle and you have the choice of either using it for just a little while and then blowing it out and therefore having successively uneven candle lengths from week to week or replacing the candle with a new one each week when the next candle is lit. As I'm a bit of a freak for symmetry, the uneven candles drive me nuts. Tea lights? Always even. Light it and burn it until it's empty. Throw in a fresh one the following Sunday. Heck, burn it every day - no uneven candles!

Uneven Advent candles are what passes for a worry in my world.



Yesterday I found this little arrangement. Just the metal tray with the candle holders. The tray is deep enough that I could fill it with any number of little doo-dads - greenery or beads or pine cones or whatever strikes my fancy. I could change its look every year if I choose. And it takes tea lights. Excellent find!



Today I went to the One Euro shop (where, natch!, everything costs just a euro!), got some plastic miniature balls (prediction: someone will Google "plastic miniature balls" and become sorely disappointed when the conversation is about Advent decor) and some little felt cut-outs, found in my spare bedroom closet some fake spruce garland that I could cut a couple pieces from and in a couple minutes I had a new Advent wreath.

B got all balky about it because it's not all "wreathy". He called it "cake pan-y". I considered acting all put out and insulted but instead have adopted the attitude that it is innovative and instead of being traditional I'm being visionary. And symmetrical.