Celebrating safely-at-home with my newest 2020 holiday tradition! This is my THIRD holiday celebrating with Bake-A-Pie & Eat-A-Pie!!! And sure, I coulda left that one last piece for tomorrow…

But why stop at one piece… after THIS year, I think we all deserve two pieces… and ice cream too!!! Congrats on making it through this crumbly-crust of a year!!!

Looking back at 2020…
and I am MORE than ready to move on!
It was quite a year… like none other!

It’s hard to believe that 2020 has kinda slipped by so quickly, and yet dragged on so long. I’m hoping for good things in 2021… but who knows what that really means?! Fingers crossed for brighter days… when we can all get back to work, get together with our family & friends, open restaurants, live theater, organized bike rides & triathlons, so many things… and maybe, just maybe… eventually get rid of the masks?!!!

Another great Christmas SURPRISE…
I was also asked to make a couple “sets” of pottery for three different families. The parents who requested these “sets” have QUITE the collection of my pottery. They’ve been collecting my work for years… and probably have TOO MUCH if that’s even possible! I know most of their kids have some “random” pieces… a mug here, a bowl there… but not a good “set” of anything!

So the request was to make two bowls, two mugs and two juice cups in three different colors for three different families. They love the stamped patterns… but didn’t want them to be all “matchy-matchy”… so they wanted the stamps to all be different. Similar, but different.

And to make matters worse…
imagine ME not being able to share the photos of these pieces as I was making them!!! I was so careful not to share too much to ruin the surprise! I had fun making the sets… but so tough NOT to show photos along the way!

The “celadon” green set traveled to Kristy & Matt in Wisconsin!

The cobalt blue set went to Karen & Annie in Maryland.

And the green set was delivered to Jody & Ira in Pennsylvania.

And oh, but wait there’s more…
I figured since each of the families was getting a nice “starter set” courtesy of their parents… maybe they needed a plate to go with it too??? Especially since I’ve kinda been “adopted” into the family. I’ve even been referred to as “the favorite son”!!!

A title I’ll gladly take… especially since they only have daughters!

Okay… PART TWO of the story!

With only two flat & two warped soda-fired plates,
I knew that these wouldn’t work for this special order of FOUR.
Especially since I had already decided that these dinner plates
were going to be my friends’ Christmas present!!!

So I quickly threw another set of plates.
Center. Compress. Throw. Spiral. Stamp.

This time knowing that a simple glazed firing would be a lot “safer” for warping this time around. Especially with the Christmas deadline closing in!!! This time I also hedged my bets by making five plates… so I would have a back-up if something went wrong!

I went with a “neutral” glaze combo… one of my cone six glazes. A honey-amber tenmoku looking glaze… I then sprayed a tiny bit of blue glaze around the perimeter to help with the contrast of the stamped impressions.

I was quite pleased when they came out of the glaze firing. The glazes melted and “broke” just right in all the right places. Not only were the stamps highlighted nicely… but that spiral?!!! Beautiful.

And now that Christmas has passed… and gifts have been shared… I can let the “secret” out. I decided to give Gerry & Rosene BOTH sets of plates! Starting with the soda-fired set “as requested” in the special order. They LOVED them!!!… and didn’t seem to care so much about the warping. They know all about the process and the inherent risks!

And then they opened the second package…
with the “replacement” set of glazed plates…
and they LOVED those too!!!

So much so… it brought tears to Rosene’s eyes!
What more could you want from your Christmas gifts!

Mission accomplished.

Hoping everyone is having a “sweet” Christmas today. Whether you’re safely flying solo, or sharing your “bubble” with family… I just hope you’re all staying safe & enjoying some holiday sweet treats!!!… hmmm?… maybe I need to try ala mode next?!!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday today despite all of the challenges. ‘Tis the season to be extra-creative with how you celebrate with family & friends… without being able to be “with” anyone today! I know I’ll be celebrating solo again today, yet “celebrating” with my family via ZOOM with trivia games & a gift exchange later this afternoon!

And here it is – fresh out of the oven!

My new 2020 “solo-holiday” tradition continues! Make a pie. Eat a pie! Should be cooled down just in time for my family ZOOM Christmas get-together. Too bad I can’t share… and I’ll just “rudely” be eating in front of them!!!

Oh well, more for me… HA!!!

Added the top layer of crust and a few decorative touches! Making it all very festive for my new “solo-holiday” tradition! Ready to go into the oven…

It’s all in… my Christmas pie is all coming together nicely!!!

Things are cooking in the kitchen…
starting to smell really festive in here!