Have you ever seen the motif of a heart nestled inside the palm of a hand? I love this little image because it captures my heritage so well: I come from a line of women whose hearts lived in their hands. At Christmas, especially, their handiwork fills my house.

A couple of posts ago I wrote about Christmas decorations. Last night we trimmed the tree! Almost every ornament is handmade by 1) These amazing women in my family, 2) My kids (I once wrote a column in praise of clever teachers, Brownie leaders, and Sunday school teachers and the wonderful ornament crafts they think up!) or 3) Other craftspeople (whose ornaments I’ve bought as souvenirs or received as gifts).

Uh, notice my own name is absent from that list?! I can’t make anything! How is it that some people just miss out on the crafty gene?

So I have to ask: Are there any dolls on your Christmas-buying or -making list this year? I’m wondering because — as I troll websites and ogle, as I do every year, things I might have wish-listed as a girl – I’ve realized that my very favorite present to give this time of year is… a doll.

Yep, dolls!

Admittedly it’s not the kind of gift you can give everybody (or most anybody!) on your list. And — big sigh — my three girls are outgrowing their doll years. But when you have the right recipient, and (this is key) you’re a “doll girl” yourself, like me – why there’s nothing more fun to give.

Dolls can be so much to a girl: Confidant, role model, co-conspirator, pal, loved one to nurture, loved one to nurture you. It’s a real shame kids think they want to abandon them earlier and earlier.

So do you have your Christmas tree yet? Where did it, or will it, come from? Chopped down in your backyard? Picked out after an outing in the woods or to a tree farm in the country? Bought at a local farmer’s market or  — as is the bane (I mean convenience) of us Suburban Farmgirls — plucked from the nearest corner lot that sprouted last week the day after Thanksgiving?

(Hard to imagine there are any farmgirls out there who go for an artificial tree — are there??)

Welcome to December, that season I wait all year for… yet which inevitably sneaks up on me way too suddenly, just the same. There I was, perfectly content in the whole cornucopias-and-crunchy-leaves groove of the last holiday when, overnight, my pumpkin-and-brown color scheme is all wrong wrong wrong!

When do you typically make the pilgrims-to-Santas switch?