< Previous10 COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 A fter many, many texts, emails, calls and a video conference or two, my siblings and I, at this writing, are on the verge of nail- ing down a date for our annual Christmas gathering. That’s the good news. The not so good news is it looks like we’ll be celebrating Christmas 2024 in early January 2025. Busy work lives and the fact we’re scattered in different states makes scheduling a time we can all be in the same place a real challenge. Throw in teenagers and college stu- dents and it’s doubly difficult to find a date that works for everyone. We’re determined to honor this Elder Family tradition my parents began years ago and my father carried on until his death, however. Belated or not, it must happen. It would have been easier to give this year’s gathering a pass, but that felt like a dan- gerous path. Let it slide once and maybe it’s done. I understand more all the time that such traditions give us a sense of continuity and stability in otherwise whirl- wind lives. There is something grounding and necessary about seeing my family that stays with me long after we’ve all gone back to our lives. Every family has its own way of celebrating Christmas. Mostly for us it’s a time to spend with each other, strength- ening our bonds, drinking copious amounts of coffee and eating way too many snickerdoodles — along with bare- knuckled, no quarter Trivial Pursuit. Food plays an important part of every holiday in our family. Our Christmas gatherings involve tamales and bar- becue, while we save the traditional turkey or prime rib for Christmas Day. In the past few years, the gift-giving focus has been on my nieces and nephews, who these days all prefer cold, hard cash. We’re loud, we laugh a lot and enjoy recalling many a Christmas Past. As our families have grown, we’ve blended traditions and rituals to make room for our spouses. As we put this issue togeth- er, I was struck by how some people have so easily merged cultures to forge new holiday traditions. And I also enjoyed the nos- talgia inspired by the favorite seaside holiday traditions readers shared in Shorelines. The holidays are what we make of them and the meaning we find in them. And maybe our January celebra- tion of Christmas won’t be so strange after all. Catholic and Orthodox Christians use different calendars to mark the holy day. Every Jan. 6-7, millions of Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Christmas, almost two weeks after their western counterparts have already feasted and rung in the New Year. So, it doesn’t matter much when we celebrate as long as we gather and celebrate. Coast Monthly wishes you a Merry Christmas, Happy Ha- nukkah and Kwanzaa. LAURA ELDER Coast Monthly editor FROM THE EDITOR THIS CHRISTMAS, IT’S BETTER LATE THAN NEVERhoustonmethodist.org/pcg/southeast 713.441.7265 Convenient, customized care — close to work or home. Our Houston Methodist primary care doctors provide personalized care for you and your family, including physicals, immunizations and preventive health services. Many of our practices: • Provide in-person and virtual visits with online scheduling • Offer same-day sick visits • Are conveniently located close to work or home • Accept most major insurance plans 45 146 8 Friendswood League City Clear Lake PRIMARY CARE Personalized to You12 COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 SHORELINES WE ASKED ON FACEBOOK: What are your favorite seaside Christmas ornaments and traditions? I love the ornaments my children and I made out of shells we found for our Pirates beach house Christ- mas tree. MaryAnn Salch Murphy For several years, I have made Christmas ornaments out of Galves- ton bay oyster shells. Sparkling with gold paint and holiday cheer. Leona Pleasant We put up our crab pot (trap) Christ- mas trees made in North Carolina. Ornaments are jellyfish, starfish, crab, fish and a few fishing lures. Trudy Deen Davis Ours is our Merry Fishmas tree! Boba Gottlieb I bought a green sparkle glass seahorse ornament from the Christ- mas store a few years back and it inspired my love of glass ornaments that I now collect such as mermaids and angels. We also make and collect fragile seashell ornaments for our tree. Rachel Dragony Waiting to officially kick off Christmas — after my birthday! My parents put our tree up on 12/22 so I didn’t have to compete with Christ- mas. It’s a great childhood memory. Barbara Reid Falkenhagen Family ravioli making with the Pieri descendants including Sunseris, Trochessets and Doyles to split the 1,200 and enjoy with our Christ- mas dinner! Andrea Pieri Sunseri Decorating the tree with sea-in- spired ornaments. Kathy Whatley My oldest Christmas tree ornaments are Dickens evening on the Strand ornaments made from flat seashells dated 1983. Carla Davis McLaughlin When my daughter was younger, we had a cherished tradition of attending “The Nutcracker” at The Grand 1894 Opera House. After the ballet, we would stroll to Strand brass and Christmas on the Strand where she would choose an ornament for our tree. Those special “memory” orna- ments still adorn our tree each year. Margie Peters Kusnerik 4:30 Christmas eve Mass then Shead Family gathering at Thelma Webber Hall. All family is invited plus in-laws and outlaws. Covered dish, then white elephant gift exchange. Al Lofaro leading us in “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Gladys Haak Our favorite Christmas tradition starts with getting in that Christmas spirit by attending Dickens on the Strand (Ste- ampunk Friday, Victorian Saturday) followed by walking the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. You can only experience that in Galveston. Bobby Martin My late first wife (March 2018), being from, growing up in Pennsyl- vania till she was 11 or 12 and then moving here with her parents, loved snowmen. She collected snow- men, snowlady, snowanimal, etc. ornaments with which we decorated our Christmas tree every year. She would also get many more snowman ornaments as gifts from friends and family. So, in her honor and love for her, the tradition continues as it always will. She loved Christmas. Tom Rice My husband is Palestinian-Ameri- can. We have a family of drummers playing all kinds of percussion instruments. When singing Christ- mas carols, we always include “The Drummer boy,” accompanied with Arabic tablas (drums). Years ago, I started collecting “Drummer boy” figures. I now have all kinds of drummers from throughout the world — even an energizer bunny playing a drum. They’re my favorite Christmas decorations. Thora Qaddumi Making crab bisque on Christmas eve is one of our own yearly favor- ites. We also like going to Dickens on the Strand. I have ornaments I have had since I was a little girl dat- ing back to the early ‘80s that I still use. I also have my kids’ hand-made ornaments they made through their school years that I add to, which are all very sentimental. I have my traditional tree with my vintage ornaments and I have my 9-foot-tree that is more of my elegant-style tree. This year’s color theme will be rose gold, champagne, navy and teal. I truly enjoy decorating with the larger Christmas balls and lots of ribbon, as well as Christmas picks. Christy Sullivan I love all the beautiful ornaments from The Admiralty on The Strand and we started collecting our coastal Christmas décor two years ago – jellyfish, starfish, seahorses and sea turtles. Jackie Austin FILe PHOTO: STUArT VILLANUeVAExquisite Homes Pirates Cove | Laffite’s Cove For Sale For Sale For Sale For Sale 281.773.3477 bjennings@greenwoodking.com Chase Jennings, Associate chasejennings@greenwoodking.com BET JENNINGS 2022 & 2023 Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Pros in Galveston & Texas “From My Family to Yours We Wish you a Wonderful Holiday Season!”14 COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 CHRISTMAS CRAFTERS These artists create cards, ornaments and gifts by hand story by SHANNON CALDWELL A mosaic bead Nativity scene ornament of Mimi Thomas-Ritter’s is displayed next to one of Nannette Deming’s paper quill- framed candy cane. (Opposite, from top) Deming, left, and Thomas-Ritter both create pieces that require patience and detail work; a paper quill ornament by Deming; a bead mosaic Nativity scene wall hanging by Thomas-Ritter. PHOTOS: J e NNIF er re YNOLDS COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 15 I n a world where stores are filled with glittering displays of holiday décor and mass-produced merchan- dise, three local women are reviving ancient arts and getting into the spirit of Christmas with hand-made orna- ments, cards and gifts that can be cher- ished for years to come. NANNETTE DEMING – PAPER QUILLING Nannette Deming is reviving the ancient art of paper quilling with ornate handcrafted greeting cards, wall art and earrings. All her designs start with thin strips of paper that are curled, folded or twisted into colorful designs glued in place to create intricate artworks. Deming, who lives in Galveston, always has loved crafting but never imagined it would become her livelihood, she said. “My mom gave me a paper curling kit about 30 years ago,” Deming said. “But as a solo mom with children to raise, I never had time to use it. Then, in 2021, Covid hit, and I was laid off from my job at UTMB and so I 16 COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 FEATURE started doing paper curling for therapy really.” She made Christmas cards for her friends and family who were so impressed they encouraged her to make more to sell. Three years later, what started as a therapeutic craft now is a thriving home business. Deming has a website and sells her cre- ations at local craft fairs. She spends months getting ready for Christmas, which is her busiest time of year. A successful season will see all 200 of her handcrafted products sold by January. Christmas classics like poinsettia flowers, wreaths and Christmas trees have proven very popular designs with angels being a big hit, too. New designs are added each year, with in- spiration coming from social media, coloring books and customer suggestions along with Deming’s own love of Christmas. “It is my favorite holiday,” she said. “Every year, I can’t wait to decorate the house, and I start with my table. I have my grand- mother’s Spode China set in the Christmas design, so I usually put that out first.” For the future, Deming has her sights set on creating paper-quilled pictures of Galves- ton’s historic homes. Nannette-creations.com MIMI THOMAS-RITTER – BEAD MOSAICS When it comes to crafting, islander Mimi Thomas-Ritter has tried it all, including owning her own craft store and teaching craft lessons. But nothing has captured her attention like making bead mosaics, she said. “I taught bead mosaic classes at my shop for a while and some people just can’t han- dle the detail work, but I love it,” she said. “It is really addicting. I go for a walk on the beach and then I can’t wait to get back to work on my beads.” Thomas-Ritter’s Christmas-themed beaded items include pictures and ornaments of the Nativity scene and ornaments that look like Christmas trees, Christmas lights, bells, nutcrackers and gingerbread men. Beach- themed ornaments of pelicans, flamingos and octopuses also are popular. One of her most impressive creations is a 4-foot-tall nutcracker. It was a labor of love that took her 20 minutes to complete the beading on just one side of its head. She also is work- ing on a 4-foot-high stack of ornaments. “I think people are attracted to bead mosaics because they are something a little different and the beads are so lovely and shiny when they catch the sun,” she said. Thomas-Ritter originally is from Colorado but moved to Galveston a year ago with hus- band, Don, whose doctors told him it would be better for his health to live at sea level. They had vacationed in Galveston and “I started doing paper curling for therapy really.” NANNETTE DEMING COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 17 loved the beach, she said. “So, when we got the news from his doctors, I said I know exactly where we are going,” she said. In addition to her Christmas merchandise, Thomas-Ritter also makes pet portraits from bead mosaics. She might open another craft store or start up lessons in the future. But for now, she’s happy at home with her beads. You can find Thomas-ritter’s work at Treasures from the Heart Giftshop, 1115 23rd St. in Galveston. JULIE LAVERELL – PYROGRAPHER/WOOD ARTIST Julie Laverell jokes she has more heavy duty tools than most men. Her husband jokes the fire marshal has told them they can’t have any more wood in their Nassau Bay home. The tools and wood are for Laverell’s pyrography business. Her tools include a Dremel, various saws — miter, scroll and jigsaw — as well as a $300 tool that burns as hot as 2,000 degrees. “If it’s any kind of wood, I will burn on it,” Laverell said. “I can do tiny intricate designs on a thimble or larger pieces. I love to look at the wood grain and think about what artwork would look best on it.” Laverell is a retired outreach minister who was first interested in wood burning 30 years ago. She gave a burning tool to her mother, but when her mother rejected the hobby, she took the tool back and tried it herself. Over the years she has burned commis- sioned pictures, ornaments, earrings, spoons, bowls, cutting boards and more. Laverell has a book with sketches and ideas for future projects. She often wakes in the night with ideas, so she keeps it beside her bed. Inspiration comes from all sorts of sources, including social media, the grain of the wood and family. She never had any formal training, but her artist son taught her “I think people are attracted to bead mosaics because they are something a little different and the beads are so lovely and shiny when they catch the sun.” MIMI THOMAS-RITTER PHOTOS: J e NNIF er re YNOLDS Mimi Thomas-ritter’s bead mosaic ornaments feature traditional nutcrackers and Santa hats to coastal sea turtles and fun flamingos. (Opposite) Nannette Deming creates cards with her paper quill designs.18 COASTMONTHLY.COM | DeCeMber 2024 FEATURE a lot about drawing and shading, she said. Christmas is a busy time of year when she makes more than 200 ornaments that also can serve as gift tags. The ornaments feature light color washes from a technique La- verell has perfected to give each ornament bursts of subtle color while still highlighting the wood grain. “It is such a solitary art you wonder if anyone will like what you make,” she said. “It is such a blessing to go to a craft market and find out people like it.” You can find Laverell’s work at local craft markets and on Facebook: Julie’s burnt Offerings. (From top) Pyrographer Julie Laverell is a wood artist who crafts art pieces, from ornaments to earrings, bowls and cutting boards, using sophisticated burning techniques at her home studio in Nassau Bay; Laverell uses a specialized burning stylus on a tree figurine. PHOTOS: L e SLI e PLAZA JOHNSON “If it’s any kind of wood, I will burn on it. I can do tiny intricate designs on a thimble or larger pieces. I love to look at the wood grain and think about what artwork would look best on it.” JULIE LAVERELLNext >