What if you were assigned one more “to do” on an already-busy Christmas Eve day? Not something essential. Just something extra. Would you make time? Could you?

At day 238 of 365, I don’t even consider skipping a day in my make something journey. I read the prompt, consider the options, and find a way to wedge the creative time into my day. Learning that this is possible has been a great discovery.

Today, Christmas Eve 2013, Noah Scalin nudged me to create a mural. Somewhere in the midst of ironing church clothes, assembling cookie tins, cleaning the lizard cage, wrapping gifts, and blow drying little girls’ hair, I made a very simple mural to hang beside our Christmas tree.

As you can see, it’s not fancy. I just cut up some paper grocery sacks and ironed them flatter (only because the iron was already out), then taped them together and used sticky-tack to adhere my “canvas” to the wall. I gathered three metallic Sharpies to place nearby. After writing the word “gifts” large in the center, I jotted a few words about the gifts in my life: our children, my husband, laughter … I’ll add more later, but for now I wanted to leave space and options for others to contribute as well.

By day’s end, three more family members had added a few of their own gifts to the mural. Tomorrow, when we’re all in one room to exchange gifts and celebrate the holiday, I hope a few more words and phrases will appear.

Fitting this “extra” into the schedule was a challenge, but certainly not impossible. I’m glad I made time for this simple project. Now we have this physical space—right beside our tree, which will be the hub of tomorrow’s gift exchange—to make note of so many blessings, both tangible and intangible.