Old Fashioned Christmas: Nuttings

My Nana works at the Juliette Gordon Low House in Savannah, GA.  Juliette Gordon Low was the founder of the Girl Scouts.  When troops come to visit, Nana gives them tours of the house and does crafts or activities that young girls would have done during the Victorian era.

One Christmas tradition that she does with the girls each year is called Nuttings.  Each nutting was actually a howled out walnut shell.  There would be a small item - a rock, ribbon, penny, etc. - in each shell.  Each item had a special meaning and whatever it was would be what that person would have a bounty of in the new year.  At the Girl Scout house, the girls would make their own nuttings using brown paper.  Then, they would swap them with their friends.  These nuttings would have more than one item in them.  So, several years back, Nana decided to make some nuttings for our family.  After we open our presents on Christmas Eve at her house, all of the grandchildren and one great-grand pick one and see what our New Year will bring.  All of us really get into and look forward to it every year.  I liked my nutting this year and believe it to be true of my year to come (at least I hope, maybe minus the hard work, but I believe it is inevitable).

This is my nutting for 2011.

Rock - hard work
Heart - friendship
Sugar Cube - happiness
Blue Ribbon - loyalty
Words of Wisdom - "Look before you leap!"