It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas!

Sorry for being such a slacker this week with my blog.  In the evening (when I normally blog) I've just been so tired that I kept saying, ""I'll do it tomorrow."  Next thing I knew the week was gone and I hadn't updated.  Shame on me.

So, I've been coming to terms with the fact that we don't have a lot of money this year for Christmas. (not that we've ever been loaded, but this year is especially thin due to the lack of jobs thingy we have going on:)  This is the first Christmas since '07 that we will be able to "full out" decorate.  The past couple of Christmases we have been packing for our big move, didn't feel like getting everything out with boxes sitting all around, you know what I mean.

I have always been a Christmas kind of a gal. I love to decorate, I love the season's music, I love a mix of familiar and quirky, and I'm all about family tradition. So......... this week I've pulled out all my Christmas books and magazines. Yes, I save them. I am one of those weird individuals that DOES save magazines and actually pours over them again and again....year after year. Hey, good ideas are good ideas and classics are classics for a reason!

I'm already making a list of things that I want to do with the family. Things that are free or very minimal in the forking over of money. I know that we are not the only ones out there that are hurting due to job loss, down turn of the economy etc.  Everyone is feeling the pinch. There are so many things that can be done that will make awesome memories for the family and still not break the bank.  I'm viewing this as a fun and festive experiment.  How many things can I do (with the family) that won't cost anything?

THE EXPERIMENT IS ON!  Yesterday I started looking through my magazines/books for ideas.  I won't actually start decorating for Christmas until the Friday after Thanksgiving. (Because I LOVE Thanksgiving too--and have a lot to be thankful for... I don't want to crowd Thanksgiving out of it's rightful place,  I am not one of those people that jump the gun so to speak with the holidays.)

First thing I worked on was my list. The list is an ongoing thing. I went around the house and looked at objects that I already have that could be "repurposed" or dressed up for the holidays.  For instance, the small garden urn that I have can sit on our dining room table filled with old Christmas balls that I might not hang on the tree, but would still be shiney and festive setting in the urn.  Or I could add a couple of pine tree sprigs and ask our neighborhood friend if I could gather some of her pine cones to add to the table urn?

Have any red, silver, gold, or green picture frames? What about framing some of the pretty Christmas cards that you receive? Set the picture frames on a table in the living room or in the hall.  Instant holiday art.

Does your family like to eat spaghetti? Do you  buy the sauce in the jars?  Save the glass jars.  Peel the labels off--and wash the jars well.  Buy a pack of white votive candles (you can get really cheap at the Dollar Store) and put them in the glass jars. Group several of the jars together for soft, warm elegance. If they can use lots of candles for the Christmas holiday at Colonial Williamsburg and have such a beautiful scene, than so can you!!!

These are just a few things......the plan is for me to blog about my "Christmas Experiment". I will add pictures as I go along. So tune in for Christmas creativity galore!