Christmas is our most important holiday, and its literature is correspondingly rich for children of all ages, in school and at home, the best lyrics, carols, essays, plays and stories of Christmas, its heritage and holiday travels.
With the rice of decorating for the holidays, many people have been forced to cut back on the number of decorations they use in their homes. With the presents children look to receive today, many budgets barely survive the cost of providing a good Christmas for their children let alone decorating the house and tree in the way they would like. The key is learning to do as our grandparents did and make do with what we have around the house with a few inexpensive additions.
When decorating for a party or just to add some holiday cheer to your home, you do not have to spend a fortune. Many craft fairs and dollar stores have different items you can pick up quite inexpensively. Small wicker baskets and sleighs are available during the holidays and can be quite useful for making inexpensive hand-made decorations. You can line the baskets and sleighs with cotton to resemble snow, add some pine cones, holly berries, and even small pieces of mistletoe to dress it up. If you have extra Christmas balls, some of the miniatures are perfect for this kind of decorating.
You can take unused gift boxes and wrap them as you would if you were wrapping presents and hang them on your walls to give them a Christmas look. Instead of buying an expensive wreath for the front door, buy some red, green, or blue foil Christmas wrap for the door and let the children color some Christmas pictures that you can seal in plastic to protect them from the outside and glue onto the foil. The foil is available everywhere during the holidays including many of the dollar stores in various cities.
One of the best ways to save money when decorating for the holidays is to shop at the end of the season. While you are attempting to increase the size of your holiday decorations, you should shop after Christmas when stores reduce everything from 25%-75% off the regular price. Many stores even have sales on holiday items beginning in October, and you can also find 25%-50% off some of the items you seek. The key to saving for holiday decorating is to make the most of what you can find rather than buying only those things you feel you absolutely must have.
When you buy for a holiday party you are hosting, choose hostess gifts that are practical and inexpensive. Again, the dollar stores are great choices for small items you can make as well as holiday centerpieces and candles for the table. Look for sales prior to the day of your party in order to get the lowest price for your food and other staples you need. Using the end of year sales can help you keep a stock of those things you always use for parties such as holiday paper plates, napkins, cups, tablecloths, and platters for snacks. By shopping for sales, year end clearance, and discount stores you can decorate your home beautifully for the holidays without wrecking your budget.
A few weeks before you plan to decorate, start by looking through holiday items, check lights, ornaments, and artificial greenery. And replace broken or tired looking items. Group items together to determine quantities, and how items will be used.
Planning:
Choose the main focal areas for your holiday decorations, a front entry table, stair landings, banisters, and fireplaces.
Create vignettes by using small trees and arrangements of greenery, berries and flowers.
Inspiration:
Look for inspiring ideas from magazines, TV. Specials, public places such as a hotel lobby. Or your favourite florist. The Christmas décor section of a department store can inspire a look by offering coordinating ornaments and decorations.
Creating a Designer Look:
Whether you choose traditional red and green or something more modern, you can create a designer look by choosing a general theme with a limited palette throughout your home. By adding various elements to ornaments such as flowers, feathers, ribbons, and tassels will create interest and impact.
Do not scrimp on lights. Underlit garlands and trees will distract from beautifully decorated items. Plan for 100 mini-lights on a 6’ garland and 600-700 lights on a 7’ tree.
Hiring a Professional Decorator:
If time or the feeling of becoming completely overwhelmed becomes an issue, you may consider hiring a professional decorator. A decorator can create a uniform look throughout, purchase needed items, create floral arrangements and wreaths and decorate them for you. It will allow you to concentrate on other areas such as shopping and family gathers.
Have Fun:
Now is the time to try something new, show off your beautiful decorations and create a look that is unique to you.
Decorating
Scale down everyday items to highlight holiday décor.
Breakdown the focal areas into sections and plan to decorate over a few days. It prevents too much clutter of boxes and you will not feel so overwhelmed.
Save one day to decorate the tree. Plan to give yourself 3-5 hours to set lights and decorate the tree. Add special touches to your tree such as antique jewelry, dolls, and masks. Balance the décor on the tree with small, medium and large ornaments. Use a beautiful piece of fabric or a retired fur coat as a unique tree skirt.
When lighting a tree, wrap each branch starting on one side from the back and ending at the back on the other side and move to the next branch. It will guarantee lots of lights throughout the whole tree and not just the front.
Reuse and dress up existing vases, bowls and candlesticks into holiday décor.
With the rice of decorating for the holidays, many people have been forced to cut back on the number of decorations they use in their homes. With the presents children look to receive today, many budgets barely survive the cost of providing a good Christmas for their children let alone decorating the house and tree in the way they would like. The key is learning to do as our grandparents did and make do with what we have around the house with a few inexpensive additions.
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