Frugal tips

I follow a few blogs and this was posted recently and I thought it was a thrifty way to be simple and tasteful at Christmas. I especially loved the apples & oranges baked and in my case I will fill a small vase with them along with a little scented potpourri and cinnamon and add a 1.00 strand of white Christmas lights to make my own scented warmers! I’m not so hot on the idea of the tree skirt, or the overall idea of #3 – I prefer my tree w/o a lot of bulky garland. I usually garnish our tree with floral inserts with pine cones and sprigs to make it a little earthy. We are decorating our tree this coming Friday!

Keeping Christmas Decorating Affordable

We all love the look of a beautiful home decked with boughs of holly for the Christmas season, but we don’t all have the budget it takes to create the elaborate displays we see in malls and magazines. By keeping it simple and choosing carefully from nature, the grocery store, and the dollar store, you can create a holiday home resplendent with the sights and smells of Christmas without breaking the bank. Here are ten simple ideas to get you started:

1. Take a long walk in the woods with a good pair of hand sheers and a large carrying sac. Cut down a mix of long and short pine tree branches and holly branches. Collect fresh pinecones off the forest floor. Use this collection to dress mantles and windowsills. Fill the space above your kitchen counters with a mix of Christmas greenery. Create garland and wrap railings using thin green craft wire.

2. Accent greenery with pine cones, ribbon, and votive candles placed in small Mason jars. Anchor the candles in cranberries. Tie thin ribbon or twine around the mouth of each jar.

3. Cut apples and oranges into thin circles and dry them on cookie trays in the oven at 200 degrees. Remove them from the oven when they look slightly shriveled and lightly browned. Create a simple garland for the tree by stringing them on twine. Alternate them with cranberries. Add pine cones, bows, simple dollar-store wooden ornaments, inexpensive red balls, and white lights for a beautiful, old-fashioned Christmas tree.

4. Hot-glue ribbon on one half of one side of a long strip of brown paper. Artfully wrap the bottom of the tree for a matching tree skirt. Check office supply stores for corrugated brown paper for a more unique look.

5. Wrap a few empty multi-shaped boxes with brown paper and ribbon and scatter them under tree.

6. Fill a large clear bowl or a tall vase with small green pears, cranberries and a few sprigs of holly to create an inexpensive centerpiece for your dining room table. Rest it in a blanket of greenery.

7. Use some of the greenery you collected to wrap an inexpensive wreath frame. Attach small pears to the wreath with green craft wire. Purchase a small stuffed Partridge at the craft store and attach it to the wreath with wire. Finish off with a simple bow.

8. Buy 6 to 12 paper white bulbs at a nursery - usually about a dollar each. Plant them in mason jars half filled with just about anything – potting soil, small stones, fake cranberries, craft moss, potpourri, (about six weeks before Christmas.) Trim the jars with ribbon or twine or drop them into small brown bags rolled down to the mouth of the jar and tied with twine. Scatter them around the house, and nestle them into greenery. Keep them moist and on Christmas day they will not only look beautiful, but they will fill every room with their sweet smell.

9. Buy a battery operated or electric candle for every downstairs or front window in your house. They sell these at most dollar stores and they make both the outside and the inside of your home look warm, inviting and festive.

10. Hang a sprig of Mistletoe in your front hallway or on the doorframe to the living room and take advantage of its presence whenever it pleases you.

Today I am thankful for Melanie, who manages to make me laugh even when I think it’s not possible!!