Christmas is so close I can feel it! It smells like cinnamon buns and tastes like snowflakes, and its just 23 days and counting down to the best Christmas in history! Well, recent history. Ok just my personal history, but it still counts. We are having a simple Christmas this year, so far from home. And half our family will be missing on that special morning by the fire. But having half is SO much better than having no halves at all!
We are trying to spend our money wisely, and that means I cant decorate exactly like I would want to. There will be no fluffy green wreaths on the door or over the mantle. No pricey matching ornaments or expensive designer wrapping paper. No gorgeous ceramic nativity, glittering in the candle light. If you make your own decorations, does it count as being "green"? I know the "hey quit murdering the Earth with your mass-produced disposable products" sentiment is old news, but it still is a great excuse to skimp out & save money, even if youre not a total hippie! Im not extreme about it; I still went to the 2euro Store (like a Dollar Tree) and got some cute little birds to clip to the branches, and a pack of red velvet bows that were probably made in China or Indonesia by small children whos homes and lands are being ravaged by conglomerate outsourcing. Out of sight out of mind? But I really love a home-made Christmas, and I mean home made by me, not home-made by the people of the Etsy community (however awesomely talented they all are).
And the best part: home-made decorations can be easy and simple, and even basically free! This year, I spent hours cutting out nearly a hundred snowflakes out of white printer paper. Jon helped me string them together on kitchen twine, and hang them over the windows. Pretty much free decorating right there, especially because Jon got the paper from his work office. I even forced Jon to cut out a snowflake, but it was like the size of a pencil eraser and I "lost" it.
We are spending money for Christmas though, its impossible not to during a holiday, especially one as important as this one! We are buying a tree, and with the ridiculous ceilings we are blessed with here, it will be 10ft tall if I can find one that big! Carrying that up a flight of stairs will be fun for Jon. I let him do stuff like that so he feels involved. We also ordered a 17lb free-range turkey from a local farmer, for Christmas dinner! As I write this, the big guy is probably happy as a turkey can be, gobbling it up on the farm. I hope they're feeding him lots of stuffing. Thats how it gets in there, right?
But even if we didnt have a tree, or a turkey dinner, we will have family. And thats the absolute most important thing to us, no matter what holiday it is. Hope yours is just as awesome!
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