Of Christmas trees and decorations

[celticdragonfly]

So I'm thinking about Christmas decorations. We are usually not the type to do it. And we're definitely not going to be doing fancy outdoor lights or anything. But since we are staying home this Christmas, and Maggie is SO fascinated by decorations at this age, I'm thinking it'd be nice to do a bit more than we usually do. Which is, honestly, nothing - we do have a little bitty fiber optic artificial tree we've used a couple of times, with just a few ornaments, but that's it.

We're getting a wreath, probably for the front door. Inside of the front door - because it's one of those marvelous balsam ones that smell so good, and I want us to enjoy the smell.

I'm thinking about a tree. We could put a real tree in the kitchen bay window area, maybe put down an old area rug that's in the garage from the old house so we could sit in front of it on Christmas morning without being on the cold hard tile. But rather than get a cut tree, that's been dead for weeks and sheds needles and dries out and is a fire hazard, I was thinking maybe we get a live fir of some kind, actually in a pot, and we can either set it outside in the pot come spring, or even yank out Dooley the dead white oak tree from the backyard and plant the evergreen instead. Wouldn't be such a fire hazard and mess, and hey, ecologically nicer and all that. I've been searching about online trying to find out more, and called Calloways, a local nursery. Sounds like they have some. I'm not sure how much cheaper it would be to get a dead one, but this sounds more agreeable. We may go out later on an Expotition to check them out - although taking me out shopping is a bit fraught these days, the littlest trip wipes me out so badly.

Anybody have any particular advice on live trees in pots or where to go or anything like that?

Then I need to think about decorations. I'm not even sure if I *have* a tree skirt. And we'd want ornaments and lights and such. I knew just where to go for that sort of thing in the Redondo Beach area in California, I'm not sure where to go for nice stuff here. Any suggestions, o local people? One advantage of probably getting a smallish live tree (as I'm sure a BIG one would be really expensive), we'd need less ornaments...

I've also thought about a creche or nativity set - when I was a kid, we had a really cool one, wooden blockish pieces that all fit together like a puzzle into this wooden case, that when the pieces were taken out, you stood it up and it was the stable in the background. That's something that it wouldn't be a problem if the little ones got hold of a piece. Never seen anything like it since then, though.

I am going to have to curb my enthusiasm a bit, as anything that involves me having to go out and run around shopping isn't going to work well. My Christmas shopping this year is going to be almost exclusively online, I just can't manage going to stores.

Comments

Home-done Christmas ornaments

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Bake cookies, enclose them in plastic wrap, and hang them on the tree.

Pop popcorn and string it.

Make paper chains.

All of these are things that Maggie can help with, and maybe Jamie can help select which color comes next in the chain.

Re: Home-done Christmas ornaments

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

You can also make tree garlands out of sparkly fabric.
Tissue lame is really cheap at Hancock's.

Re: Home-done Christmas ornaments

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

oh, popcorn and paper chains, yes, must do that!

[castiron.livejournal.com]

One idea you might toss around is just getting relatively cheap lights and ornaments this year (a string or two of bulbs, and a couple boxes of $2/dozen ball ornaments) from the grocery store or discount store, and then get just two or four nice ornaments -- one for each of the kids, and maybe one each for you and Karl. Next year, get three/five more nice ornaments. As the balls get scruffy-looking, toss them because you didn't pay much for them in the first place; over a few years, you'll have a good collection of really nice ornaments that didn't break your budget. Later when Maggie et al. have moved off to homes of their own, you can give them "their" ornaments.

(Yes, this is pretty much what my family did; how did you guess?)

Would Maggie enjoy cutting out paper snowflakes? Or is she not yet old enough to handle reasonably sharp scissors?

As for that creche, I'm 99% certain I've seen one like it... [noodles on bookshelf] Better Homes & Gardens Treasury of Christmas Crafts and Foods. Plain pine cut into general shapes with little holes drilled in for eyes, pieces all fit in the stable.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I don't think Maggie's up to snowflakes yet, but the above suggestion for paper chains sounds fine.

Last year she did help me make little pipecleaner-and-bead cross ornaments that we gave away at church, we could do something like that again.

[marymont.livejournal.com]

Decorations: Michael's. JoAnn's. Both are already discounting their ornaments, and they're much spiffier than the ones at WalMart. And you can really go to town at Garden Ridge. Buy just the basics this year, and build each year by getting a special few.

Tree skirts are overrated, and with your new-found quilting skills, you can make one for next year if you decide you want one. Especially if you get a live tree, you can really ruin a tree skirt quickly if your watering goes overboard.

Live tree vs. once-live (cut) tree vs. fake tree: Live trees are marginally ecologically better. If you don't plant it in the ground fairly quickly after the season, it will be a dead tree anyway--those take a lot of water, shed needles anyway, and are violently expensive unless you get a tiny one. Cut trees are grown specifically for the purpose, and you can grind them up for mulch after the season. They shed needles even if you keep the water level up, and they fall over if a child or a cat tries to climb them unless you have a really good base. Fake tree: lasts for years for about the same price as a cut tree of the same size, doesn't need water, but doesn't have the fragrance--overcome this by burning scented candles or hanging the fragranced ornaments I saw in a catalog just a couple days ago, or by hanging other greens (roping, wreaths, whatnot).

Don't forget the stockings! Garden Ridge for those.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Stockings they have. I did handknit stockings for both kids the year after they were born. Maggie's is green and red and white, you can see it in pics here:
http://www.kelthaven.org/baby/Dec03/2003-12-25.html
I think the pics from the next Christmas got lost when I changed servers, sigh. Jamie's is shorter but wider (after the grandparents complained that the neck of Maggie's was too narrow) and is cream white in Aran work, lots of cables.

The only times I've gone into Garden Ridge I've had the screaming heebiejeebies from too big too crowded too loud out out out now.

Michaels, though, yeah. There and Hobby Lobby, that's where I need to go. That'll do.

[marymont.livejournal.com]

Oh, one more thing--you can go oldy-timey and string popcorn or cranberries! Then, after the season, take them off your tree and put them outside for the birds.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Do you know for sure that no one in the family is allergic to fir/pine stuff? It took Mom years to figure out that Dad and I were allergic to them, which is why we always seemed to hsve colds for Christmas. :D After that, we got an artificial tree, and my sinuses were *much* better during the holiday season afterwards.

Of course, just wandering around a bunch of fir and pines ought to tell you that, and it just doesn't seem to bother most people.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I know there is SOME kind of pine-related tree that grows around Natchitoches that we react to. However, we had balsam roping and wreaths in high school, and Mom had a Norfolk Island pine in a pot she used to bring in and decorate yearly. I'll double-check with her what species was the problem one.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Correction, Mom said it's pecans, not pines.

She said she used to have some trouble with natural trees, but recommends taking them outside and powerwashing them with a hose first - she says she's read it's all the pollen and dust that they bring inside that's the problem, and washing them down fixes it.

[jenna-thorn.livejournal.com]

Don't bother with a tree skirt. Surely you've got a length of red or white or silver or green or gold fabric laying about. Eventually, you'll make one and love it, but until then, piffle.

It's a shame Garden Ridge sends you over the edge, as I rather like their ornaments and their prices are acceptable.

You might also think about making bread dough ornaments, but I think this year the kids are too young. But stringing popcorn is a cheap family project that can stay on the tree with you plant it, making birds as happy as people. 8-)

My two cents