Tuesday Tips! Christmas!

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. I love the smells and the decorations and even the snow. I love having my family together and I love giving to others. Here are a few things I do to.

Decorating

• Ribbon. I buy 2 in thick ribbon and string it across the top of the windows then pin it up in the middle. I add some snow men ornaments and it looks amazing! I also tie bows with it and put it on all of the door knobs.
• Ornaments make the best decorations. I hang them in my bay window and in door ways. I use coordinating Christmas ribbon to hang them with. My living room is gold & red and my dining room is really bright colors like green, pink & blue.
• Kid friendly decorations. Landon has his own Nativity Scene that I let him put up. We talk about what it means while we do it. I love that he can have a part in this without me worrying if he's going to break something. Mine has been in Justin's family for 4 generations and I would cry if it broke.
• Scents. I love the smell of live trees....but due to a nasty allergy to some unwanted bugs having one would make my life a little harder then it needs to be. So fake it is. But I miss the smell. Now I get Pine air fresheners for my living room! It's not quite the same but it makes it a lot better!
• Make a wreath! or buy one. Lol. Hang it on your door. It will make you smile every time you walk in the door.

This & That

• I love giving gifts. But I hated trying to find the perfect one. Now I've starting putting together baskets! For a family make a game/movie night basket (have a game or movie, add snacks and home made treats). You can do anything!
• Shop online! Not only can you fine amazing deals but right now almost everywhere has free shipping and you can ship it where ever you need it to go (perfect when you don't live right by your family).
• If you have a bunch of people and you want to exchange gifts but don't want everyone to have to buy that many gifts. Have everyone buy 1 gift (we do $10) and wrap it. They need to be unisex if you are doing male & female. Put them all in the middle of the room and draw numbers. 1 goes first. They unwrap a gift. It goes down the line. You can pick anew gift of steal from someone else. Each gift can only be stolen 3 times before it freezes. It's a lot of fun!
• Home-made treats are great to give to neighbors or school teachers!
• Head to the craft stores after the holidays to get tins and decorations for cheap for next year! I have some great stuff to put out this year!