Looking at the forecasts with a few more chances of snow flurries, I think we may have a white Christmas. Not a lot of snow, but still it will look white!
Today, I have a couple errands to run but the rest of the day will be decorating. We brought in the decorations stored out in Duchess this past weekend so I can finish.
I plan to share some inexpensive decorating ideas for Christmas over the next week along with some ideas about taking care of yourself during the holidays.
First up is a magazine or paperback Christmas Tree form. This decoration is made by folding each page into a tree shape. First fold is bringing the top right corner down to the inside edge of the page and crease...
The second fold is to bring the outside folded edge again to the middle edge of the page and crease...
For the final fold, turn the page to the left and fold up the part of the page sticking out at the bottom and crease...
Continue folding each page until all the pages are folded. Then pull the front and back cover together and secure with glue, using clips to hold until the glue dries. If the cover pages are heavy, you may want to cut them to shape instead of folding. This is how it looks...
You may want to paint the edges or, if the it looks nice leave it as it. You can also cover it with green fabric and decorate it as a tree. Or use it as a base to make an angel by covering it with write fabric or felt, adding wings and a head. Or a Santa by adding red fabric or felt, some fabric arms and a head with a hat.
Second, do you enjoy the smells of Christmas? Well, making cinnamon ornaments will keep the smells going throughout the season and they are easy to make.
The recipe is one cup of unsweetened applesauce, one and one-half cups cinnamon (find the really cheap cinnamon) and two tablespoons glue. Mix together until the dough forms a ball. Place between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll out to 1/3" thick, remove top piece of plastic wrap and cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Poke a hole in the top of the shape. Bake in a 200 degree oven until ornaments are hard and dry, about two and one-half hours. You can decorate or just add a ribbon to hang...
So, as with the Thanksgiving Holiday, you need to take care of yourself during the winter holidays but especially ones that include special meals, get-togethers, gift giving, baking and decorating (which is about all of them to one degree or another).
With only about a month between two holidays, there's a lot of extra preparation, more money spent and loads of stress on folks to get it all done within a budget that is extremely tight during normal months.
Yes, you need to work on all the preparations and your budget BUT this is the time you really need to focus on yourself and your needs. First you need to rest and relax without feeling guilty. If you are at your 'wits' end, it will be hard to work on any preparations, so taking time to rest is important.
Today, please add time in your daily schedule to for you-time. You don't need to take a nap but you can if that's what's needed...but maybe just take time to read a book or magazine, or watch a favorite movie or even daydream. Time to replenish yourself physically, mentally and even emotionally. It's a very good thing especially during the holidays...
Have a wonderful day...
Talk with you tomorrow...