Christmasâdecorating, golden accents
Gold, one of the gifts the wise men carried to Bethlehem, is a symbol of generosity. For a truly glittering Christmas, recycle miniature pumpkins and squash from Halloween and Thanksgiving by spraying them with gold paint. Place them throughout the house or use them in centerpieces, garlands, and topiaries. Gild walnuts, pinecones, bay leaves, dried flowers, apples, pomegranates, pineapples, lemons, and grapes. Wear gloves, a dust mask, and glasses or goggles when spraying.
Christmas
âdecorating, greenery kept fresh
Evergreen garlands and wreaths generally last about
3 weeks. To keep them fresh, mist with water regularly.
Christmasâdecorating, guest bath
Decorate the guest bath by wrapping a tissue box like a gift.
Christmasâdecorating, guests
welcome
Keep one room sparkling clean just for visitors, and don't let anyone in it before you have guests.
Christmasâdecorating, luminaries in bags
Line your walkways, drive, or other areas on your property with luminaries made from small paper bags filled with 2 inches of sand and a votive candle in the center.
Christmasâdecorating, luminaries in punched
tin
Make punched-tin luminaries that can be kept from year to year. Rinse out an opened tin can and pinch all rough edges flat and smooth. Fill the can with water and freeze. When the ice is solid, remove the can from the freezer. Using a permanent marker, draw designs around the sides of the can, making sure the design does not come within 1-inch of the bottom. Place the can on its side on a towel so it won't slip. With a nail and hammer, punch holes along the design lines you've drawn. Leave about
½
inch or so between each punch. Then allow the ice to melt and drain. Place a votive candle in each can and line your sidewalk. Light your luminaries every night during the holidays.
Christmasâdecorating, mantel
To make a gorgeous, yet inexpensive, holiday display for your fireplace mantel, lay sprays of evergreens across the top, thread a string of white lights on green wire through them, and nestle some of your collectibles, ornaments, or pinecones amid the greens.
Christmas
âdecorating, miniature live tree
Decorate a tiny live tree with fruit ornaments and ribbon, and set it on the kitchen table or countertop.
Christmasâdecorating, mirrors for an extra glow
Hang extra mirrors around the house during the holidays to add to the glow and multiply the special effects of your decorations.
Christmasâdecorating, mirrors with tinsel garland
Wrap a tinsel garland around the bedroom or bathroom mirror.
Christmasâdecorating
, mistletoe
Hang mistletoe in every single door of your house.
Christmasâdecorating, outdoor broom people
If you're fresh out of oversize Santas for the yard and have no snow for snowmen, make a family of “broom people” to warm the hearts of passersby. Stick the broom handles into the lawn. Cut white circles for eyes from felt or white cardboard, and draw black dots in the center for the pupils. Glue these “eyes” to the bristle part of the brooms. Top with real hats and earmuffs; tie scarves around the handles. Let your imagination go wild, not your pocketbook.
Christmasâdecorating, outdoor light ties
Tie outdoor lights to trees and posts with strips cut from the legs of old pantyhose.
Christmasâdecorating, photo display
Display some great family Christmas pictures from years past in a special photo album or in a location where your family and guests can enjoy them.
Christmasâdecorating, pinecones
Fill a basket with large pinecones interspersed with
clusters of delicate baby's breath, then thread tiny white lights throughout, hiding the wires under the pinecones.
Christmasâdecorating, place mats
Make special holiday place mats with your kids. All you need is a box of crayons and light-colored vinyl place mats. Help the kids draw holiday designs and write their names on the place mats. After the holidays, simply wipe the mats clean with a good all-purpose liquid cleaner. Some traces of color may remain, so make sure you don't use your very best place mats.
Christmasâdecorating, plants with twinkle lights
Put white twinkle lights on your large houseplants.
Christmasâdecorating, refurbish
what you have
Instead of buying new decorations, have your kids help refurbish old ones. Give life to a wreath by adding fresh ribbon. Glue glitter on faded ornaments. Or go back to old standards like popcorn-and-cranberry garlands and construction-paper chains.
Christmasâdecorating, serving tray decoupage
Decoupage a serving tray with last year's Christmas cards (they're probably sitting somewhere in a drawer), and set it on your coffee table.
Christmasâdecorating, snowflake made from a
berry basket
Cut the bottom out of a plastic berry basket, trim into the shape of a snowflake, coat with glue, and dip into glitter.
Christmasâdecorating, soaps
Make holiday soaps with appropriately shaped candy molds. Melt a bar of soap in the top of a double boiler (20 to 30 minutes at medium heat) until it's soft enough to pack into the molds. Spoon soap into molds, freeze for 20 minutes, and pop out.
Christmasâdecorating, Spanish moss
Cover the mantel or a wide windowsill with a bed of Spanish moss. Tuck in ivy, holly, pinecones, and a few gilded nuts and fruit.
Christmasâdecorating, tablecloth
Sew small brass jingle bells along the hem of a tablecloth.
Christmas
âdecorating, table napkins
Dress up your napkins by tying each with a ribbon and a small bell.
Christmasâdecorating, window
art
Let your kids turn one of your windows into a holiday canvas. Mix powdered tempera paints (available at an art supply store or crafts store) with clear dish-washing liquid until they acquire the creamy consistency of house paint. If you have premixed tempera paints, stir in a bit of the dish soap. Use individual plastic containers (margarine tubs are perfect) to mix and separate the colors. Cover the window sash with masking tape and spread newspaper on the surrounding floor. Then let the window artists take it away. If you are using a large picture window, help the kids design a mural. Dad and Mom can get into the act by painting the hard-to-reach sky. Windows with individual panes offer a great opportunity for a Christmas montage of a snowflake, a bell, candy cane, Christmas treeâone design per pane. When it's dry, the paint will come off easilyâjust wipe with a dry paper towel.
Christmasâdecorating, window frames
Surround window frames with greens and strings of outdoor lights.
Christmasâdecorating, wreath from backyard
greenery
Make a wreath from greenery you find in your own backyard and let the children decorate it.
Christmasâdecorating
, wreath with gumdrops
Make a gumdrop wreath. Either buy a Styrofoam wreath or cut one out of a piece of Styrofoam. Use toothpicks or stiff wire to attach red, white, and green gumdrops to the wreath, or use multicolor ones to resemble Christmas tree lights. Top off the wreath with a big bow.
Christmasâdecorating, wreath with popcorn and cranberries
Bend medium-gauge wire into the shape of a heart or wreath, then thread with popcorn or cranberries. Top with a bow.
Christmasâdigital year in review
A digital record makes a very special holiday greeting or gift. Put together a movie with highlights of the past year. You might include birthday celebrations, summer vacation footage, sporting events, a school play, and other special moments from throughout the year. A festive way to end the video might be to gather the family and sing, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” A movie like this will bring joy to faraway family members long after Christmas has come and gone.
Christmasâdinner
by candlelight
Buy a big candle for the dinner table. Light it every night at dinner during the holidays.
Christmas
âdinner by tree light
One night a week during your family's holiday season, eat dinner by the light of the Christmas tree.
Christmasâdo for others
Actions speak louder than words, so go caroling at a retirement home as a family; make sandwiches for the homeless; or take toys, clothes, and canned goods to a charity. Or take a nondriver to the grocery store, the mall, a holiday service, or local Christmas program. Involve
the kids in the entire process so they understand, and doing good deeds becomes second nature.
Christmasâemergency cleanup
Try this “5-Minute Emergency Cleanup for Unexpected Guests.” Put all the clutter from the floor and tabletops into a large box or basket. Hide the basket or box. As you circle the room collecting clutter, use a rag to wipe up any crumbs or obvious dust. Pick up newspapers and magazines and neatly stack them on the coffee table. Spray some pine- or cinnamon-scented room freshener. Pick up any towels on the bathroom floor. Hang some, throw the rest in the tub, and close the shower curtain. Wipe the sink. Pull out a special basket (prepared ahead of time and stashed under the sink) with a couple of pretty holiday towels and guest soaps tucked in it, and place the basket on the vanity. Turn off a few lights (to hide the dust) and sit in the glow of the Christmas tree.
Christmasâempty
nester blues
Feeling a little blue because your nest is empty this year? Invite a family with young children to a tree-trimming party.
Christmasâgather one day later
If you find it nearly impossible to gather together all of your married children and their families on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, consider a new tradition of spending the day after Christmas together. This will give you an additional day to prepare, and because this day is typically free of other intrusions, you'll be able to spend a more relaxed time together.
Christmasâgently used toys for children with
none
Every Christmas Eve, have your children leave some of their old toys near the fireplace for Santa to take to children who don't have any toys. Once the kids are asleep, hide the toys and then deliver them to a worthy charity later.
Christmasâgoodies for local heroes
Take a basket of holiday goodies to your local fire or police station.
Christmasâjingling shoes
Tie jingle bells to everyone's sneakers.
Christmasâlearn it in many languages
Teach the family to say “Merry Christmas” in another language each year.
Christmasâminiature trees
Make miniature Christmas trees for a great holiday family activity. Glue the wide ends of sugar ice cream cones to a large sheet of cardboard. Spread green icing over the cones, and then decorate them with assorted candies such as M&Ms, gumdrops, and Life Savers. Let the kids come up with new decorating ideas for the “family forest.”
Christmasâmovie night with friends
Invite friends over to watch classic Christmas movies like
Frosty
the
Snowman
,
A
Charlie
Brown
Christmas
,
How
the
Grinch
Stole
Christmas
,
Rudolph
the
Red
-
Nosed
Reindeer
,
It
'
s
a
Wonderful
Life
,
Miracle
on
34th
Street
, and others. Refreshments can be as simple as eggnog and Christmas cookies.
Christmasâneighborhood story
Instead of sending holiday cards to your neighbors, start a new tradition: Organize the Bentley Street Christmas Book (use the name of your street or neighborhood). Begin a story (fictional) in a notebook, attach a routing slip with the name of each family on your street, and then send it around the neighborhood with directions for every family to add a sentence or paragraph. When the story comes back to your family, add an appropriate ending. Edit as necessary, print out the story on your computer, and assemble it into
a simple book, one for each family who contributed. Have a neighborhood get-together and read the crazy tale. This will bond your neighbors and promote goodwill all through the year.
Christmas
âphoto testing
Taking family photos? Do some trial runs first with an instant or digital camera. Wear different clothes and makeup colors to see which you like best.
Christmasâphoto
tradition
Every year, take a holiday photo of the family in the same pose in the same spot.
Christmasâreading
at bedtime
Instead of reading the usual bedtime stories, during the month of December read to your children about Christmas customs in other countries, and include other wonderful holiday stories available at your local library.
Christmasâreading Christmas cards
Reserve opening the day's Christmas cards until dinnertime. Read the messages aloud and remind the kids how the family knows these people.
Christmasâreading party