It's that time of year again -- time to dig out the mostly gaudy Christmas decorations that I keep buying at 90% off after the holidays. I do have a few tasteful items. Every year I have visions of a peaceful, tasteful winter display, but I always end up overwhelmed and overstimulated.
I blogged about the Christmas explosion three years ago here: http://sherriequilt.blogspot.com/2010/12/tis-season-to-be-gaudy.html
And yet, I keep buying more stuff every time I give stuff away! I just bought these birds and berries on Saturday -- because they were 70% off. I went to Michael's JUST to buy holiday paper and ended up spending $138 on a bunch of stuff. The kid with his mom in line behind me yelled, "Wow, she's spending a hundred thirty eight dollars!" In my defense, I returned half of it the next day when I came to my senses.
So, most of the old stuff stays in bins, but I do use my homemade pillow covers and table toppers.
This 15-foot-long snake of a garland must be 15 years old. We hung it every year in Illinois around a huge mirror over the fireplace. We don't have a fireplace here, so I think I'll hang it on the front porch.
Above is an example of how I try to keep it simple and natural (even though that's a fake tree). Below is how it gets out of control.
Then my Quilting Arts came in the mail and I took a little break before tackling the forest of trees that I cluster around the house with little white lights. I do like that part.
It took fortitude to fluff out all those trees and replace burned out light strings (how does that happen when they're in storage?), so I powered on through the afternoon with Jimi Hendrix and coffee.
This is the sleigh that I put on the front porch as a decoration. My husband came home and yelled, "You have a package." He presented it to me because he truly thought it had been delivered to us, bless his non-decorating soul. I have to clean up the contents because when you're standing at the door looking down it's a mess:
Speaking of taking down decorations, my STITCH art quilt group started the day taking down our library display. Two of the husbands helped and all 50-some pieces came down in 15 minutes! Thanks, guys.
Have a colorful day!
4 comments:
Oh, my! You do have the decorating bug! I confess I do very little decorating any more, but did manage to put up a couple of Poinsettias and a tabletop tree I have had for years... I am thinking about buying a Rosemary plant to have as a 'living' tree... I can add it to my herb collection after Christmas! I do love your Sleigh... very festive!
When you are young and have all this energy, you tend to get overly excited about holidays. But most of us slow down as we age and eventually become minimalist in this area. So enjoy the holidays while you are still young enough to carry it off.
First of all - yes, Jimi Hendrix is the perfect music to get you in the holiday spirit...my word, girl!
Second, I'm patting myself on the back for so quickly getting my Christmas card list organized and have already posted the first few - way ahead of schedule for me. You remind me, though, that I have 2 big bins of Christmas decorations (even though several moves have honed down the excess) and I know there are things in there I should give away (like when am I ever going to put lights up outside again). Is that what's keeping me from cracking them open and putting up some holiday cheer? Perhaps, but probably it's just I'm so focused on these cards...
And finally - isn't it amazing how fast a quilt exhibit comes down compared to the time it took to put it up?
$138 !! Well, it IS easy to get carried away with all the stuff out there these days. I've learned over the years to just "try" to stay away from the stores. BUT you do such beautiful things with the decorating, I see! It is the season on joy, so just continue to enjoy yourself.
LOVED the part about your husband & the delivered package...
Right after Christmas each year, I now sort out & get rid of any decos I didn't use & think I need to - that way, they aren't there to tempt me the following year. We've reached the age where I think it's prudent to slooowly begin downsizing, so this work for me. What Judy said resonates with me.
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