Christmas Decorating

Christmas dinner in a winter wonderland

This is my craft room (which is actually the official dining room in my home.)  This room has been changed from dining room to craft room, and for Christmas dinner, turned into a dining room once more.

Fake ribbon 

These are our "12 Days of Christmas" gifts - each day for the 12 days before Christmas each of my children get to open a small gift (crayons, books, lip gloss, small plastic toys, etc. - and yes, most of these gifts (excluding the lip gloss) DO come from the 25 cent table, or even the free box, at garage sales) I figured out that this year our 12 Days of Christmas Tradition cost me just under $10.00 out of pocket - and that was because my daughter received some make up items new from the store.  To make it extra special each gift is wrapped up in a box and paper, and usually, ribbon.  BUT - we have 3 cats who like to eat, and then throw up, ribbon.  This year my kids and I sat down with the wrapped boxes and some red markers, and drew bows right on the boxes - and I think they look so cute!  you could not really tell until you were up close that the ribbon was not real.  We will do this again for sure.

Crepe Paper Ribbon - and a furry cat!

I just love this picture.  This is our big boy - isn't he handsome?
  look close at the ribbon on the gifts - it's crepe paper from the dollar store.  The cats chew, and throw up, regular ribbon, they don't like the crepe paper - and, bonus, it's super cheap, and is so wide and beautiful on the gifts!

White Lights and Paper Chains

This was truly magical at night.  All it took was a few strands of white lights (the outdoor kind with the larger bulbs) a couple of extension cords (so we could have it flip on and off with the wall switch) and white paper chains that the kids and I made on a snowy day.


This is also a good "before" picture of the tv cabinet and corner shelves, to go with my new posts of them painted black, which you will find below, or over to the right in the "Family Room" section of my blog.


PS. - I noticed the tree looks a bit tilted - it was not - but I may have been standing crooked when I took the picture!  It happens!