December usually brings greeting cards to our homes with messages, pictures and newsletters from friends and family far and near. You can enjoy them for days or weeks by keeping them nearby during the holidays. Decorated open baskets, bins or boxes can hold them in convenient places. They can be opened and propped up on mantels, buffets or tables, or they can be strung across windows, walls or doorways much like clothing on a clothes line (for those of us old enough to know what a clothes line is).
After the holidays, resist trying to keep all of them as they will create a source of clutter in a few years. Save the photos only if you will honor them by displaying in an album, frame, scrapbook or photo box. If cards or letters contain messages you want to save, clip those and donate the fronts of cards to nursing homes, daycares, or other places that hold craft classes or create crafting projects. Keep a check list or data base for current addresses and other notes about the sender and update it each year.
Make decisions now so that when the holiday clean up begins, you will have a plan for those cards.
Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Holiday Decorating Tips
It is very easy to accumulate many holiday decorations over the years. All of these take lots of storage space not to mention the time to unpack and repack year after year.
If you choose not to have door decorations all year, consider changing from wreaths to door swags for the holidays. It is easier and less expensive to find storage containers for those. Try to find decorative elements for them that will pack without damage so it can be hung each year without a lot of fuss.
Ribbons can give a basic theme in your decorating. Purchase one large roll of ribbon that can be tied around candle bases, lamps, door knobs, greenery, etc. This makes decorating simple and effective. If you purchase the rolls on sale after the holidays, you need not save the used ribbon. It is difficult to store tied ribbons so they look fresh again next year.
Purge holiday items that are not your favorites, which you have not used lately, that have no sentimental attachments or that are not in good repair. They take up space in your home and head (remembering you have them and where to use them). Save only those you like or your children will want when you are gone.
If you choose not to have door decorations all year, consider changing from wreaths to door swags for the holidays. It is easier and less expensive to find storage containers for those. Try to find decorative elements for them that will pack without damage so it can be hung each year without a lot of fuss.
Ribbons can give a basic theme in your decorating. Purchase one large roll of ribbon that can be tied around candle bases, lamps, door knobs, greenery, etc. This makes decorating simple and effective. If you purchase the rolls on sale after the holidays, you need not save the used ribbon. It is difficult to store tied ribbons so they look fresh again next year.
Purge holiday items that are not your favorites, which you have not used lately, that have no sentimental attachments or that are not in good repair. They take up space in your home and head (remembering you have them and where to use them). Save only those you like or your children will want when you are gone.
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