While some are strongly against anything Christmas until Thanksgiving is over, others have been listening to carols while looking at their decorated tree for weeks now. I'm not the person to get ready for Christmas as soon as November hits, but I love the season so much I decided I needed to start decorating before Thanksgiving if I was going to get anything done in time to enjoy it. So I started decorating last week. I unloaded my stuff from last year and came up with a new way to use it, and also added some greenery in the form of a homemade wreath - something I had never done before! We have wild grape vines all over the place so it made a nice form to work with. I need to tweak it a bit if I get the chance as it's a bit droopy. I think I fastened the branches in only two or three spots with wire, otherwise it's just all intertwined with the vines. A quick homemade project, but I was able to get it all done while Adam was napping.
I had been wanting to make a popcorn garland since last year so I popped the corn last week in hopes of finding time to put one together. It needed to get stale so it didn't break when I tried threading it, so um, I guess six days was long enough, huh? I finally got time to sit down and work on it this afternoon. It will be going in the kitchen.
As a mom you can't say no to every possible mess when you have a toddler or child in your care. It could be losing opportunity for a good learning moment or great quality mom-child time. My soon-to-be 15 month old loves to be involved in whatever is going on at the moment. I decided against help with dishes this morning, but thought making popcorn garlands would be the perfect place for him to step in. The worst that would happen is I'd have to sweep the floor, which I'd have to do anyway. He loved being next to me munching away! It was almost lunch time anyway, so we had stale popcorn and leftover pumpkin pie for lunch. Adam did end up spilling half the bowl, but as I said, it was an easy clean up.
And another task of the season ... collecting paper sacks! If I would get plastic grocery bags every time I went to the store, my bag drawer would be overflowing. It seems a waste when there aren't many practical ways to reuse them, other than as liners for the small trash cans around my house. So when I remember, which often happens to be a rainy day, I ask for paper. It makes for cheap but artsy wrapping material! In the two years we've been married I haven't bought any gift paper. If you'd like to add a little pinterest to your Christmas, you should start asking for paper, too.
What's for dinner tonight: Upside Down Pizza Casserole
So you did the popcorn strand! I had no idea you have to let the kernels get stale, but it makes sense. Your gift wrap looks lovely! I used some brown kraft paper on a roll last year, but it was way too thick. Grocery bags would be much easier.
ReplyDeleteYour decorations look great! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Bethany! Did you notice I did end up cutting a branch with red berries? The ones in my yard were hard berries, but full of thorns, so I decided against them, even though they would've made a beautiful addition and color. I found a tree in the ditch across the road with soft berries but it looked cool so I cut a branch to use. I have no idea what kind of tree it is or how long it'll last sitting atop my piano, but I kinda like the variety of seasonal nature it adds!
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