Putting out our Christmas decorations is something I look forward to every year. Thanksgiving night, after the children have gone to bed, I put out our stockings, hang my festive aprons, and clip past years’ art work to the dining room grids. If I’m flirty enough, sometimes I can talk my husband into quietly, sneakily put up the tree (full transparency: it didn’t happen this year – we were all sick Thanksgiving week). Doing it then allows for the full effect to hit my kids when they wake up to our Black Friday tradition of decorating the tree together.
If you were to view just pictures of my house without a break-down, it might look like we’ve spent a lot to make everything matchy-matchy. We haven’t. Our decorations have been built over the years and will be re-used for the rest of our lives (with proper care and fingers tightly crossed). I add one large or a few small store-bought pieces of decor to our home every year.
The first year we bought our home, I scored our giant Costco Christmas tree on marketplace for less than $100. The next year, I added the beaded cranberry garland – it was cheaper to buy and restring smaller strands together so I did it by hand one night while watching Elf. The year after that I scored the velvet tree skirt for two dollars at goodwill and splurged on the candy train and tree topper. This year I’m adding a sprig of fake mistletoe and a felt advent count-down that I plan on embellishing with embroidery. Our ornaments are a mix of gifted, thrifted, and handmade kid crafts; I am notorious for pushing my kids to make their ornaments in my preferred red, green, white, and silver. I’ve never claimed to be a laid-back, perfectly fun mom – those are my friends.
The tree isn’t our only frugal or second-hand decorations. My husband and I have had our red stockings since our first year of marriage – I waited in a line at 3 a.m. to buy them at a Kohl’s Black Friday sale. Our kids’ stockings were bought the year Emma was born, also on sale. All of our artwork is made for my husband by the kiddos – it’s what he asks for every year. The lego sets that sit on my countertop are part of my son’s stocking, doubling as a gift and a memory for years to come. My mugs and aprons are mainly thrifted or gifted.
It would be easy to get rid of past decor and start anew every year – the big box stores certainly make it cheap and disposable enough. Heavens knows my brain would love the temporary dopamine from all that acquiring. But the nostalgia of seeing the same things year after year can’t be bought. A Ralph Lauren Christmas doesn’t hold a candle to the sentimental handprints on my wall and the toothless, grinning baby faces on my tree. A beige and gold set-up from last year would leave me wholly dissatisfied if my measuring stick was the newest trends. Your home doesn’t need what the advertisements claim it does – a new theme, color scheme, or tree style won’t make or break your holiday. To bring back feelings from childhood stick to what worked then: personal touches, homemade pieces, and a theme of “this is what our family likes and brings out every year”.
Disclaimer/Reality Check: I’m sure my Christmas decor isn’t to everyone’s taste and that’s ok! This column will be about motherhood, parenting, and homemaking for the most part. It’ll be about the holiday season for the next few weeks: decorating, elf on the shelf, what activities and traditions are worth the time, and focusing on family. Most importantly, I don’t ever want this column to make another mama think she’s not doing enough. If you’re reading this, I want you to know that you are, you’re doing great, keep it up. Sing it with me: no-one is doing it allllll!
