The year my granddaughter was born I was hoping we would have a white Christmas, but it was just like this year. I remember setting the table with white linens, white candles, and crystal. I sprinkled fake snow, white confetti, and rock salt around the center!
That year my decorations were natural items: birds, apples, wreaths, pine cones, etc.
My natural themed Christmas tree.
Another year that I used a lot of natural decorations was when I decided to have a “Fruitcake” tree.
Beaded fruit, pine cone “nuts,” cranberry garland, and drizzled with icing made from a lace garland.
The snow came the day before our Christmas dinner.
(I realize everyone is laughing because very few send Christmas cards anymore.)
I remember one year my family sent 100 cards. Most of them went to the children at the daycare where I was the bookkeeper! I send, or pass out, only a box of cards now.
My friend, Bev, showed me how she makes ornaments out of Christmas cards. She made several for the residents of the nursing home. These boxes can be used as small gift boxes for a ring or earrings. They would also look cute as “presents” under a mini tree.
Christmas Card Ornaments
For the top box, choose the center and measure out 2 1/2 inches in all directions. This will give you a 5″ square. The measurement from corner to corner is 7″ or 3 1/2″ from the center.
Cut out square.
Draw a line from corner to corner to find the center.
Fold points into the center of the box.
On the sides, fold again and cut to the fold about 3/4″ from edges.
Fold top and bottom side again.
Form box by putting flaps from top and bottom under folded sides.
For the bottom, choose the center and measure out 2 1/4″ in all directions. The box will be approximately 4 3/4″. Corners approximately 3 1/4″ from the center.
Follow steps 2-7.
For an ornament, punch two holes into the sides of one corner on each box.
Put boxes together.
Thread ribbon through the holes and tie a knot.
4. Fold points to the center.
5. Cut sides to 2nd fold.
6. Fold top and bottom, putting flaps on the sides.
7. Fold sides over flaps from top and bottom.
Ornament or gift boxes from Christmas cards.
For another way to recycle those Christmas cards, see here.
My theme this year was “Angels We Have Heard on High.” I shared my Christmas tree, front door wreath, and a few vignettes in my kitchen at the beginning of December, see here.
I added three of these angels that Paula gave me to my tree.
My sister, Michele, gave me this crystal angel. I found a place for her on an end table.
I folded my Christmas throw to place the angel in the center of it.
The stockings hang from the window between the kitchen and living room. I stick my Christmas cards around the molding of the window. I made the kissing ball out of a gold Ornament, tulle and white ribbon. Two angels corralled my Christmas CD’s and camouflage the back of the microwave.
The newest angel, given to me by Aunt Nellie, sits in the china cabinet.
I pinned an angel pin on the towels in the upstairs bathroom.
Laura made the ornament in Girl Scouts and Derek made the handprint wreath in preschool.
Luke made this stamped burlap bag in preschool. He wore the Christmas fabric scarf in one of the Winter Programs.
I placed my manger scenes on my bookshelf this year. Sometimes, I put my Christmas Village on top of it.
This angel is sitting on top of a rolled up Christmas Tree Skirt. I put a cardboard tube and a dowel inside to support her. She makes a simple centerpiece.
I was in 1st grade when Mom had a home jewelry party. It surprised me that she bought this gold arrow pin encrusted with diamonds. I thought we were really rich.
The next day, I asked her about it. She told me it was not gold or diamonds. I still loved seeing her wear it.
Mom raised us to put more value on people than things. I taught my children the same. One day Mom and I were talking about things we valued. I said I would love the gold arrow pin with the “diamonds” in it!
She laughed because she knew its true value. Then she taped it to my birthday card and made my day! The “gold” has worn off in places. But when I look at it, I see mom in her suit ready for church.
I saw a video of Kirk Cameron giving a homemade pot pie to his grandmother. She gave him an old hammer wrapped in red tissue paper. He teared up because it was his grandfather’s hammer, who passed away 2 years ago.
Christmas is Friday and you may think it is too late. But is there something that will be priceless to one of your relatives or friends?
The pin my mother bought at a home jewelry party when I was a child.
I loved the quizzical look on his face as he opened it.
“But, Mom,” he exclaimed, “I already have this DVD. Remember Scott made one from the videos that year.”
I smugly replied, “Scott didn’t make a video of the second year!”
Our oldest son sang in the National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Chorus. He auditioned and sang 2 years in a row. The first year he sang a solo! Sadly, that song was not put on the DVD they sold.
The second year, he was in college when the convention rolled around. I have to admit, I was nervous! My boy drove from college in Springfield, MO to the convention in Louisville, KY. (He was smart. He timed it to drive through St. Louis early Sunday morning.)
He had not cut his hair while he was in college. Those long, curly locks looked like Charles Ingalls, on “Little House in the Prairie!”
His wife told me she had never seen him with long hair. His 3-year-old daughter had a hard time finding him in the chorus. We made it a game, “Where’s daddy?” I sat by the TV and pointed him out every time he was on camera.
That was ten years ago and she said he looked different!
Mom was here on a day my granddaughter was visiting and we watched it again. We had to play the game because she still kept missing him.
I was lucky to have a friend with equipment to convert the videos to DVD. He made copies for my mom and my husband’s dad along with our copy. For those of you who do not have such a talented friend, try Legacybox. I read about them from a post at The Inspired Room.
I had the idea a few weeks before Christmas 2 years ago. I had to wait a year until my friend had time to convert it. You might have to wait until next year to give this gift, too.
I got the idea at our family reunion when my aunt and uncle brought boxes of apples from the tree on my grandparent’s farm. I had read about making mini pies as gifts and even printed off the labels from the website recommended by debtproofliving.com.
I should have read the directions!
The jars I bought were pint-sized and I needed 1/2 pint-sized jars. I had the worst time pressing that dough into the side of the jars. I had to roll out the first one three times before I got it right.
Pie filling made of apples from the tree on my grandparent’s farm.
Since I used the wrong size of jars, I didn’t have enough pie dough to make a top crust. I made the crumb topping for the pies.
I put labels with the baking directions on top of the jars.
I used my grandmother’s pie dough recipe, see here, and apples from her tree. I gave my friends a taste of my childhood.
..my 6″2,” eyes of blue, blonde headed, drummer, jock husband had a tear in his eye. It shocked me as I rocked our 3rd baby and the 7-year-old and 5-year-old crowded around him to see what was in the box.
He looked straight at me and I could see I touched his soul with this gift. Did I spend a ton of money?
No…but I did go to the jewelers.
His grandfather had given him a pocket watch with a chain. He put it in his vest pocket when he wore his suit, but it had stopped working. I took it to the jewelers and paid a small fee to have it repaired. I wrapped it up and gave it to him as a gift.
When he first opened it, he seemed confused…until he heard it ticking. It was like I gave him a piece of his grandfather back.
Sometimes the best gift is to make something old new again, to repair or refurbish something precious with a lot of memories tied to it.
There’s still time to bring a tear to your loved one’s eye.
I rolled green ribbon around an empty cardboard tube to make a green tree inside of a glass tree candy jar.
The things I can create with stuff I have already on hand amazes me. I had a roll of green, velvet ribbon that I used to make curtain tie backs. I used them some years but decided they didn’t fit my theme this year.
I have a glass Christmas Tree candy jar that I wanted to display between two of my angels. It got lost in front of the blue wall. Rolling up those curtain ties made a nice green tree.
I taped the ribbon fragments together before I rolled them around the cardboard tube.
The ribbon made the candy jar stand out.
I wanted more gold in this tablescape and found a piece of gold, lace ribbon that was just the right length.
My green runner was too long, but that was easily fixed by folding part it under. We don’t need to shop for items in the store, check out your storage area for ribbons and lace!
We were at the State Fair watching the men carve tree trunks with chain saws. It was amazing the things they made.
Mike, a Pioneer seed corn salesman, casually turned to Ken and said, “I wish I could get one of those ears of corn.” Mike’s birthday was a few months away and Ken tucked that wish back in his memory.
When he got home, he did this…
I’ve never done this before. I made 2 prototypes and learned the techniques.
I moved cement pad from the base of the tree, cut down the tree, and cleared area. 1) Define a process. 2) Develop a plan. 3) Work the plan.
A box elder tree that needed cut down. I have a plan!
Start carving.
Continue carving!
Sanding.
Draw out the final layout.
Cutting out the final design.
Detailed Sanding.
Dried the wood in the basement with the wood stove and then filling in the cracks.
Seal the bottom and add adjustable legs to ventilate the base from ground moisture.
It took 3 coats of paint.
After it dries, sign and date your piece.
It took one month from start to finish.
Timeline to make corn …
1 day cut & clean up the tree
10 hours to Carve out
4 hours to Sand
3 weeks to Dry wood
4 hours of Painting
If you have a piece of dry wood, you could finish one of these before Christmas! Who knows, you may have a hidden talent. You never know until you try.
“Charlotte worked at finishing the last of the costume pieces: putting the foil from gum wrappers over the cardboard crowns of the wise men…we strung popcorn and the berries from the mistletoe Joe shot out of the trees…cut a star out of two paper sacks and…colored it with red and blue pencils. We glued the two stars together and then Joe lifted Milo so he could ease the star down onto the highest point of the tree.”
The Angels of Morgan Hill, by Donna Van Tiere
We do not have to work as hard on our Christmas decorations as our great-grandparents did! They made all of them and used candles as lights. We also do not need to spend tons of money every Christmas.
I spent my allowance on these ceramic feathers that clink when they bump together.
I found these angle bells, 2 rolls of tulle in the wedding section, and 10 feather boas at Dollar Tree.
My daughter made this macrame angel in Girl Scouts.
I have a box of angels and used them in my decorations. I hung this cookie cutter on the tree.
My sister, Michele, gave me a box of decorations. I was thrilled when I found these ceramic angels in that box!
These napkin rings were in the box, too. Since there were only four, I hung them on the tree.
I nestled a few angel tree toppers in my tree to fill in holes.
This angel is in memory of my dad who wore monkey socks. There is an ivory angel in memory of David’s mother on the tree, too.
I added a few gold instruments that I thought an angle might play!
The tree skirt is quilt batting. I draped tulle over the top of it. I wrote a post about the fake tree trunk in “Christmas Music.”
When my youngest son, Derek, saw the finished product he exclaimed, “Mom, is that your robe around the bottom of the tree?” (He gets his sarcasm from me.)
I saved one feather boa to use on my wreath. I tied together some scraps of tulle I had on hand and added an angel ornament, gold bows, and gold bells.
frugalfish.org 