Christmas Holiday Traditions

These days it is quite expensive to buy ornaments or other decorations for the holidays.  As a more frugal and fun option, here are 3 cute ornaments you can make with items you have around your house. 

1. Cookie Ornaments: Use whatever cookie cutter designs you have on hand and bake cookies to hang on the tree. If you do not have cookie cutter designs, no problem. Make your own designs.  For example make pretzel cookies, which can easily be hung on a branch and decorated with ribbons.  Here is how to do it.  Roll out a small piece of your favorite dough to about 3 inches.  Take the two ends and overlap them at the top to form an upside down letter “Q” – or make any loop shape.  After the pretzel is baked, you can tie a ribbon through the hole in the shape of a bow, and hang it on the tree. 

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Not everyone has room for a large tree, real or fake. Is the small space in your home or apartment preventing you from buying a Christmas tree? Here are a few tips on how to decorate for Christmas when you don’t have much room.

There are many table top trees available which can be placed in your home or apartment. Smaller trees, usually one to two feet high, can be put on your kitchen counter top, on your television, or on top of the entertainment center. A tall stand, used for books or other items, would be a perfect place to put the tree. If you have space in front of a window, set the stand and tree there. You can buy snowflakes and attach them to the window, surrounding the tree, to achieve a wonderful effect.

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The Christmas holidays are a wonderful time of the year, especially since the kids are home from school.  Make the most of this time by making memories that will last. Creating Christmas decorations with your kids is a fun time for all.  Here are a few ideas to get you started. 

1.  Tree Skirt: Find some felt material and design a tree skirt. Add beads, bows, sparkles and any kind of trim available to make this a one-of-a-kind skirt. Perhaps the kids would like to add pictures of Santa along the rim of the skirt. Another tree skirt idea would be to make a quilted pattern, using different plaids and solid colors. Decorate it with a fancy trim.  It could not only be used for the tree, but as the base centerpiece for a vase of poinsettias. 

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