My parents got wind of my household's Christmas tree debate and delivered a potted tree two weekends ago. That settled that. We decorated with the few lights and ornaments we had on hand, and made a few more to fill the admittedly greater amount of branches than we've ever had to adorn.
My son and I stamped pine trees on the craft paper that fills my monthly delivery of Shaklee products that I'd been saving since October; not a penny was spent on wrappings and trappings, nor did a tree tumble down needlessly just to cover our gifts.
My son's class had a gingerbread house-making party and it was definitely one of the highlights of the past week for both my son and I. My son loved it so much that he put in a last-minute request to Santa for another gingerbread house and, despite kits being sold out far and wide, one of 'Santa's helpers' unexpectedly left one on our doorstep this morning. Santa sure is resourceful!
We started our day today by taking toys and clothes to Salvation Army, filled its middle with a stop at a sports bar to watch the Jets get defeated, and ended it with a simple dinner and batches of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I guess you could say my focus has been much more on the "merry" than the "Christmas," a tradition I plan on keeping next year and beyond.
Our homemade wrapping paper project
A real Christmas tree without the landfill guilt!!
Gingerbread house-making party at my son's class.
One of my crafty gift efforts: a magazine rack that I sanded, painted and decoupaged with images of owls.
Our homemade chocolate chip cookies, thanks to Teddy S.!!