Decorating a large tree for the first time? You may not have enough ornaments to really fill it out. To bring it a distinctive, homey look without spending a lot of money, make your own ornaments. Try making some of the creative ornament suggestions from Woman’s Day such as mini snowglobes, glittery jingle bells or yarn-covered Christmas stars. You can also use “found” twigs to form ornaments or print whimsical family photos to hang on the tree. And you live near the ocean, all you need is a drill and some string to hang oyster or beachcombed shells on your tree.
Tag: holiday decorations
Declutter and Donate Ahead of the Holidays
The holiday season is upon us, and every day, retailers provide us with new incentives to spend: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday. But those thoughtful gifts and doorbuster deals can take up lots of space in an already-cluttered home. That’s why you should do a pre-Christmas decluttering, knowing that new stuff is on the way.
If you have children, there will definitely be new toys coming into the home, and you probably have huge bins of old toys that have fallen out of favor or are no longer age-appropriate. Sort through them and get rid of anything broken or incomplete, The (Mostly) Simple Life suggests, and involve kids in the process. Set aside anything that’s useful, but unused.
As you decorate the home, edit out any decorations that no longer make the cut. Whether it’s burned-out string lights, cracked tree ornaments or dog-eared accents, trash anything that’s too worn to fulfill its function. If something is still functional, but you don’t like it or want to display it, set it aside in a “donate” pile.
This is also an excellent time to take stock of cold-weather clothing. If there are items you won’t be wearing due to changes in sizes or styles, set them aside. At the same time, you can sort, streamline and store your summer wardrobe. Was there anything that spent the entire summer in your drawers and closets? Get rid of it!
Put all of the still-usable castoff decorations, games, toys, sweaters, swimwear and other goods into boxes and bags, and visit ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup. If you do so quickly, many of your unique but unwanted items will be available to other shoppers for purchase ahead of Christmas — making their holidays happier.
When you give away the stuff you’re not using, it can find a new purpose with someone else who can really use it. They might actually want and enjoy that stuffed Santa or those old baby clothes. And when they purchase those disused items through a thrift store supplied by ClothingDonations.org, they will help fund veterans’ programs throughout the year.
An added bonus? After you’ve done a thorough, pre-holiday decluttering, you’ll know better what you and your family need to buy new — making holiday shopping and gifting easier. Better still, you’ll have reclaimed the space in your home you need to store it. Start decluttering today — Giving Tuesday — for a happy holiday season!
Shop the Thrift for Super Bowl Party Decorations
Dollar and thrift stores can be great sources for Super Bowl party supplies such as felt, pennants, gently used serving dishes and more; you might even find a lightly used NFL jersey at the thrift that was donated to ClothingDonations.org. At the very least, you can pick up paper plates, napkins and plastic flatware in the team colors — red and blue for the New England Patriots and green and black for the Philadephia Eagles — for your guests to use as they gorge themselves on chips, dips, nachos and wings from a thriftily-crafted buffet of favorites.
The Declutterer’s Favorite Day
For those engaged in the war on clutter, today is the biggest holiday of the year. True, it may be better recognized across the pond, and there’s a good chance you won’t have the day off to celebrate. What’s more, the occasion’s original purpose isn’t even what many Americans think it is.
But the day after Christmas — Boxing Day — is truly a fantastic time to take inventory of all of the new stuff that came into your home during the holidays, begin taking down those festive decorations, and decide what you want to keep and store.
The likeliest explanation behind Boxing Day’s beginnings says that British nobles and merchants would reward workers for their year of service with boxes of food on the day after Christmas.
Today, however, the event is commonly assumed to be the day people should box up the special-occasion china, Christmas ornaments and gifts that accumulated under the tree, and clean the house for everyday use. And why not? Entertaining guests and exchanging gifts produces both trash and treasure.
Whether you can start your Boxing Day decluttering on Dec. 26 or not, start with the trash. Gather up the shredded wrapping paper, kinked ribbons, dog-eared greeting cards, cracked ornaments, chipped glassware and burned-out lights … and chuck ’em. You don’t want to be unpacking anything less-than-perfect 11 months from now.
Next, there are going to be things you got (or got out) for the holidays that you just don’t like enough to pack away for next year: holiday supplies, mismatched decorations, tired tchotchkes and other odds-and-ends. If they no longer fit your holiday scheme and are in decent shape, don’t hide them in a closet! Bag them up and set them aside.
Now, find a place for the new stuff you and your family received as gifts. Is any of it an upgraded version of something you already have? You really don’t need that old sweater, extra gadget or whatever it is — you have a brand-new one! Bag or box those duplicates.
Note: If you really want to do a complete post-Christmas cleanup, get rid of two things for every new thing you try to integrate into your home and life, says Zen Habits. That way, you’ll get to enjoy your new gifts in a more clutter-free environment.
Finally, take all of those bagged and boxed castoffs and contact ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup. Within weeks, a truck will take those unwanted items off your hands, and they will be resold to support programs benefitting veterans.
And that will help make the New Year happier for you, your family and those who served. Here’s to a clutter-free 2018!
The Best Ornaments Are Do-It-Yourself
Store-bought ornaments are fine, but there’s no substitute for decorations you make yourself. Woman’s Day offers 32 clever ideas for do-it-yourself ornaments made out of family photos, felt, cinnamon sticks, toothpicks, yarn, paper, twigs, and other easy-to find materials. Even better, bake up a batch of salt dough ornaments for the family to decorate, and have each artist etch their name and the date on the back. Every time you unpack them from the holiday decoration box, it will inspire the warm feelings of Christmases past.