Decorating for the holidays doesn’t have to be a chore — or break the bank — if you get creative. Even small spaces can share the joy of the season with DIY projects such as a tabletop or twig tree, Good Housekeeping says. Evergreen garlands and clippings can bring the colors and scent of the season into the home, while a handmade “tree” or card display can serve as the focal point of the room. Don’t forget to place candles and string lights strategically throughout the house to make the holidays feel warm and magical, the story says, even as you keep an eye on your budget.
Tag: holiday tips
Homemade Foods Make Great Holiday Gifts
Having trouble deciding what to give family and friends? There’s one thing you can give that everyone needs and appreciates — food! HGTV offers 45 easy-to-make recipes for mouthwatering seasonal treats that are equally good for entertaining or gifting. Whether you try your hand at toffee or fudge, marmalade or bread, crinkle cookies or caramels, giftees will appreciate the time and effort you put in to create holiday cheer from scratch before devouring your tasty treats. You can make extra so that you have some on hand for those surprise guests, too!
Get Those Holiday Cards in the Mail Now
With just 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this year’s shortened holiday season doesn’t leave much time to get cards in the mail. But you can get them together fast with a personal touch using easy ideas from The Spruce Crafts. Pretty much all you’ll need is paper, a pair of scissors and school glue, plus embellishments such as ribbons, buttons and glitter, to make unforgettable, one-of-a-kind greeting cards to send family and friends. Some can even be printed directly onto cardstock using a color printer, so it’s never been easier to wish people a happy holiday.
Flag Day: Be True to the Red, White & Blue
Flag Day is one of the more under-the-radar (some might say forgotten) holidays of the year. Nobody gets the day off; there’s no cookout; there may not even be a mattress sale. So why do we celebrate it — and how?
The idea of a day celebrating the flag was first suggested by Wisconsin schoolteacher B.J. Cigrand, says USFlag.org, who held the first “Flag Birthday” on June 14, 1885 — the 108th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars & Stripes as America’s official symbol. Appropriately enough, Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia picked up on the idea just a few years later in 1891.
The concept continued to spread among schools and patriotic organizations until 1894, when New York State made it official policy to fly the flag on June 14 and the Chicago-based American Flag Day Association staged events for more than 300,000 schoolchildren. Flag Day was a regular observance by 1916, when President Wilson established June 14 as the day to observe it. An Act of Congress made the day official in 1949 under President Truman.
While still not a federal holiday with a guaranteed paid day off, Flag Day invites homes and businesses to fly the flag (observing official guidelines for display). People can celebrate the symbol by pledging allegiance, singing the national anthem and/or saluting the red, white and blue. Veterans’ groups often add a performance of Taps to their Flag Day observances.
To get kids involved in the event, says Everyday Health, give them craft projects such as decorating patriotic flowerpots or making red, white and blue necklaces and baked goods. You can usually find a variety of craft supplies, kitchenwares and lightly used flags of all sizes on sale at the thrift and secondhand stores supplied by ClothingDonations.org.
As you celebrate Flag Day, remember what the Stars & Stripes stand for: The blue field and stars symbolize heaven and men’s goals, in addition to the current states in the union. Red is the color of valor, and white is the color of purity; the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies. Stitched together, they symbolize the promise of America and the dreams of its many people — truly the fabric of our country.
Controlling Santa’s Christmas Clutter
After all of the shopping, cooking and party planning, Christmas is finally here. It’s time to tear into those gifts and feast on your favorite foods. But along with all of this bounty, Santa (and probably Amazon, too) has delivered a lot of packaging, wrap and other detritus that you’ll want to keep in check as you celebrate the season.
First, you’ll want to have a garbage bag or bin near the tree to collect all of the gift wrap that’s torn-into at this year’s gift unveiling. Americans consume about 4 million pounds of gift wrap every year, or about 333 million square feet — enough to cover more than 5,000 football fields! Collect and recycle it quickly as it gets shred and tossed aside to keep your home clean.
Shopping for all of those gifts undoubtedly produced a lot of empty, utilitarian boxes and bags. If you’re hosting, keep a few of these handy for people to put their new things in to take home after the Christmas party, and recycle the rest. Integrating new stuff is difficult enough; getting it to where it ultimately needs to go shouldn’t be a hassle, too.
The larger the group, the more work prepping and cleaning up from a meal will be. Don’t be shy about assigning tasks before you serve the big feast so that it’s clear who will be setting the table, wrangling the kids, clearing the table, and washing and drying the dishes, flatware and pots and pans. Cut the chaos before it starts!
When you’re done with the holiday, be sure to pack anything you want to keep for next year sensibly, I Love My Disorganized Life says. Purge ornaments you don’t like as you pack them, box your artificial tree with all of its accessories, and — if you’re feeling really ambitious — post printed packing lists on the exterior of all storage boxes.
“When you head into the post-Christmas cleanup with a plan, it is much easier to tackle the mess head-on,” the blog says. “Making sure you are systematic and organized doesn’t have to take a lot of extra time now, and the payoff when you can easily find everything next year is worth it!”
If you find lightly-used holiday decorations that you don’t use or want as you purge, set them aside in a separate donation box and contact ClothingDonations.org for a pickup so that they might bring others joy in the years to come. Your donation will also bring innumerable gifts to the nation’s veterans all year long. Happy Holidays from The Organizing Blog and ClothingDonations.org!