Announcing: Creating Christmas, a Frugal Celebration of the Season

I think blogger hates me... I can not get that badge to work... I thought it was just the day, but have tried for several and still not working. I tried:(

Every year we buy a live potted tree, then plant it in our yard. Altho we have lived in several houses over the 26 years of having the kids at home, we enjoy going back to them and seeing how big the trees have gotten. We also celebrate 3 kings day. The kids would put out hay for the camels and small gifts homemade for the wise men. Of couse the reindeer got carrots and Santa got cookies that the kids would make. What fun it was when they were little and still lived at home. They are all grown now, but I still get a live tree and the kids come at thanksgiving and dig the hole for it. It gets planted after 3 kings day.

The Christmas season booms at our home. We decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, then my 5 yr old son enjoys a day with dad stringing up outside lights while my daughter and I take care of perfecting the inside.

We celebrate by doing something different each week. This year it was applesauce cinnamon ornaments, angel ornaments, and loads of baking cookies, breads, truffles, etc. This year we tried a new cranberry and orange scone recipe that was out of this world wonderful.

Those are beautiful Vera. My SIL makes her own yarn and knits with it. She makes such beautiful stuff. I tried crocheting once. It made me so stressed, that I tossed the entire idea. Can't stand to scrapbook either. LOL

I'm knitting scarves for my Mother in Law, Sister in Law, and niece. I have plenty of yarn, and the scarves work up fast. I also have some hats that I've knitting during the year to gift too.

We don't have cable, and RARELY watch TV. The economy in our area is still actually very good right now. It's amazing when you aren't reminded minute by minute of bad things the world seems much better.
We only check the radar if the dog barks to come in. He hates storms. People constantly talk about the bad weather in the area (because the local news people love to "track storms"). We enjoy more pretty days because we haven't seen the weather report and just go on what the weather is like outside. They predicted snow the other day and a school system closed based on the prediction. It was 62 degrees. Granted, it did snow, but not enough to close schools.

The same is true for the economy. I know it is bad in some areas and even in some jobs in this area, but in other areas, it is not. And even if it was as bad as my TV watching friends think it is, I wouldn't need a news guy to tell me.

Now don't think I am unfeeling. I know there are people who are unemployed and I know gas and food is more expensive now than it was a year ago. But it's still now where near as bad as it was in 1929 and yet my friends who watch the nightly news really believe things are that bad. I say turn off the TV. Life is much better in the real world than the news people want you to think. Bad news sells.

For Christmas, I didn't do anything any differently than I have any other year. I made a budget, and a list and decided what I was going to buy and bought it. I am trusting God that he will provide for us in the new year.

We are planning on having our annual Goofy Gift party this weekend. The more hideous the better. LOL Most of them will be under $5. We will probably throw the gifts away. We buy them from thrift stores that use the proceeds to help others, and we get more than $5 worth of fun making fun of the stuff we find. (Apparently some people never throw anything away )

Mom will come for Christmas Eve so she can see what Santa brings, though the kids are 11, 16 and almost 18 and Santa mostly brings things they shopped for themselves. Looking forward to putting Jesus in the manger, and watching some Christmas videos with the kids.

Oh, and did I mention we have more family time without TV?

We keep the commercial, gift-giving Christmas to a real minimum. No kids mean no decorating, really, although I have a spot I've cleared off to display cards we've received and stocking stuffer gifts in reusable holiday bags.

I make Wassail. There are lots of recipes out there and everyone can find their own favorite. The spicy scent fills the whole house, and provides a warming drink that can be made non-alcoholic and each can add to it according to their preference. My simple version is equal parts apple cider and real cranberry juice in which a cloved orange or two and a spice bag containing cinnamon and cracked whole nutmeg is stewed slowly over very low heat (a crock pot works, but I usually do mine on the stove because it releases more scent). I like mine with a shot of brandy or dark rum.

This is the first year in the past seven that I've had an oven suitable for making fruit cake, which used to be a real tradition...but I didn't get a sufficiently early start to make it this year (my version takes months to prep the fruit as a rumtopf first). I might experiment some and see if I can come up with fruitcake cupcakes or cookies instead. That will be interesting.

The Wifester and I enjoy making ornaments each year. We try to make one that seems to represent the passing year and the others are always typical candy cane shapes, snow men, wreaths, etc. I like using the salt dough recipe from my childhood, it's a great modeling component, and you can really sculpture a nice ornament with it. My acrylic paints work beautifully once they've been baked, but so do cheap craft paints. A quick glaze and a touch of glitter, a hit with the glue gun, and viola' inexpensive, beautiful home made ornaments that have real meaning to us.