Our community's water main burst, flooding the cable room of the Bellsouth station. 1000 families (including ours) have no phone service, possibly until Tuesday! (This is one of those times when DSL would be so nice.) I am using the library's network this morning, but I won't resume posting until our phone service returns.
It has been strangely quiet at home the last two days. Without phone interruptions or the Internet to distract me, I've accomplished so much! We cleaned out the attic. I completed my gift wrapping and shipping. I DID find those two long-lost Christmas gifts up there. I finally got my wedding dress and various sentimental clothes out of my closet when I emptied it. The repairman is installing the vents for the new ductwork as I write. All in all, a productive week!
I'm blessed to have found so many Christmas bargains earlier this year. I hardly have any shopping remaining. I still get the itch to get out and shop or start some complicated Christmas craft, though. This year I am going to tell myself, now that my shopping budget is empty, I can make as many natural or free Christmas decorations as I like. Over the summer I have collected several used floral baskets with oasis foam inside. I soak the oasis and reuse the baskets for quick gifts of seasonal greens. I have a huge magnolia that needs trimming, so I may try pinning the leaves around a cardboard circle in the style of a roman laurel wreath. And let's not forget about the baskets of pinecones we collected during the windstorm of the century! Surely we can come up with something for those.
Anyone else have a free craft or natural material project you like to do for the holidays?
2 comments:
Meredith, two holiday ideas for you come to mind. One is that I love to make notecards out of old magazines or catalogs. (Gooseberry Patch would work, since I know you've mentioned that before!) There is a photo on my blog. But, take apart one envelope to use as a template and use a full page photo from a magazine to cut out the envelope. Then fold and glue, use a label to put the address on. For the cards, use a smaller photo and glue onto a piece of heavier weight paper. Fold and write a note! Everyone comments that they love getting these cards and they are fun and easy (and cheap!) to make. Libraries often have free magazines too.
You mentioned a natural material project and one of my favorite Christmas decorations is this:
Use a canning jar (any size will work - I like the pint jars). Place a few sprigs of evergreen and a handful of fresh cranberries in. Fill with water. Place a clear glass "flower pot" in the top (usually on sale for pretty cheap at Michael's or comparable - I think they are about 4/$1). Place a candle inside and light. These are very sparkly and pretty! You can dry off the berries, freeze and re-use them year after year.
Enjoy!
Monica
Thank you, Monica! Those both sound like great ideas. I have a huge stack of Country Livings my mom rescued from the recycling dumpster...those full-page photos will make beautiful envelopes!
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