The Everything Family Christmas Book (60 page)

If your evergreens have been outside in freezing temperatures, give them at least overnight to warm up before you start working with them. Be sure to wear old clothes while handling them—their sticky resin comes off your hands readily with soap and water, but it can stain clothes.

Stock up on that traditional Christmas plant, the poinsettia, in the shades that you love most: bright red, pink, and even white. Place them anywhere or everywhere! Try using the rule of threes for best effect: Grouping three plants together rather than positioning them by themselves can create an impressive display. And don’t forget a sprig of mistletoe in a handy doorway (this might be a good time to go artificial, however, as natural mistletoe can be quite challenging to obtain).

Drying Fruit Slices

Drying slices of fruit, such as apples, lemons, and oranges, fills your home with a seasonal scent and leaves you with long-lasting ornaments for decorating wreaths, swags, and other natural arrangements. Cut fruit into slices about one-quarter-inch thick, and bake in a single layer at 300°F for about six hours: Watch carefully, to ensure they don’t crisp up.

Sugaring Fruit

Sugaring fruit lends a translucent quality to the brilliant reds, golds, and greens of apples, lemons, oranges, and other brightly colored fruits, making them a lovely addition to wreaths and centerpiece arrangements. Either dip the whole fruit into, or brush them with, a lightly beaten egg white, then roll in fine sugar and let dry.

Remember safety: Uncooked egg white can carry salmonella, so wash your hands and utensils well. As with other natural materials, including berries, keep your decorations out of reach of pets and children—and keep in mind that this fruit can’t be eaten later.

Evergreen Chair Swag

Any surface is game for decorating, even the backs of dining room or kitchen chairs! To make an evergreen swag, tie a couple of cedar boughs together at one end (it often looks best if the boughs reach from the top of the chair back to the chair seat). Tie a ribbon around that end, leaving enough ribbon to tie the swag to the chair back. Tie another length of ribbon in the same place, to create a big bow, and use glue or wire to add cones, fruit slices, berries, or cinnamon sticks just below the ribbon.

Yule Log Centerpiece

All you need for this fast, easy centerpiece is a small log (a piece of firewood with its bark still on might be just the ticket, but because of the glue, don’t burn it later) and some decorations: greenery, cones, berries, fruit slices, or cinnamon sticks. Start by gluing the greenery to the log. Different textures and shades of green look great together, while holly berries add lovely color. Then glue cones, fruit, or cinnamon sticks in place: You’re done!

Home Decorating Ideas—Step by Step

Home decorating doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Depending on the time you have available, you can make lovely seasonal trimmings and fun, child-friendly decorations without breaking the bank. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Christmas Piñata

It takes a little work—and some cleanup time—but your children might enjoy taking whacks at a real piñata for the holidays, in keeping with Spanish tradition. This comes with a warning, however: This isn’t a Christmas Eve craft; start early, as the papier-mâché piñata must dry for several days!

To make the piñata (try a donkey or a reindeer), combine one-third of a cup of flour with one-quarter of a cup of water; transfer the mixture to a plastic bag and knead it to make paste; then transfer it to a large bowl. Blow up a balloon and dip strips of newspaper into the paste and use them to cover the balloon.

Roll some newspaper into a tight ball to form the donkey’s head, and tape it to the balloon. Cover the head with paper dipped in paste. For ears, use cardboard from an egg carton or a box. Tape them on the head and cover them with paper dipped in paste. Use four toilet-paper rolls for legs using the same method and tape them to the body.

Let the piñata dry for two days. With poster paints, paint with bright colors, adding eyes, mouth, and other elements to the head; let dry. Once it’s dry, gently cut a small hole in the top of the body section (you’ll pop the balloon in the process) and drop-in candy, gum, party favors, and other treats. Use string or yarn to hang the piñata from the ceiling.

Fabric Gift Wrap

Using inexpensive fabric instead of paper for gift wrapping not only saves you money (look for fun Christmas prints to go on sale starting with Boxing Day), it’s also good for the environment: Fabric gift wrap and bags can be used again and again, reducing the amount of paper going into landfills.

You can get very fancy with fabric, but you don’t need to, especially if you’d like to avoid sewing. Instead, use pinking shears (scissors with a jagged edge) to create a cut edge on the fabric that won’t need to be sewn. Wrap the gift and secure the fabric with ribbon (a little tape can help hold the fabric in place).

To make bags, fold the right sides of an appropriately sized piece of fabric together and sew along three edges, leaving one side open to create the top of the bag. Turn right side out, hem the opening (or use pinking shears), and tie with ribbon.

Festive Pomanders

Cloves, cinnamon, oranges … all the scents that say, “It must be Christmastime.” While traditional pomanders were entirely covered with cloves, your fingers and your schedule will be thankful to discover that covering the entire fruit is not necessary for impressive results—you can also try covering only part of the fruit, creating patterns instead.

You’ll need one fresh, unblemished piece of citrus fruit (such as an orange, lemon, or lime) and approximately one ounce of whole cloves, plus a nut pick and enough ribbon to wrap around the fruit twice and form a hanging loop.

Start by running the ribbon around the fruit horizontally and then vertically, then hold the ribbon ends together at the top with a straight pin or two. Insert the cloves into the fruit in the areas not covered by the ribbon (use the nut pick to create holes for the cloves if it’s easier this way). Using a glue gun, fasten the ribbon on the top, adding a hanging loop and, if desired, dried flowers and a bow.

Glass-Ball Ornaments

Why not decorate glass balls to hang on your tree or elsewhere in your home? Clear glass ornaments can be bought in craft stores, and they leave lots of room for personal touches. You can remove the top from the ball and fill it with potpourri, sparkles, dried flowers, or a mixture of all three. Put the top back on and tie with a colored ribbon or lace. You can also paint the glass with acrylic paint or use glue to write a name in fancy script and then sprinkle glitter over the glue.

To make the ball even more special, put a small favorite memento or a picture of a loved one inside. Making personalized glass balls for a child’s first Christmas—and successive ones—is also a nice idea.

Homemade Garlands

Looking for an easy, fun way to spruce up your tree? Make a garland. All you need is a long piece of string, yarn, or twine, a needle, a kitchen, and your imagination. The classic, of course, is the popcorn-and-cranberry version, but garlands can be made out of anything: candy, raisins, or dried dates alternated with buttons or colored squares of construction paper. Kids love to help, but watch those needles! Best to select large, dull ones, and to monitor children closely during this activity.

Homemade Wrapping Paper

Making homemade wrapping paper is another fun—and inexpensive—decorating activity. You will need: one large roll of brown or white paper; crayons; markers; paint; pictures cut from magazines; glue; glitter; lace; ribbons; and anything else you think might look good as wrapping! Roll out some paper, then cut in appropriate-size sheets to wrap specific gifts.

Try to personalize your sheets; if the person who is to receive the gift is a sports enthusiast, for instance, adorn the wrapping paper with images clipped from
Sports Illustrated.
It’s best to carefully glue the decorations and let the paper dry rather than using transparent tape. Customized wrapping, when prepared carefully, adds an unforgettable personal touch to gift giving.

Wreaths

Wreaths are very easy to build using a variety of frames, and they present virtually limitless possibilities when it comes to decorating. If you have Virginia creeper, willow, or grapevine available, you can weave the strands together in various shapes to make a wreath frame. You can also buy frames like these at craft stores, along with those made from wire and Styrofoam.

For an evergreen wreath, tie small branches of evergreen to the frame with wire, building around the wreath until it’s as full as desired. Decorate with berries, pinecones, or a simple ribbon. You can also create wreaths using evergreen cones instead of branches.

Fabric works well, too. The simplest designs might involve wrapping ribbon or fabric strips around a Styrofoam wreath form. Or, cut out thin strips of material (try 1½” wide and 4” long) using pinking shears. Using a knitting needle, force the center of the material into a Styrofoam form: It will take quite a long time to fill the form, but the effect is nicely three-dimensional.

You might also want to try wreaths that feature dried and polished (lacquered) fruit and nuts; just fruit; just nuts; candy; cotton balls; dried flowers; berries; holly; bows; or any combination of these.

Christmas Crafts for Children

Children remember Christmas as a time filled with special activities and unexpected treats. Working on holiday craft projects will give kids something to remember—and make your house look bright and festive.

Since safety can’t be stressed enough, here’s another reminder to always carefully monitor crafts activities involving children and scissors. Safety scissors for all of the following activities are a must, and so is supervision.

Clothespin Ornaments

Clothespin decorations, made from long, thin, wooden clothespins with a knob on top, are always a hit on Christmas trees, and can be great fun for kids who want to make something for the holidays. Using pipe cleaners, red and green felt, cotton balls, paint, glue, and glitter, they can let their imaginations run wild. Try making reindeer, toy soldiers, and even Santa.

Construction-Paper Snowflake

The snowflake has a long and distinguished history in many families, and it’s colorful and very easy to make. Just fold colored construction paper into quarters (or more times, depending on how intricate you want the snowflake) and cut little designs in the paper along the folds and edges. Loop a string through one of the holes and hang. (You can also tape the flakes to a poster or wall; they’re beautiful on their own, too.)