Decorating for Christmas? Or not?
By Elizabeth Prata
Do you decorate your home for Christmas? If you have children, it’s one of the best memory-makers. My mother was a master decorator. She had an eye. She could go into the backyard (or more likely, send us teenagers out there) to pick some twigs, branches, leaves, anything, and she’d fashion it into something gorgeous.
We enjoyed seeing the same Christmas tree decorations year after year, and talk about events related to them.
In my thirties, my husband and I traveled to warmer climates for the winter, usually bugging out by December 1, so it didn’t make sense to decorate.
By then we had a cat, and she was a psycho cat to boot, so it provided another reason not to decorate. After that when I lived on my own, I still had a cat or two, so decorating was out of the question. One year, I tried putting up one of those block cubes with lights in them wrapped in a ribbon with a pinecone and some ornaments on top. My cat ate the pinecone and the ornaments. After that he didn’t seem too interested in the ribbon and avoided the glass so I kept using that for my decoration. Notice, the singular aspect of that word.
Then I moved to this place where I’ve been for a couple of years. No cats. New place and it was larger than my old place. I had fun scouring vintage stores for decorations. Hunting for them was fun. Like this one which is one of absolute favorites. It’s a 1950s-style elongated ornament. It’s heavy ceramic, and hand painted. Each of the 9 I got has a bird on it, and one has a birdhouse. I have never been able to find the origin, I believe they are vintage but I haven’t found the artist or anything similar to this piece.
This is how I displayed them, on a wrought iron thingie.
But there comes a time when perhaps the drive to decorate for Christmas wanes. There could be a lot of reasons. Maybe you travel. Maybe you’re living in a smaller space, or a space that doesn’t allow a lot of decorations. Maybe you live alone and just don’t want to. Or don’t have the energy or strength to drag the bins and boxes down from the closet or up from the basement. Maybe you’re grieving. Or a spouse is in the hospital and you’re spending all your time there. Could be a lot of reasons you don’t decorate for Christmas.
AND THAT IS OK.
I eventually decided this year not to go the full monty like I have the last 2 years. I put out a nativity and a white twig wreath outside on the stoop. Inside, I pulled out my other nativity sets and some candles. That’s it.
I love my nativity sets.
The glass figure nativity, I just put out the three main people- Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. The wooden one in the middle is made with popsicle sticks! Its simplicity and roughness appealed to me. The lit one is a favorite I got last year. The crystals are Swarovski and the lighting is just perfect. The alabaster white one I put outside because it’s hardy and can withstand wind and rain. The three wise men ornament swings to become three-dimensional.
I know the Wise Men didn’t arrive on the blessed day of Jesus’ birth, but I like that scene depicting them far away and arriving later. But they were still an important part of the early years of Jesus because of their monumental effort to look for Him, travel a great distance to Him, and to worship Him abundantly.
I kept out my battery operated candlesticks and I’ll put those in the window. So some nativities and a few candles will do it for me this year. The kids at school begged for some decorations so I’ll bring a small tree and some twinkle lights I got for cheap.
How is your decorating going this year?
Below are pics of last year’s Christmas decorating:
