Well I took the day off today. It is my own personal mental health day. I did a “poor” job with protein intake yesterday, and felt like I just needed a “me” day. You all know what I mean.
I should be working on the last two chapters of my book, but I got distracted with life and other stuff and decided I would make a post before I dove back into it.
I have been reading posts, hearing people share their thoughts, lives, and experiences. I had to laugh today as I read someone’s post about their "DH". Now, the assumption is that we should all know what a DH is. I notice most of the ladies refer to their DHs. So, I started laughing because I thought, “Oh they are referring to their Dear husbands”, but then after I heard what some of them had done I was sure it was their "Damn husbands", but then I read another post and thought I was way off base and that they must be referring to their "Dead husbands". As I delved deeper I actually thought I was completely off base and people were referring to their "Divorced Husbands". So you can only imagine how much I laugh when I read a post from you all talking about your DH. I replace DH with one of the options listed above and realize how comical it really is.
Me me me.. and the Christmas tree. Hey, lots of you seemed to like our tree, so I thought I would share a little bit about some of the special things we did with the tree that gave it that “Extra” punch. First thing is to remember to keep a frugal mind. Frugal is “rich people” talk for “cheap”, at least that is what a rich friend told me. *wink*
Okay, you may have noticed we have large poinsettia flowers in the tree. First of all they are plastic. Now you can run out to Michaels, Garden Ridge, Wal-mart or whatever and buy the individual flowers and pay entirely too much, or you can go out and purchase whole fake plastic Poinsettia plants. We use them around the house at the holidays because.. Honestly people.. How many years in a row are you going to try to keep that live plant in the foil wrapped pot alive after the holidays? Plant Killers! (Oh I am sure some of you are successful.. whatever!) But back to business…
Purchase the whole plant, and purchase MORE than you need. Then plan on destroying a few of the plants by cutting off the plastic flowers and nestling them into your tree. I am including a few pictures to show my point. Now you “frugal planners” (aka cheap organized people) should definitely watch for these to go on sale after the season and buy them up. Throw them all in a garbage bag and into the attic, and next year you will be rewarded with inexpensive dust free decorations. Please note that you can use any type of flower for this, but think big and bold and try to stick with Red or White. If you have a white Christmas tree then consider flowers that are Green and Red.
Just a note, the same idea applies to the fake Cranberries. They were sold in big gaudy bunches and we trimmed off what we needed and nestled them into the tree as well. It makes for a really nice effect. You will see it in the pictures.
Some of you may have also noticed the pretty ribbons in the tree. It’s a classy touch, but learn this lesson. Drape over and do NOT try to thread into the branches. Let the big bear save you lost of headaches. The ribbon does not like to be fooled with too much. Less is more.
I see lots of people purchase candles that can be a bit overwhelming. I am sure some of those people are you. We have all done it. Walked into a store smelled pumpkin and after 2 days of it at home you are ready to throw it out the window. Several years ago I got turned on to oil made by Aromatique. They have one oil in particular that I like at Christmas called “The Natural State Tree”. I used these awesome rings that have a canal in them. You place the rings on top of the light bulb in a lamp. Then you add a few drops of the oil to the canal of the ring, and every time the light comes on it emits the smell. I like it because it is not overwhelming and there are no candles to have to worry about. People ALWAYS think our tree is real because it smells just like a nice pine scent from a fresh tree. It is nice because I don’t have all the pine needles to mess with afterwards. Now you people with real trees need to know I appreciate the real trees as well, but this is my work around. They have several oils with nice fragrances. I will make this suggestion; look for the ceramic or stone type of rings. The metals ones do not absorb the oil, thus do not carry the smell as long. Their web page is
www.aramotique.com
Now let me share a few other little things since I am on a roll here. Ten years ago I had one of those wood bead seat cushions. You can see a picture of what I am talking about by clicking on the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...e=UTF8&index=0
Either way, it lasted like two years and one day beads started coming off. It was a pain, and I decided to get rid of it. It was coming up to the holiday season, and the craft side of me said, “Hey, maybe I can do something with these beads…” So I asked Dave if he had some really heavy fishing line. Which he did. (He can be so butch! How many gay hunters do you know.. nuff said!)
So being that my kids were 5 and 8 at the time I gave them the chore of getting all those beads off of the seat cover and into a bucket. They loved it, and it kept them busy. We then strung all of those beads on the long fishing line to make a very long string of beads. I purchased some Ritz dye from the local grocery that was a cranberry color. I mixed up the dye and dropped the threaded beads into it. I came back the next day, hung them outside to dry, and tada!! I have festive beads on the tree. It was easy, fun, and frugal. I have included a picture of them. Keep in mind buying individual beads at the craft store can be expensive, so this was perfect, and no one can believe the story when I tell where they came from.
We made these as a family, and every year the boys comment on it. Memories are what make the holidays so special for me.
So there you have it, from my house to yours. Martha Stewart has nothing on me.. well except the felony.. oh and the money, and the show… Well, you get the point.
I am going to close for now, because my book is calling..saying, “Write me.. Write me.. finish me.. finish me.. I will sell.. you will see..”
All the best,
Jeff
DH and Holiday Decorating with the Bear
Awesome sharing Jeff... My tree is still hibernating under the stairs... may set a record for the latest we've put a tree up!!!
Gobble-Gobble!
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