Preparing for Christmas

So Halloween is over, and we're into November, and we all know what's ahead of us... Christmas.

I love paper snowflakes, and even more so when made from fine tissue paper. This fabulous photo is from a great blog I just found called Genine's Art Blog.

Loathe it or love it Christmas is time consuming, and it's best to prepare early. I've set up a little to-do list to start preparing for Christmas, so that Christmas can go smoothly without the stress, and we can just enjoy it. I hope you find some of these points useful - so add those that are relevant to you to your to do list, and hopefully you too can simply enjoy Christmas when it comes around. Even if you're not a big fan of Christmas, it's such a good time of year to sit back, take a look at the people around us and enjoy them in the moment. So start early and enjoy the anticipation without the stress. And in order to do so, here are a few things you might want to start with...

1. First off, set up a Christmas budget , decide what you can and can't afford, and how you'll pay for it. Don't forget things like food, wrapping paper, fuel if you'll be driving long distance and those bags of wood you might be buying for the open fire. Oh, and include the Christmas tree if you'll be wanting to buy one. Christmas will seem allot less fun if you're faced with a massive credit card bill in January.
2. Write down gifts for everyone on your Christmas list. Keep things simple, and look out for Internet sales. Edible gifts are always good, and don't cause clutter for others. Last year my sister in-law made us Christmas hampers warning us in advance not to buy a Christmas pudding. It was great not having to worry about the pudding, and getting such a useful box of Christmassy goodies was such a caring gesture.
   
3. De-clutter before the holidays - this is a great time of year to donate to charities. Get the kids to help collect their old toys that are still in good condition and take them to a local children's home. Stuffed toys without loose bits and old blankets would be greatly appreciated by your local animal shelter.
   
4. If you're into Christmas decorating around the house, decide on your colour scheme now (I'm going for simple red & white again this year) - that way if you see Christmas decorations, you wont end up buying every colour under the sun. I think simple paper cutouts work great. Get the kids to start cutting out paper snowflakes for garlands and stick some up in the windows.
5. Check and update your address book ASAP so that you when you get around to writing your Christmas cards you won't have to phone everyone up last minute to get their addresses... again!
   
6. Look through magazines and cookbooks to see what you are planning for Christmas dinner - those turkeys do sell out fast, so you might want to pre-order by the end of November. If you're not hosting Christmas (count your blessings here) organise to take something along for your host to ease the pressure off them, but don't surprise your hosts with an unexpected pudding when they've slaved away trying to get a pudding made in time, pre-arrange it.
   
7. Start collecting Christmas music to set the atmosphere. I found that playing Christmas music in the background makes it feel so much more like Christmas. Visit charity shops, they are bound to have some Christmas cd's or look out for CD sets on ebay.
   
8. Try and plan for a morning or evening before Christmas to do something charitable - perhaps serving soup at a soup kitchen, taking a dog for a walk at the local animal shelter, or why not take the kids to visit an old age home with some biscuits. Christmas will feel all the better if we take the time to appreciate what we have, and to give to those in need. So go on, get into the spirit of it!

Some inspiration to get crafty...
Recycle old Christmas cards into colourful baubles - this great example is from Junk mail Gems blog
Here's a tutorial on how to make paper snowflakes for those of you who have forgotten, this great diagram is taken from kinderart:

This year I have my mum, also known as Mamma Lalla to those of you who follow her blog, arriving in the UK on the 26th of December. It's very exciting for me to have my mum come and visit so close to Christmas, but we also call her 'the inspector' because my mum can spot an untidily made bed in a second. She'll be inspecting to see how clean the house is too - hopefully she wont be donning a pair of white gloves to check for dust. But I'll definitely have to get the house very tidy and clean... even my wardrobe! Eek, that's one place I'm not great at keeping in order.

So watch this space for a post on organising your wardrobe, because that's what I'll be doing next!

Halloweeeeen!

I get excited about any time of the year that I can decorate the house or do something fun in the village. Halloween is no exception. I know lots of people don't agree with the idea of 'trick or treating' and I know in South Africa it isn't really possible because of the security aspect. But kids love a bit of spookiness, and Halloween can be kept sweet, simple and fun without anything sinister.

In our village here in Oxfordshire there's an unwritten rule that everyone follows- children only go trick or treating at houses they are familiar with, and then only to those who have a pumpkin on display to welcome them. It seems a good and fair rule, because not everyone wants to or can afford to take part. Also if you are uncomfortable with some of the more sinister themes that go with Halloween, stick to creepy crawlies and pumpkin carving, either way it's a great time of year to get crafty.

This is of course strictly speaking not a home keeping post, but I hope you'll enjoy some of the Halloween ideas for your home anyway.

There are some great ideas on the Internet - I particularly like the Martha Stewart website for things to make. If you don't want your kids to partake in trick or treating, why not have a home party with some spooky cakes and decorate the inside of your house? Below are some great spooky food ideas I found. I'm planning a few carved pumpkins, some bat cutouts to go in the windows and a spooky black bin liner curtain at the front door - I'll post pictures at the weekend to show you which of these other ideas I've used.

And don't forget, while you've got your witches broom out, sweep the floor! ;)

Food

These creepy food ideas are just right for Halloween, and don't go over the top in ghoulishness. I love this spider muffin from the 'Not Martha ' blog - it looks fab!

This spider web cake from the 'Dip me in chocolate and call me a dessert' (fab name) blog looks delicious and just the thing to go on a Halloween cake stand. The recipe can be found on the blog.

A great idea from the Martha website - brain cupcakes. Click on the picture to go to the website.And a lovely simple idea to turn innocent gingerbread men into Halloween themed biscuits, from the Tesco website.This would be brilliant for a Halloween party punch - so creepy! See how to make it on the KidsKuisine website -it's much easier than you think!

Decorations

When decorating for Halloween, forget about the plastic toys that cost a fortune, I always think simple silhouette cardboard cutouts on the windows or walls, pumpkin lanterns and some dead branches are effective and look classy. Tissue paper is great for making lots of cutouts to stick up around the house. Last year I used orange tissue paper folded in half to cut out jack o' lanterns to go on the windows. It took about 5 minutes to make loads.

This looks stylish and creepy- another Martha idea of course!

I love how this decoration from the Design Mom blog creates a creepy atmosphere but avoids tacky goriness. And a flower arrangement that can be kept after the Halloween decorations come down - once again an example that simple ideas can be so effective.

For those of you who don't like the creepy stuff, glam Halloween up with these fab glitter pumpkins. I love them, but do be wary that your house will probably end up glittered for life. Glitter has a way of sticking to anything.

This front porch arrangement was spotted by the people from the apartment therapy website in New York. They obviously took Martha's ideas to heart - I like the pink pumpkin!Or how about these silver painted ones -so glam!

And if you're into pumkin carving , you must go see the carved pumkin ideas on teh Martha website here.

Costumes

And my favourite costume ideas for this year are these two.... But unfortunately I'm not prepared to spend loads of money on tulle, so I might just stick to the witches theme for now. What will you be doing for Halloween tomorrow?

And when it's all over... *sigh* I'll be getting out my duster to brush away the cobwebs in the dark corners of the house and on our outside windows sills - unfortunately there's no excuse for cobwebs after Halloween! Have a great weekend.