Holidays Information

Glorious Holiday Decorating (Without Breaking the Bank or Losing Your Sanity)


Decorating for the holidays can be both expensive and emotionally draining. But you can decorate your home beautifully--on a budget--by following just a few simple suggestions.

First, you can create a happy holiday impression on your guests by simply concentrating your decorating efforts on your front door. Surrounding the entrance to your home with colorful lights, interwoven with garlands of greenery, offers a cheery "Welcome Home" atmosphere, without the need for ladders and endless strings of lights.

If putting up all of your decorations has become more of a chore than a delight during the holiday season, consider dividing your collection in half and alternating them every other year. That will require only half the amount of work, and the decorations will have more meaning, since you'll be putting up different ones every year.

If you spend extra money on costly additives for keeping your Christmas tree from turning brown, you can take heart from the National Christmas Tree Association, which says that plain tap water is the best source of moisture for your tree. In fact, some commercial additives and home concoctions can actually be detrimental to a tree's moisture retention and increase needle loss, according to the NCTA.

You can save a considerable amount of money, and make your holidays more meaningful, by creating your own decorations, using your family's heritage as a guideline. You can incorporate family pictures or treasured mementos to create totally unique decorations, and it's a great way to honor your ancestors while helping your children feel more connected with their family's history.

And finally, you won't have to take down the old decorations and put up new ones for your New Year's Eve celebration, if you recycle your holiday wreaths and garlands after Christmas simply by spray painting them silver or gold.

The holidays can be a stressful period, but you can avoid the financial stress and the emotional burden by using these simple suggestions. Happy holidays!

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Jeanette Fisher, Design Psychology Professor, is the author of "Joy to the Home" eNewsletter, interior design and real estate books. For Design Psychology information, visit http://www.designpsych.com/. Ask your holiday decorating questions here: http://holidaydecorating.blogspot.com/

  


MORE RESOURCES:

Los Angeles Times

Holiday travel in Virginia predicted to increase
Progress Index
About 12000 more people are expected to hit the roads in Virginia this year compared to last year's Memorial Day holiday weekend, according to AAA - an increase of about 1.2 percent over 2011. The numbers are the result of a survey of travel intentions ...
More travelers hitting the roadDaily Comet
Businesses looking up, as shore visits nearCherry Hill Courier Post
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New Hampshire Watchdog

Sales tax holiday begins today on hurricane-related items
The Virginian-Pilot
By Carolyn Shapiro Virginia's annual sales tax “holiday” on purchases to prepare for a hurricane begins today and continues through Thursday. The program allows consumers to save the state's 5 percent sales tax on batteries, flashlights, bottled water, ...
Sales tax holiday encourages residents to prepare for disastersChatham Star Tribune
County approves two sales tax holidaysThe Clarion

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USA TODAY

National holiday has its roots in the Civil War
The Lamar Ledger
The holiday was quickly officially adopted by many states in the north with all the northern states officially declaring it a holiday by 1890. The southern states held their own observances of the holiday through the latter half of the 19th century ...
Memorial Day: Some facts you should knowAlbany Times Union
Memorial Day Preview: What to expectGlobalPost
Memorial Celebrations: Being Thankful For a Job Well DoneNJ TODAY
Daily Freeman Journal -Muscatine Journal -WJBC News
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Holidays inspire disadvantaged children to learn, says study
Phys.Org
Holidays could serve as a valuable extension of the national curriculum for the UK's disadvantaged youngsters, new research has suggested. They provide a significant source of learning for children from low-income families who are otherwise stuck in ...



A doctor's tips on staying safe this holiday weekend
msnbc.com
By Dr. Tyeese Gaines After months of frigid temps, dodging rainstorms and wrapped in warm blankets, Memorial Day is the first holiday to celebrate the start of warmer weather. The sun is out. Sunglasses are on. Sweat is glistening.

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Hometown Holidays 2012: 'More Country,' Still Plenty of Rock 'n' Roll
Patch.com
By Sean R. Sedam This year's Rockville's Hometown Holidays will be “a little more country” than last year's. Sunday's showcase concert will feature rising country star Easton Corbin, whose first two singles—“A Little More Country Than That” and “Roll ...

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CBS News

Tropical storm could spoil SC beach holidays
Charlotte Observer
By JOEY HOLLEMAN “Might” is the key word. A low pressure system off Florida has the potential to gather into a weak tropical storm this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center. The official chance at 10 am Friday was 70 percent that the ...
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Holiday weekend first big test of Volusia's new beach-driving rules
Daytona Beach News-Journal
(NJ | Jim Tiller) Floridians are being warned by state and federal officials to keep an eye on a developing tropical system east of the state during holiday weekend activities. The system, which has caused flooding rains in South Florida this week, ...

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One to Tell the Grandkids: On the Beach Reveal Their Favourite Summer Holiday ...
MarketWatch (press release)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, May 25, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- With the school holidays looming fast, there's no better time to treat your family to a fantastic beach holiday. Whatever your budget, you can take your kids abroad happy in the knowledge ...

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This is Money

Holiday Cash 'Postcode Lottery' Revealed
Key 103 Manchester
As the summer holidays approach, a consumer group has warned that a 'postcode lottery' on foreign currency exchange rates may be leaving some holidaymakers short-changed. Which? sent mystery shoppers to different currency exchange providers across ...
Holiday money postcode lottery: Currency providers' exchange rates for euro ...This is Money
Foreign currency exchange rates hit by postcode lotteryThe Guardian
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Telegraph.co.uk
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