Choosing a Colour Scheme for your Christmas Tree

Last year I started this blog to show you how I create a beautiful Christmas in a beautiful place. I want to do the same this year but there is no need to repeat the tutorials I posted last year. You will find the 'how to' posts in my archives. I'm hoping to have a simple but beautiful Christmas this year - recreating the traditions I have always held dear such as trimming the tree and making my own bon bons but not allowing myself to be distracted by decorating dilemmas and spending money in an attempt to keep up with the trends and have a fashionable Christmas - I've realized I prefer the old fashioned kind of Christmas and that reflects my choices for the colour scheme I chose for my tree this year.


I have a collection of tree decorations in the traditional red, green and gold associated with Christmas. I was so tempted to dispense with the red and go for a more modern look but realized that those decorations now have memories attached. The red bead garlands my twin daughters adorned themselves with when they were two. The cream and gold 'Russ' angels that my girls loved from the moment we saw them on sale in the store. They will come out every year so the traditional colour scheme has to stay - and I've realized that green is the perfect background for red. Think of a field of red poppies, a garden bed of red tulips, the red native flowering shrubs of Australia. All the work of the Master Designer So eye-catching, vibrant and nothing says Christmas to me more than red and green.


Garlands of beads - I have had these in my collection for over 10 years they last so much longer than tinsel and do not drop strands onto the floor!




So the gold and lime green tree I saw in a magazine is staying there - on the pages of a magazine but lime green? I love that idea for my colour scheme and green is my favourite colour - why not red and green with a twist of lime green? Be inspired by the images you see and love but use them and work them into what you already have to suit your home and lifestyle. Urns of apples at the door? Lovely but 1. I don't intend to buy urns to do this and 2. I might as well put up a sign saying 'Welcome possums and any other bush wildlife especially rats - and attracting rats means attracting snakes! I think I will not try this at my home!




Each year I add to my collection just one or two decorations and with the thought of lime green and Granny Smith apples in my head but knowing I would not hang real apples on the tree in our humid climate I opted for the baubles - two sets of lime green from Target on sale at $3 a box. Total cost of updating the tree for this year $6! And having just added the lime green baubles to the tree this morning I really think it has given the tree a 'lift', sets off the red and coordinates with the gold too!



So thinking of updating your tree decorations? Don't abandon the whole of your collection - replace ragged tinsel, shabby or broken decorations by all means but is there something you can add to your collection - an extra colour? Some handmade decorations? Would gingerbread stars or paper icicles give your tree a homemade rustic touch and occupy the children over the holidays? Don't be wasteful, spend money wisely and don't be in too much of a rush to keep up with the trends - an ultra modern black Christmas tree with its silver decorations might look good on the page of that design magazine in its minimalist setting but look totally ridiculous in the corner of your living room with the presents sent by nana underneath wrapped in santa paper! Think of how everything goes together and ask yourself is this going to work with everything else? Will it suit my home? Even if it is just one tree decoration you are considering purchasing, ask yourself these same questions - that dollar saved is after all a dollar saved!



And don't forget to recycle decorations from previous seasons. These Christmas cones were created from old Christmas cards last year for a unique handmade advent calendar. This year the cones have been hung on the tree and I intend to fill some of them with little surprise gifts - bags of homemade popcorn are just one thought. The one in this picture holds a spice bag - you pop the spice bag into a pot of simmering hot water on the stove and fill your home with the traditional smells of Christmas - spicy cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. A neat little gift idea too and so simple to create.

The Christmas cones also make neat little containers for wrapped baked biscuits and sweet treats such as truffles - a lovely little gift for a friend. I like to make biscotti for the cones - they are the perfect fit for the narrow cones.

I'm making more of these this year. I love to make truffles and biscotti at Christmas and of course gingerbread. Traditions extend to the kitchen - there is something about Christmas and traditions isn't there? It's how I intend to keep my Christmas simple and uncomplicated - a new recipe here and there but some traditions cannot be replaced - the children are already asking 'When are we going to make gingerbread? - we always make gingerbread at Christmas!'





It is also why my twin girls insisted on putting up the tree on their birthday the first day of Christmas. How exciting it is for them that they realize that the arrival of their birthday marks the start of the preparation of our home for Christmas when we celebrate the birthday of a Saviour.

What colour scheme do you have for your home? What are the traditions of your family Christmas and how do you update/modify them without going to great expense or being a slave to fashion and trends?

With Love and joy and a twist of lime green,

Ann

My Christmas Table 2009

These are some of the pictures of my Christmas Table. The crackers I made for each family member were pulled and all the trims were saved to be recycled for more Christmas crafting next year. The younger children were delighted with their gifts and the older ones enjoyed the chocolates! We enjoyed a traditional lamb roast with a summer twist - it was marinated in a mango sauce overnight and served with a mango salsa rather than the traditional mint sauce. Plum pudding is not the best choice for a dessert on a hot summer day so we indulged in an ice cream pudding instead. I will post the recipe soon for those who want to try this when their summer comes around!

Two of my lovely daughters!

Meet the rest of my beautiful family at my family blog eightacresofeden

I have written about our very special Christmas at my main blog where you will also find these pictures of my Christmas table. What is missing from the pictures of just the Christmas table is what makes Christmas truly special - the people, especially family and friends. They are the reason why I put so much effort into making Christmas special - it is my way of not only expressing my God given creativity but also showing my family how much they mean to me. I want them to grow up and have beautiful memories of Christmas at home, when they pull a cracker or light a candle, wherever they are in the world, they will think of me, their mother but more than the gifts carefully chosen or the lovely details on the table, they will recall the laughter, the fun, the joyful atmosphere around our table and in our home - for this is what I truly desire to create, not only at Christmas but all year round - at every meal! On every occasion! Knowing that they grew up in a home where they were accepted, loved, cherished and where God was honoured and Jesus was the centre of every celebration but especially Christmas and Easter - this is the desire of my heart!




I will continue to upkeep this blog. I want it to be a comprehensive resource of ideas and inspiration for Christmas. There were many more posts I had planned but they can wait for next year! Do save those cards though, don't toss them away, not even into the 'Planet Ark' bin at the supermarket - I have a few ideas for creative recycling!



Something, or should I say someone, more important than blogging or preparing for Christmas, came into my life in the days before Christmas. A very special gift from God whom I brought home to my family on Christmas Eve. A baby boy, my seventh born and a beautiful reminder that the greatest gift of Christmas was a baby.

With love and Joy,
Ann

'The Big Red Store' A Poem about the Commercialization of Christmas

'The Big Red Store' is a poem that I wrote in the year 2000 to share at my Christmas seminars. It is indeed about a 'Big Red Store' which those who live in New Zealand and some cities in Australia will be familiar with - the place 'Where Everyone gets a Bargain'. Most bigger towns and cities around the world have a 'Big Red Store' or maybe your big store is blue.

It is the type of store you do not want to visit the week before Christmas and especially not on Christmas Eve - the queues there are the longest and even if you carefully select the shortest queue, clutching your tin of Danish butter biscuits for Grandma and two giant rolls of 'economy wrap', I can guarantee you will wait just as long, for the guy in front of you will have a trolley piled high with the latest gadgets and toys for his two kids who they always spoil at Christmas because well 'It's Christmas!' and 'This is what the kids requested in their letter to Santa - can't let them down'. It would ruin Santa's image!



It is at these stores where you will observe the worst of the Christmas madness and I must explain the reference to the 'Teletubbies' which appears in my poem. It was at a branch of the big red store in New Zealand where two mothers were caught on camera fighting, tug of war style, over the last 'Teletubbie' toy left on the shelves! - Such had been the media and retail hype over a TV programme for young children which featured creatures with TV sets in their bellies and antennas on their heads who could only babble but toddlers became 'addicted' to the show and parents believed that their child would suffer serious deprivation if he or she did not own one of the toys!

I have left in the references to the toys of the time - to remind you that the latest 'must have' trendy toy will always be replaced by another more expensive gadget that will now appeal to mum and dad as well as the kids - you just need to buy some extra consoles for each family member!

Perhaps, like me, you despise the commercialization of Christmas and some choose to turn their backs completely on any celebration of what is only seen as a ' Silly Season of Spending'. So they choose to have a 'low key Christmas' and just have a barbecue (I'm referring to the Southern Hemisphere here!) but they have barbecues most weekends over summer, so there is nothing really special or significant about their celebration of Christmas.

My seminars were a reaction in a way, to both of these trends I observed when I came to live 'Down Under'. Christmas had always been the most wonderful time of the year when I lived in England. There were always traditional trees in the town square, the aroma of roasted chestnuts on the streets, Christmas carolers and at my house - decorations inside the home (not an OTT outdoor light display that blew the fuses and rocketed the power bill skywards) special foods on the table, Christmas crackers, 'satsumas in stockings' and my favourite treat because it was only given to me at Christmas - a 'Terry's Chocolate Orange'! Whenever I 'tap and unwrap' a chocolate orange, it always reminds me of my childhood Christmases at home! My dad knew this was my favourite gift - in many ways I looked forward to this more than anything else - in my eyes it was better than the 'big present'!



Down under, Christmas was different, much more casual and laid back, it was hot and although the turkey was still on the table with salads instead of potatoes for Christmas dinner and presents were distributed by an uncle in a Santa hat, that was basically it. I found some people never bothered with a tree or if they did it was a 'tinsel stick' showing where to pile up the new toys for the kids which was their only family tradition - along with a tin of Danish butter biscuits for grandma which they had stood in a queue for an hour to purchase when all the ingredients needed to make biscuits where actually in their pantry!

I wanted to tell people there was a better way, that they could celebrate Christmas in style without going into debt or joining the madness at the mall, 'creating' a Christmas for their family to enjoy, introducing simple traditions which would be remembered by the children in years to come and even passed on to future generations. Discovering the joys of creativity and blessing others in very personal and practical ways. And to encourage Christian families to give honour to Christ, making Him the focus of their Christmas rather than a fat guy in a red and white suit.

So without further ado, here it is my poem to challenge your thinking and attitudes towards Christmas. I hope you enjoy it!

THE BIG RED STORE

Christmas is coming, Retail 's doing okay
For I joined the horde of shoppers
In the big, red store today
As I grabbed a trolley and sped off down the aisle
The blow up Christmas reindeer couldn't make me smile
'DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY'
I had a sinful wish
'I'd really like to punch that singing rubber fish!'

'Dad I want a Pokemon, like all the kids at school'
Having lots of plastic cards
Makes him look so cool
'Mum I want a Barbie house, it simply isn't fair'
'Santa didn't bring that much to our house last year'

Oh, the sights and sounds of Christmas
You'll experience at the store
But it's all artificial, nothings real any more

The Christmas tree is PVC, it's made in Singapore
There's even a matching plastic wreath
To hang on your front door



Nowhere was a manger scene on prominent display
To remind us of the meaning of this very special day
There were lots of jolly santas stacked high on every row
The loudspeaker bellowed
'ONLY 10 DAYS TO GO!'

The enticement to spend and spend some more
'Don't have money?'
'That's what credit is for!'
People in debt and suffering stress
Was it really Christmas that caused their distress?

Christmas traditions are now used as a ploy
To get you to buy the latest toy


St Nicholas was a saint with a heart for the poor
People don't talk about him any more
He's now known as 'Santa'
He's been hijacked to sell
On the books at Apple
And loved by Mattel
Down at Harvey Norman he can really draw a crowd
He's good at selling Christmas spirit
Does Liquor King proud

A plastic man- made Christmas
Commercial through and through
But have you ever thought what Christmas means to you?

To me, it means a Saviour sent from God above
Into a dying, desperate world to show them of His Love
Hope, Joy and Peace can be ours to receive
All He asks is that we truly believe

And I believe in Jesus, the Son of God Most High
I think of how He's blessed me
As Christmas time draws nigh
Each Christmas, my gratitude to God I express...
By using my gifts and talents to bless

Opening my home, I fulfill my desire
To reach out to others and hopefully inspire!
So celebrate Christmas and show that you care
About this special time of the year

Take your children to choose a tree
Bake festive goodies for afternoon tea
Decorate your home - now here's my advice
Lose the tinsel, it isn't that nice!
The best decorations I'm sure you'll agree
Are those made by nature - what's more, they're free!


So if you home is looking stark
Collect some pine cones from your local park
And if you're feeling really bold
You could even spray them gold!

Resist the urge to buy gifts to impress
Instead look for ways in which you can bless
You family and friends, the people you meet
The elderly neighbours who live on your street

You could give them something - perhaps made by you
Something you baked, crafted or grew

Would you open your home on Christmas day?
Invite someone on their own to stay
To be part of your family and share your meal
These kind of gestures make Christmas real

In spreading goodwill, we can all play a part
For the actions of people reveal their true heart

But in the big, red store, the queue's to the door
Where they fought over Teletubbies, it was shown on TV
On the six o'clock news for the nation to see

But we can choose a better way and redeem Christmas Day
By rejecting the hype and pressure to spend
What kind of message could we send?
For the stores don't own Christmas
It's ours to enjoy!
And to remember the birth of a baby boy
Named JESUS and He's still the REASON why we celebrate the SEASON!


Penned in December 2000
by Ann at eightacresofeden and christmasateden



Please - if you want to share this poem with others or read it aloud at a Christmas function, feel free to do so, all I ask is that you direct them to my blog for the source and acknowledge me as the author - thank you!

Design a Simple Christmas Wreath / Shelf Top Display

This is the display I created for the top of a timber bookcase in my dining/family room. It sits behind my dining room table where we will sit down to enjoy our Christmas dinner. The table will feature a green, silver, white and gold scheme and I wanted the displays in this room to tie in. The pewter picture frames which are displayed on the top shelf of this bookcase were left in place and I assembled the display around them. You do not need to take everything down in order to create a Christmas display, use your home's everyday decor, favourite possessions and family pictures to inspire your Christmas decorating!

For this shelf, I put together a simple wreath which was so easy to make, it took me just 5 minutes to assemble!

On to a small faux conifer base purchased at 'Spotlight' for around $6, I poked in some glittery, silver leaves which were pulled off a stem found at 'BIG W' for $4. (They also come in gold) I did not use any glue, the wreath will rest against the back of the shelf. If you wish to hang your wreath on a wall, you might consider using hot glue to secure the leaves. This is a temporary wreath. I will reuse the base and leaves next year to make something different!

A few wired faux red berries are poked in for contrast.

A little embellishment is needed for the top of the wreath. I considered using this silvery dove.

But in the end I opted for a glittery, silver icicle - it cost less than $5 at 'The Reject Shop'. I simply threaded its cord through and tied it in place on the underside of the wreath. You may already have suitable decorations in your Christmas tree decoration box which could be used to decorate your wreath - stars, angels, bells, baubles - whatever you so desire!

How about some butterflies instead of leaves? This set cost $4 at 'BIG W' . You could also use this wreath as the base for a table top wreath, placing a hurricane holder with a coordinating candle in the centre. I would not use the icicle in this case, just the leaves and berries.

With the wreath in place at the centre of the shelf. I am now able to decorate my shelf and create my special Christmas display - again this only took a few minutes. I used fresh greenery from my garden, sprigs of cedar, some of the faux lime green succulents and a few glittery mistletoe leaves - but you could use fresh of course. I had purchased a big bunch of these realistic looking succulents at a garage sale and I have used them on several of my Christmas wreaths. Cinnamon sticks add a rustic touch. Apples are perfect to use in a Christmas display - as are oranges, stud them with cloves if you want added scent.

I love to use candles at Christmas and I was thrilled to find the glass silver tealight holders at a discount store - the glittery snowflake embellishment mirrors the one at the top of the wreath and this is why I chose the icicle rather than the dove for the wreath. I used four tealights for this shelf top - use more if you have a longer cabinet or table top to decorate. When decorating with candles, especially tealights I always like to use more rather than less. The beauty of tea lights in holders is that you have less risk of candle wax dripping onto your display or the risk of setting one of your decorations alight when the candle is lit. Tea light candles are so cheap to purchase too!


My 'little angels' - my twin girls are watching over this Christmas display. They celebrate their 4th birthday on the 1st December, their middle names are 'Joy' and 'Hope' - so appropriate for the season and a beautiful reminder of what Christmas and children are all about!


The finishing touch for this display is a glittery, silver decoration which rests at the base of the wreath, it describes perfectly what Christmas decorating brings me - JOY of course. Just remember - decorating your home for Christmas should bring you pleasure, it should not be a tedious task and sometimes keeping it simple, as I have with this wreath and display is the one of the best ways to ensure that it remains a joyous thing to do! In fact, this is one of my favourite displays in my home this season and it took just minutes to assemble.

Have fun and enjoy creating your own Christmas displays. I look forward to showing you some more corners of my Christmas home at Eden soon.

With Love and Joy,
Ann

I'll be Home for Christmas

Welcome to Christmas at Eden and my first 'official' post on this, my Christmas blog. It is all about preparing for Christmas. I'll be home for Christmas - where will you be this Christmas time? Visiting family? Holidaying with friends? Have you even decided where you will be spending Christmas Day? Have you started any preparations? I would love to share with you some of the ways in which I prepare for the Christmas - a season which has always held a special place in my heart. It is so important to me it even features on my Family Vision poster.


'Christmas will always be special time in our household, when we all come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a beautifully decorated home, around our table adorned with flowers and candles, giving gifts to one another and blessing others, particularly our neighbours.'


This Christmas will be extra special as our seventh baby is due at the beginning of December. My preparations are underway, I do not wish to be shopping at the last minute in crowded stores with a newborn baby in my arms and I am relieved to know I have a little stash of gifts for family and friends waiting to be wrapped or tucked into gift baskets or dropped into stockings on Christmas Eve!

This is because I shop for gifts all year round When I am in a store, or even at the supermarket and I see suitable items on sale I buy one or two to go into my gift box. This spreads my expenditure throughout the year. I have a box for gifts but these are not 'designated' gifts. They are little gifts which I can give to others at Christmas or even use for birthdays or other special occasions, they also make good hostess gifts. In my 'gifts to give' basket are items such as -

Scented soaps and candles - some candles come in their own glass holders, soaps and candles may come in pretty tins, some are just plain and wrapped in cellophane, these cost less than those that come in lots of packaging - I will embellish these later (I will show you how in a future post!) Perhaps you make your own candles or soaps - this is something I would love to do - but as I have young children who love to be around me when I craft I have chosen to concentrate on crafts which do not involve the use of hot liquids or chemical processes. The time I have to spend on crafting is affected by other commitments, so I choose to pursue crafts I truly love such as making bon bons and garlands. Handmade soaps and candles are readily available at farmers markets and I am happy to support local enterprises. (There are lots of blogs with detailed instructions on how to make your own soap and candles if you want to try this.) Beautiful hand made bon bons and garlands are harder to find and a lot more expensive to purchase, so it is rather fulfilling to make my own - I look forward to showing you how at this blog.

Other gifts I purchase for my gift box are textiles and teas . The textiles might be tea towels, aprons, wash cloths or cloth napkins. They are very suitable for sending overseas. There is a lovely 'upmarket' gift shop in my town which sells beautiful linen, some is vintage and rather expensive but the owner also stocks quality cotton and linen tea towels which cost only $3.50 each! The tea towel in this picture came as a free gift with a Country decorating magazine! Tea towels can be used to wrap a package of homemade biscuits, they can be used as a lining for a basket of 'goodies' for a cook - 'tea towel' ideas will follow in a future post!

Tea - It is always lovely to take time for tea and to encourage others to do the same. This is why I often pop a sachet of a speciality tea into a card or even a tea cup for a friend. It is also a lovely gift to accompany a batch of home made scones or brownies for a friend or neighbour. Look out for speciality tea stalls at your local farmer's markets. Prefer coffee? You may find special or local coffees at your farmer's markets too.

Have you noticed how my gifts co ordinate? Although they were purchased separately, this was intentional - I also buy gifts in suitable colours for Christmas - greens and reds or I look out for gifts in colours favoured by family and friends - do you know their favourite colours? This is is a useful thing to know!

I also buy gifts throughout the year for specified people - mainly my own immediate family.
You will not find me in the queue to lay by big ticket items in the Target toy sale in July - our budget does not allow for outlandish expenditure and we do not buy expensive or 'faddish' toys for our children but they do receive gifts!

Gifts that nurture creativity and cater for special interests, that will be appreciated and when Christmas is over, be used and used again! So you are not likely to find me in the toy aisle unless I am buying a special baby doll for a daughter or a Lego set for a son (these are the big presents!)

I am more likely to be buying gifts in the discount bookshop or at the craft store. I hope my children don't peek at this blog but you should be able to work out what their interests are! All the books were substantially reduced and the puzzles and games cost less than $3 each! Games in tins are from Aldi and the puzzles from BIG W.

You may choose to shop in the January sales for the following Christmas. I know some people even wrap their gifts immediately on their return home but I prefer to buy gifts throughout the year and wrap them in the week before Christmas - I enjoy doing this once the house is decorated and then I can place the gifts under the tree - ones that might be peeked at or unwrapped by a curious toddler go under the tree on Christmas Eve!

I do buy Christmas decorations in the New Year Sales when there is often 50% or more taken off the original price. I have quite a collection of tree ornaments - they were not bought in one excursion - each year I buy one or two special pieces to add to my collection. I will show you them in the post on decorating the tree!

Preparing for Crafting




As crafting is one of my 'indulgences' at this time of year. I ensure that I have all my supplies in order. As I do this, I make a list of any materials I am likely to need. As I have quite a stockpile of lace, ribbon, card and embellishments thanks to one fortuitous garage sale purchase a few years ago, the only items I needed to buy this year, were some silver leaves and faux berries for garlands and an extra big bottle of craft glue! A trip to Spotlight was needed but on the day of the planned trip I chanced upon a garage sale which had numerous new Christmas craft items, in the very colours I wanted, as well as decorations and giftware for sale - all at a fraction of what I would have paid at Spotlight! I also found vintage cloths and wicker baskets for displaying all my Christmas materials and gifts!

I tidy and reorganize my craft cupboard and this year as I am making and revamping several garlands, I decided I would organize my silk leaf and flower collection which were stored in hat boxes. I ordered them by shape, size and type and placed them in zip seal plastic bags. This took me an hour or two and my daughter helped but when it came to making a new wreath it was a much easier process - so worth the effort!




The supplies are purchased and in order and the crafting has begun. I have made several sets of bon bons, revamped my favourite table centre piece and constructed one new garland. I will be posting step by step instructions in posts to follow soon.

I am also preparing my home - deciding where I will position my Christmas displays and cleaning designated corners. The tree will placed next to our fireplace which is not used as we are in our summertime, so I cleaned out all the accumulated ash. I scrubbed the tiles underneath and I hope to also polish the cast iron wood burner. If you do not have a lot of Christmas decorations it is best to choose just one corner of your home to decorate, rather than try and spread your decorations out. By choosing just one corner you create a sense of abundance and a feast for the senses - choose somewhere where you will be spending lots of time - where you can enjoy your decorating efforts. I know I will be in my living room feeding a baby throughout the day and night - how lovely will it be to come into a room with the lights twinkling on the tree in the wee small hours?! If you spend more time in your kitchen cooking and baking for all the family that will be arriving over the holiday season why not concentrate your efforts here?


I will also have some cupboard and table top displays in other areas so the polishing cloth has been receiving a workout. I also plan to do Christmas craft and baking with my children - handmade advent calendars and baking gingerbread is a family tradition, so I will check out my pantry supplies of spices in particular!

A home made Gingerbread wreath also makes a beautiful display for your table!

Have you started to make your preparations? Are you excited about Christmas? It can be a stressful time for so many people and it is such a shame that it has become so commercialized but it can be redeemed for the sake of our families, for the sake of our finances, for deepening our relationships and ties with family and friends. Let's take it back! Reclaim the holiday season and seek to make it the special time it deserves to be -

'For the stores don't own Christmas, it's ours to enjoy
To celebrate the birth of a baby boy
- Named Jesus and He is still the reason
Why we celebrate the Season!'

From a poem I wrote for Christmas, have read aloud at many of my seminars and will share with you soon!

With love and joy,
Ann