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

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