Dead Christmas Tree

 My neighbor and her husband were so busy, they just put lights on the front of their tree this year. No one walks around between the Christmas tree and the wall anyway.

When their granddaughter visited, she was eager to help finish decorating the front of the tree, the only place where everyone could see the decorations anyway. Good plan!

The next day, everyone went to work and school, everything going smoother because they anticipated Christmas cheer in the joy of going home to a cheerfully decorated tree.

No one expected to see what was in their house when they opened their door.

The Christmas tree died from front-heaviness. 

What do you think?

Shouldn't they just roll it over? I mean, it was already decorated.

Thanksgiving Decoration!

I've been looking for a few Thanksgiving decorations. Once upon a time, we had a five foot tall air-filled turkey on our lawn, but that flew the coop. 

Not only that, I wanted something a bit more specific to the "Thankful" part of the holiday, so when I spotted a piece of turkey-and-pumpkin fabric on sale, I took it home. (After I bought it, I mean.)

 With my magical marker, fabric paint, glue, and sparkles, I wrote the biggest letters I could make fit on the fabric to spell out a reminder to be grateful. When I take time to think of it, there are SO MANY THINGS to be thankful for every day! Just a very few things are air, water, food, shelter, clothes, people to love, transportation, a body that works, and thoughts to think.

What are you grateful for?

Decorating Irony

What did you get for Christmas?

More stuff?

(Ooo, pick me, pick me!) This plaque can help clutter your home as it encourages you to simplify your life!

And then there are potentially cluttery activities. What about plain old nail polish?

No.

My little sister Carolyn wanted PINEAPPLES on her fingers!

(Well, okay, maybe sometimes it's worth the time to do something extra. They did turn out kind of cute.)

Here's the pineapple girl herself. And if she brings that thing home, she's going to have to cut it up! 

I'm more of an Open-The-Can-Of-Pineapple girl myself.

What do you like to do/have/spend time on that's worth the clutter?

Thankful for Thanksgiving

My little sister is in the best holiday mood, reminding me that we should decorate for Thanksgiving.

Shirley Scrooge... (or is it Turkey Shirley?) didn't want to bother. More expense, more stuff to store, to lose, to look for in subsequent years (like the adorable little pilgrim dolls our sister Loraine sent Carolyn last year. (I KNOW we have them, and I know where I put them, but Carolyn rearranged and we haven't found them yet.) So Turkey Shirley encouraged Carolyn to wait for the time to put up Christmas decorations.

Over the course of four days, Carolyn gently insisted that she thought we ought to decorate for Thanksgiving.

Shirley finally relented.

BUT GUESS WHAT?

The stores we went to didn't HAVE any Thanksgiving decorations!

Yet Thanksgiving is such a gentle, refreshing holiday.

(I'm not talking about the arguments that the Native Americans were booted off their land and all of that stuff. I'm talking about the spirit of gratitude.)

So we got a plastic table cover and made our own decoration, because we have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Decorate Once and be Done!

Here's an idea... save time by just putting out decorations for all the holidays at once! 

These homeowners have it covered with a Santa "Welcome" sign, a patriotic wall hanging by the door, two pumpkins hanging from their porch just waiting to be baked into a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, and a Halloween ghost crouched by the steps. When they answer the door, perhaps paper Valentine's hearts fall on your head while you're presented with a birthday cupcake and a candle to blow out!

(Make a wish!)

What's your favorite holiday?

Penguin Turkey Tails

My youngest son, Michael, loves to decorate for the holidays. Halloween was all cobwebs in the trees and fright masks on our porch bear. Once Halloween was over, we went looking for thanksgiving decorations. Know what? They are sorely lacking, at least in our neck of the woods.
But that didn't stop us, no, sir. In our search we found some little penguin yard stakes, the kind that light up. We bought them, took them home, and set them up in our front yard. Michael got busy and taped long colored feathers to their black and white behinds. Ta-da! Their turkey disguise is complete. Once Thanksgiving is over, we'll pluck their tail feathers and voila! We'll be all ready for Christmas.
Gobble, gobble, Ho-Ho-Ho!