Ladies,
I can’t help but notice that women really make Christmas happen. It is the women who are shoulder to shoulder with me as I stroll down Hobby Lobby isles looking for gifts and decor. It has always been the women I have known who are baking the Christmas cookies with the children and packing tins for neighbors and friends. It is the women buying everyone gifts and wrapping them just so. It is the women who are sending out the Christmas cards on behalf of her and her husband. It is the women who are dazzling their homes with greenery, ornaments, candles, lights, food, dress and cheer to make Christmas special.
Having taken cues from homemaking wives in my own life and formulating my own easy, inexpensive, and impactful ways to make Christmas special, here is my top ten list for you to do the same in your home.
Making Christmas Special Even for You
Keep in mind that many women experience holiday burnout at some point in their lives, because it is the same effort every year and it can really take it out of you. It can feel overwhelming, stressful, expensive, dare I say empty? How sad to get to that point. We need to discover how to celebrate Christmas with rejoicing and rest more than hustle and bustle. Your home is the place that you get to create and build, we do not need to let what other people do dictate how we do this. We do not need to “conform to the pattern of this world” at Christmas. But these are the things I have learned from homemaking wives that make this season simple, affordable, and special.
1 She Dresses Special
One of the simplest and easiest ways you can make your holiday season or any season special is to dress special! Treat your day as a reason to be at your best for your husband, children, and for your home. Your dress sets a precedence that this day is special, what we do is special in the home, and our interactions are special. When we put on something nice, we signal to our family that the day, time, activities, and conversation are to be done in a good manner, just the way we dress to have them. Something as simple as a nice dress, a pretty color, a feminine print, a sprinkle of pretty jewelry, a nice hairdo, a spritz of perfume, uplift your family and give them the ambiance of loveliness.
2 She lights Candles
One of the ways we can consistently bring beauty and calm to our home is to light candles for dinner and/or after dinner in the living/family room where people gather. These two places, the dinner table and the living/family room are the places where we enjoy this ambiance together. For this special evening habit, you must have the proper tools which are matches, candles, even the candle holders, and maybe a tray to catch any drips. I source long match sticks for safety and beauty, which can be purchased affordably. I sourced mine from Walmart and they are the Better Homes & Garden brand. My evening candles are 100% beeswax for a clean and healthy candle to burn, I sourced mine from Amazon. I thrifted my brass candle sticks that hold my candles securely and I thrifted the tray to catch any drips of wax. While functional, these elements all add beauty to a tabletop, a countertop, or a high shelf.
3 She lays Garland on a Dresser Top
Christmas decorations can be as simple as laying a garland over a dresser. Decorating is meant to bring cheer to the surroundings, not stress to the decorator. Assess the simple and easy things you can do to just tweak the household into looking like it’s Christmas without a stressful overhaul. If you think Christmas means hanging things from the rafters because of what you see other people doing in media, it can be as simple as just setting some decor on a dresser top.
4 She Decorates with Fancy Vases & Evergreen Sprays
A cheap and beautiful way to decorate for Christmas is fancy vases, which you can get second hand for very cheap indeed. Go to your local Hobby Lobby the week the florals are on sale to get some sprays of evergreens, twigs, and berries for a simple and inexpensive Christmas centerpiece or side piece on a mantle, a console table, a shelf, etc. Again, this does not require help or climbing on ladders to decorate on a dime, easily, and stress free, just a dash of fun creativity for you and everyone gets to enjoy something special!
5 She Changes the Throw Blankets & Pillow Covers
An impactful way to make your living room look instantly cozier for the cold months is to swap out your throw blankets and pillow covers with different fabrics. In the hot months cooling fabrics like cotton and linen grace the sofa, but in winter, plushy fabrics with some pile and velvets that give a richness to the room go best. The winter sofa scene should be one that is full of inviting soft fabrics that beckon someone to cuddle up. I buy extra-long throw blankets for this reason and drape them invitingly over an arm of the sofa or a chair. Again, this is all about the fabric choice. Go for extra textured softness, which gives a cozy visual and feel to the room. This is also your chance to use Christmas colors if you want to really up your Christmas decor with reds and greens for these items.
6 She Switches to Winter Bedding
When the temperatures drop, the summer bedding gets beefed up for winter. An added middle layer blanket, a warmer thicker comforter, maybe an extra throw blanket. Winter bedding is more layered, with warmer fabrics, and may even have a look of Christmas decor. Having your summer bedding and your winter bedding is a simple and easy swap to make each year. It makes a bedroom look and feel instantly seasonally appropriate and beyond the necessity of it, it gives a needed refresh to every bedroom.
7 She Dims the Lights
Again, lighting, lighting, lighting. Your home exudes the atmosphere that your lighting creates. Tiny lamps in a corner of the kitchen countertop is perfect for a soothing atmosphere of cooking, sipping drinks and gathering in the kitchen. When the sun goes down, our indoor lighting should mimic the lower lighting for evening. This signals to your body to prepare for relaxation and eventually sleep. Buy incandescent lightbulbs for a soft warm glow.
8 She Prepares Easy to Access Food
One of the most comforting things you can do for your home is have food ready to eat. Take your regular deli meats, cheeses, and pickles, etc. and arrange them on a tray in the refrigerator. Have homemade baked goods from simple bread, muffins, to sweets like cookies, on the countertop. Pre-make sandwiches and have them wrapped in the refrigerator to grab. Make food easily accessible. Make the food look beautiful by simply cutting it, combining it, and displaying it on a nice food safe tray. Some of the best items you can collect are different sizes of serving trays for this reason. You may not do this all year, but making this gesture at Christmas will make the foods and eating something comforting and special.
9 She Creates a Beautiful Porch
A fresh welcome mat, outdoor throw pillows, a statue, a wall hanging, pots of plants, there are a lot of options for making your home entrance special for the seasons. This might be a safe place that will not get messed up by children or pets. This is a simple way to make your house look cheery and bright for Christmas. Any passerby will enjoy your efforts, and your family will drive up to a beautiful entrance every day. It can be as simple as keeping it swept and putting up just one wreath. The fact is, this is a place to give some attention even in a simple way, for a big impact on how special it will be.
10 She Collects Beautiful Kindling
Pinecones and sticks are beautiful and free when you collect them from the ground! I like to display them near the house in a beautiful tote bag or decorative bin. This is a fun outdoor activity to walk and collect the kindling that is necessary for indoor and outdoor fires. This is something that you can use to decorate a porch as well, a backdoor, or next to your woodpile. This is the kind of decor that is both necessary and a way to make things look special by adding it to a pretty container.
The Homemaking Wife Makes Christmas Special with Simple and Easy Homemaking Moves
Use these inexpensive and simple ways of making Christmas special to guide you in collecting the items throughout the year that you will need to do these things. As a new homemaking wife, you may not have much to work with but if you know what special things you can do, now you know how to prepare to do them. As you can tell, it’s not about owning a lot of stuff, it’s about having the right stuff and it’s about your own behavior and efforts that make your home a special place to be.
Merry Christmas
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