Some people are really good at Christmas. Their homes look and smell all Christmassy in a nice way. I don’t know, maybe they use boughs of holly and cinnamon and ginger and stuff. They bake and decorate and they have good (not tacky) Christmas music playing in the background, and when you go to visit them they hand you a cup of steaming hot chocolate or mulled wine.
I have a confession to make. I’m not one of those people. Honestly, what I like most about Christmas is the week off work. Is that awful?
It’s not that I don’t like Christmassy stuff – I like it when other people do it right. I’m just not willing, I guess, to put in the time and effort to create that Christmas ambiance. Or maybe I don’t think I can do it right. Maybe I think it won’t feel magical if I know (and do) everything that goes into it – all that baking and cooking and cleaning and decorating and stuff.
(Which reminds me: the other night I was playing Scrabble on Facebook with my sister Deb, and I asked her how her move went. She had just moved that very day. “Oh good,” she said, “Rob and the dogs are sleeping, the tree’s up and decorated, and I’ve got a ham in the oven.”)
Anyway, I think there are three basic Christmas styles:
1) Natural and Traditional
2) Overwrought and Tacky
3) Minimalist
I am a Minimalist but I come from a natural and traditional family and I kind of wish I was more like them in this respect. But like I say, I don’t want to spend all my spare time in December preparing for Christmas.
This is where you come in. I’m hoping some of you might have some Christmas tips for me. I’m looking for some quick and easy ways to make things look and feel and smell Christmassy around here. Quick and easy. I don’t want to make a thousand origami snowflakes or anything like that. I want maximum results with minimal effort.
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I bought a really plain wreath from Michaels one year, and wrapped leftover ribbon and yarn around it. It’s super colourful and it took about five minutes to put together. Easy peasy.
I struggle with this, too, Zoom. So, you want to embrace the minimalist thing, but do so with grace and ease? I failed miserably with this last year when I attempted baking quick and easy things like the Dolly Parton Dump Cake (http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore@googlegroups.com/msg01225.html), which resulted in a powdery, disgusting mess. My house smelled good for a while, though. But, this failure led me to feel like a real failure and made me hate Christmas and feel sad about it.
I would like to simply offer the message that if any of the ‘Quick and Easy Christmas tips’ flop in the execution, you need to view it as a system failure, not a self-failure.
Buy the Bowrings Christmas potpourri…nothing else smells more like Christmas without any effort.
Put a wreath on your front door…easy and cheap
Buy some live garland and put it up your staircase.
A tree…doesn’t need a ton of decorations but this year I found that using the picks from the garland I am not using worked really well on the tree.
Candles, lots of candles.
Friends over for a drink…maybe cheese and crackers…you don’t have to make them a whole meal.
Come to Orangeville and you can share my Christmas home.
Here’s a delicious drink.
In a med saucepan:
– peel and slice some ginger root
– add a good sized cinnamon stick
– add some whole cloves (I usually add about 6)
– maybe some whole allspice? i can’t remember that
Bring to a boil, turn it down, let it simmer till it tastes good. You may have to futz with the proportion to get the taste you like. Keep adding more water. It smells delicious, and it’s really really good for you. I do it through the whole winter, but it does smell very xmassy.
I bet if you added a couple of crushed cardamom seeds to that drink, it would taste good, too. But, it would also make it less quick and easy.
When I was a kid my parents used to have a Christmas open house every year where they invited everyone they knew to show up at some point during the day to spend some time eating, drinking, and being merry. It totally forced our whole family to get into the Christmas thing because no one wants to come to a Christmas party in a house that doesn’t feel Christmasy. This year, I’m doing something similar by having a little get together at my house next week. I have a small (fake) tree decorated (these come with lights attached to them so they are automatic Christmas when you plug them in) a few Christmas albums pulled from the shelf, and a fridge full of booze and snacks waiting. I know it will feel cosy and Christmasy with everyone in here. And I get to feel all deep and virtuous because isn’t Christmas supposed to be all about hanging out with people you like?
Good Luck, Zoom!
J.
p.s. I think we walked by each other when I was on my way to work on Friday. Do you walk up Sommerset in the mornings?
Well Zoom- one thing will do the trick
GET A LIVE TREE!
That’s all you need. Well okay you must also throw some lights on it for full sensual x-mas impact. If there are trees for sale anywhere near you just drag one home through the 40cm of snow you guys got today. Okay?
bye!
Lighting, big impact/low effort:
– Put strings of electric lights in places where they won’t be noticed when they are turned off. Turn them on at Christmas time, turn them off when it’s not Christmas. If you avoid the green, you can use them for other occasions – parties, etc.
– Swap ordinary lightbulbs for red or orange bulbs in places where you don’t need to read. Sets the mood and people look better in red/orange light.
by the way, what do you consider tacky Christmas music?
These are exactly the kinds of things I am looking for – I’m going to do them! Do you have any more?
Dolly Parton Dump Cake – ha ha ha ha ha! I don’t know why, but that just does not sound very Christmassy or very appetizing. But it does sound hilarious.
Jo – I do walk east on Somerset every morning. I don’t know what you look like though, so I don’t know if we passed each other or not. Did we make eye contact or smile or anything? I hope so.
Deb – tacky Christmas music is canned Christmas carols like you hear in malls.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake
You only need to make ONE extra special snowflake Zoom! Arrow made one of these last year, I’m going to do it with her and Max again this year, we’ll be hanging it instead of a wreath.
I’m a fan of fake garland greenery. I put it up on top of kitchen cupboards, on top of a tall wide bookcase, or along a long shelf or railing. I put white light through it, sometimes I’ll add pine cones. I won’t bother with cones if it’s up high.
A real tree, even if it’s small.
A wreath on your front door.
If you’re a Christmas card getter, display them grouped on a table or shelf, or punch a hole in the top left corner and string them along some yarn.
Christmas music. My favorite is Loreena McKennitt’s To Drive The Cold Winter Away.
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Cold-Winter-Away/dp/B000000LXD
Eggnog. Get Cochrane’s Dairy’s eggnog if you can get it, it’s tons better than the others.
I’m with Patti. A live tree is all you need! You can even get a potted one if you have a space in your yard or know someone who would like to plant it in the spring.
It doesn’t take much to decorate and the smell somehow makes the house warmer too.
[…] A couple of weeks ago I asked you for tips about how to achieve that Christmasy glow with a minimum of time and effort. And you responded with tons of excellent ideas. […]