DECLUTTERING CHRISTMAS ON A BUDGET

II. CARDS. Each year, amid the mad rush of parish events, there is one night when we MAKE time to wrap each OTHER's gifts-- AND a card for each close friend/family, with flat ornaments enclosed. They vary each year, but each year they must be what will fit pretty flat in a card.

I simply use a Sharpie to label each one with the year. We ask recipients to display it with their own decorations as a tiny reminder of how we love them, and we display one on ours. We ask recipients to pack them with their own décor so that next year when they decorate, they will remember that we are thinking about them!

This year's: a few window-cling snowflakes. For the first time I can recall, I found several inexpensive sets locally, and bought enough of the snowflake pattern to give each person a large one, a medium one, and several tiny ones. As I cut these up to divvy up the sets, I prayed and gave thanks for each person, with carols playing.... In the card is also tucked a page out of a party-favor pad of Christmassy pencil-puzzles.

Next year's item is all picked out and will make an all-year craft project-- a herd of paper animals I'll cut and assemble all year, with a silver bow and hanger for tree or table use.

We do not otherwise send Christmas cards, tho each year I email old fwds to people who send us e-cards. I have quite a nice stash now of the good, older ones.

During Advent this year I also started sending other cards to sick or troubled friends, and those ones who are not on the internet get a relevant cartoon I print off my hard-disk stash of "motivators."


II. TREE. Our Christmas tree is about 24 inches tall, with tiny white fiber-optic lights built into it and ornaments we wired on permanently. We do not take it down all year.

That's because if we did, it would never get put back UP till February-- which happened several years in a row, until our fire in 2000 burned up our just-blended-family's Christmas heirlooms!

In 2001 we replaced the full-sized tree with all-miniature stuff, lights and all, on a table-top-sized tree. (The first one had to be replaced, but the second one's been going strong now for years.) It only needs to be plugged in for instant Christmas spirit, late at night, when we are really tired and need it. The ornaments we've been sending people per the above are on it, and the window clings for this year are on the adjoining mirror as well as the back door.


And this gives me more Christmas time to GO SEE PEOPLE and hand out candies wherever I go, in my Santa hat!

~Susan