How To Manage Housework During the Christmas Season

While you are working on your Christmas preparation, don't allow everything else go to pot. Continue on the basic household routine—cooking, laundry, and pick-up— and you'll have more time for Christmas projects and fun.

To create more time for Christmas projects, learn the fundamental principle of setting priorities. Choose what has to be taken care of and which things can be put off or skipped. Some people call this a system of "selected neglect." Here once more, it often helps to write down your ideas so you can appraise them logically, using your physical senses instead of running ideas around and around in your mind trying to organize them...READ MORE>>>

Christmas Crafts: Patchwork Ornaments

Decorating for the holidays usually start with your tree. Ready made decorations can be costly, and it's super easy to make your own from some scraps of fabric. A country theme is readily warm and inviting. When you use one design for all the ornaments, changing the look using different fabric patterns and colors, you will be able to make plenty to cover the tree in just one weekend, and the cost would be minimal.

Decorate your Christmas tree using stuffed patchwork shapes (lights, hearts, tree, star, etc)  then make a few more to fill up with dried lavender for small sachet gifts. If you've got an old quilt that's irreparable, this is an excellent method to make it last. Cut up the usable parts to become tree decorations. If you will be using new fabric, use 100 percent cotton and pre-wash using a little bleach and fabric softener to give it a soft, washed-out look that would add old-quilt quality to each ornament. If you love the look of quilting, you can create these shapes using pre-quilted fabric available in most yard stores. Alternatively, you can just make stuffed patchwork Christmas ornaments decorations without the quilting...READ MORE>>>

How to Shop For The Right Christmas Tree For Your Home

The Christmas tree tradition in the United States came from German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania.  This tradition of Christmas trees is believed to stem from Germany from as early as 700 A.D and was part of the German tradition in the 1800s.  During that period Christmas trees became available for sale in the United States since 1800s just about the same period that the former Woolworth's department store began selling ready-made decorations for Christmas trees.

Although artificial Christmas trees are very popular, a lot of people still choose to have a freshly harvested Christmas tree either inside their homes, or out on their lawns. Just like all other trees, Christmas trees also come in different shapes and sizes that make a few types more popular than others.
      
Many consider having a Christmas tree in the home very important, accompanied by other Christmas decor items such as garlands and wreaths in order to create a special ambience for the holidays.   
      
It is important to choose the right type of Christmas tree because these are a main attraction in many family activities and traditions...READ MORE>>>