❘ Home & Garden
37 ❘ Klamath Life ❘ Close to Home
By LEE BEACH H&N Staff Reporter
W
Deck the
halls on a dime
Freshen up your holiday household decor this Christmas season without breaking the bank Bring the outdoors in: Make it a traditional family outing to cut fresh greens and the Christmas tree, which will be fresher than one from a lot that was cut before Thanksgiving. Then use those greens for swags, wreaths or table decorations.
Choose areas with high visual impact: Trying to decorate every room in the house can be exhausting and expensive. Break it into just a few areas: The front door, the table top, decorative accents and a few details (a dish of special chocolates, fresh flowers or fragrance for a room).
hile tradition is still the focus of much of our holiday decorating — ornaments passed down from family through the years, ornaments made by children now grown, nativity scenes that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas — colors begin to fade with passing years.
Now is the time to think about refreshing or replacing some of those items. Look everything over. Will a fresh coat of craft paint, a new way of enhancing older decorations, spark new life in these beloved objects? If you can’t bear to part with them, create a “family memory corner” with these items, making a display with notes about their history. If you are ready to replace some of them, there are ways to do it without breaking the bank. See DECK, page 38
In the kitchen: Simple holiday magnets on the fridge for color, holiday window clings or simple ornaments strung from kitchen curtains will brighten what is often the busiest room in the home during the holidays.
Make your own ornaments: Use dough made with flour, salt and water to create inexpensive, fast-drying sculpting clay. Use family pictures on old CDs or use the round metal bottom of a juice can for a frame. For more on these techniques, visit this page — http://bit.ly/Se31dm — at howstuffworks.com. Or, peruse the local thrift, antique or craft stores for ideas and reasonably priced items.