Now this isn’t a blog post that’s meant to tell you how you should be preparing for your own holidays or what your intentions should be. But what I hope is that I can possibly help inspire those of you have found yourselves in a similar slump. Maybe you’ve become overwhelmed by the quantity of acquired ”stuff”, and the quickness of everything. Maybe you’re also feeling “pushed through” the seasons. So if that sounds like you, I’ve got a few tips to help slow things down and get yourself focused on what’s really important for your family.
Last Christmas we were starting to think about moving, so packing up the Christmas decor got me thinking a lot about the holidays, including the decor. It seemed like as good a time as any to do some purging.
While purging, I started thinking about the seasons. Why was I decorating for fall? What was my purpose? To bring the outdoors in? Or to usher in a season of thankfulness? It was pretty obvious for me it was the latter.
I thought the same for my Christmas decor. It was pretty clear to me that preparing for Christ was my reason to prepare the house. This isn’t just any old birthday, after all. And these, ultimately, were the intentions I wanted to be instilling in my children, including the season of Advent and building up to the Big Day.
So that meant giving each “season” it’s proper time and not getting caught up in impulse buys of the latest and greatest. I’d done the “Christmas decor before Thanksgiving” route for various reasons- and for me, I missed the distinction between each season.
I highly recommend making a list of what your purpose and intentions are for each season and holiday. Do you have your priorities in order? Are you preparing and celebrating the way you really want to be?
Every year it seems holiday decor hits the shelves earlier and earlier. And I have too often fallen for the trap of new holiday decor trends. The thing is, not all trends will work for every home, or everyone’s taste. And the endless impulse buying really became a distraction from the purpose of decorating in our home. The purging really helped me focus on what really was special, and what were impulsive purchases that were attractive in the store, or on someones Instagram feed, but weren’t something that actually we needed or were special for us.
So I decided I needed parameters for holiday decor, just like I set parameters for my regular decor.
First off, you can’t change the stores sales schedule. If you know you need to replace something, or you’re starting over or from scratch, plan your shopping early. BUT- that doesn’t mean you have to be putting it up right away if it goes against your intentions.
If you’re like me, you enjoy each season for it’s own value. And just because many people on social media are decorating early, doesn’t mean you have to. For many of them, it’s their job. Most genuinely want to help others get ideas and see what’s out there, and they have to follow the stores timelines, and put it all up for you to see in their space- and that means it’s got to be early.
My best advice, especially if you’re starting fresh, is to do a mock up in your space. You can grab things you already have along with the thoughtful new purchases if you have any, and see how it looks, return what doesn’t work, and pack the rest up in clearly marked storage bins. And be sure to take photos of your decor so you are good to go when it is time to start preparing for a season. The mock up doesn’t have to be perfect, but just something to give you a general idea or guideline for when it is time to switch over. It‘s a great time saver this way so when the busy holiday times approach, you are ready with a game plan.
My second suggestion is one that will occur during the “takedown” process. Examine your decor, especially linens. Donate things that aren’t working for you, or were impulse buys to begin with, and get rid of anything that is very worn or stained.
Part of this purging is to get real with yourself. How many fake pumpkins do you really need? How many faux garlands do you have, and are they even in good shape anymore? This process gets harder with family heirlooms and gifts. And I’m not saying purge everything. But maybe take the end of a season to get rid of some “low hanging fruit”- the items that are obvious, like those impulse buys or trends that never really worked for your home and really just we’re distractions.
In our last home, I had a bunch of faux green garlands, some prelit, that I’d had for years. Every year it seemed I’d be buying a new one at Christmas Tree Shop. It was embarrassing how many I had! I was buying them out of habit, not out of need.
I donated what was in good shape and threw out the rest. This year I determined precisely how many garlands I’d need for the space and ordered these from Joann fabrics. (Not an affiliate link). I loved how realistic they looked, especially for the price. They easily can be something I transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, if I’d like to, which is smart for storage, rather than having several sets of different garlands.
My third tip is about what to keep. Again, this ties in with the marketing of trends and the pressure we can sometimes put on ourselves to be “up to date” and “now”. But let’s face it- if your intention is time together as a family, however that looks, then the old pumpkin candy dish or the felt Advent calendar that your kids look forward to every year shouldn’t be on the chopping block just because they’re not trendy or “in”. Same for the hand me downs and family heirlooms. Be intentional about fitting them in and making them work. These holidays are about remembering and honoring the past, along with thankfulness and great-fullness for the present. If that’s important to you, don’t let your favorite store or Instagram account make you feel otherwise- which I know is often a self-imposed feeling. I’ve gotten caught up in it many times.
I actually pulled out my mothers Revere pewter candelabras for the mantle. I considered real candles but was concerned about the proximity to the curtains, so I went with these battery operated candles (affiliate link) on Amazon that had timers and a remote. I could have easily bought candlesticks anywhere, in any store right now, but it felt good using something passed down that held a lot of meaning.
Which leads me to my last tip: Make holiday decorating a family affair. If you have kids, get them involved, tell them about what’s important and why. Show them the hand painted ceramic angel grandma made, pull out the cookie cutters you’ve used since childhood. Teach them how to set the table and fold the napkins. Remember the photo you took of your “mock up” table? Pull it up and get the family‘s help recreating it, and even adding to it.
And while you work together, teach them why it’s important in your family to be preparing this much for these special days.
So I hope you found this all helpful and encouraging. I know I’ve been enjoying starting fresh in our new home in a meaningful way, even though I’m still working through both the purging and decorating process. Some things take time. And that, I think, is what’s most important to me and my family right now- enjoying the time during each of these seasons in relation to what each holiday means to us.
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