An Affordable Christmas-The Wrapping Paper

You can have beautifully wrapped Christmas present every year the same way that you acquired the ornaments. You accumulate a little at a time. Always save back a little money to hit the after Christmas sales, even if it is only $10.00. Check back at the stores every few days because the percent off will continue to go up as time passes. I collect Christmas tins, cookie tins, and baskets that I may come across at work after the food has been eaten. I also try to purchase some tins on sale after Christmas every year. I use brown paper bags and decorate them with rubber stamps or stickers and I save all of my Christmas bags and reuse every year along with my tissue paper and my bows. I am not beyond asking my close family members for them back especially when I know that they are just going to make their way to the trash. I purchase cheap paper at the dollar store, but I also get nice paper too, and I use every bit of it. After the presents are open you can take the paper to the shredder and make nice filler for your clear container presents the following year. My favorite wrapping containers are the one pictured here that I make and reuse every year. I purchase these in the kraft section at Walmart and the paints and stickers and take them home and make them, Everyone loves them and they saved me lots of money over the years. Just get some acrylic paint tubes and some cheap brushes, stickers and ribbons and you can make these last for years to come.

How to Afford a Memorable Christmas-The Ornaments

I hate that Christmas has become so commercialized over the years. That is never what Christmas was suppose to be about. It is suppose to be about family, about being thankful, and for those of you who believe, most importantly about our Lord. No matter how you stack it, Christmas cost money. For some of us, it turns in to our most expensive headaches, one that usually cost us our much needed income tax refund in January. This post will give you some ideas on how to build on your Christmas decorating each and every year. Here are some of the ornaments that are on my tree. When I was young and first starting out, I had a collection of cheap and sometimes scratched up ornaments that I put on my tree, that with lots of tinsel to fill it in, and of course some strung popcorn. I would see some of the most beautiful trees and think that I could never afford that, then I came up with a plan. Each year when the retailers start putting out the Christmas decorations I began expanding on my ornament collection. Yes at first I continued to use those old ornaments, but I would incorporate that in with the new ones I would get. I admit that I am a Walmart junky, so I start there. I get paid every 2 weeks, so when I get paid and do my grocery shopping I will stop by and pick up 1 or 2 very nice ornaments. I always try to get something that will go with any theme and I get something that will go with whatever color I am building on. I try to get big ornaments so that they will fill in a good size area and when I first started this I put those on the side of the tree facing the room. After Christmas, I would go to the sales and I bought my first ornament holder box. It took a few years to fill it up, but I do this every year. Also, grab a few of those big glitter ornaments. They are very inexpensive, but mixed in with the pricier ones they look fabulous. Just pick up 1 or 2 each Christmas and over the years you will have built up a substantial collection.