Stores
are always changing their displays to get our attention. Why
shouldn't we do the same for the ones we love, with the twin
goals of creating a fun home environment and of reminding
us of God's goodness to us throughout the year? I have found
over the years that it doesn't take too much creativity or
money to add variety to life and make our home a place that
people love to come home to, while allowing us to better enjoy
each season.
Many
of the ideas that we follow center on colors that are chosen
because of their seasonal or historic associations. Over the
years I have put together a collection of candles, placemats,
table runners, and other decorative elements that I mix and
match to create the seasonal color schemes. Personally I like
to decorate not only the environment of the house but I also
like creating special settings, especially for meals.
I
know that many families no longer eat together but my family
values that time for keeping in touch and sharing the details
of life, and an attractive table is always a draw for family
and of course company if you are having any. It makes everyone
feel that the meal is a special family occasion. I have a
few other locations whose look I change frequently, on top
of the TV in the living room, and the fireplace mantle. Here
are some hints that I have learned and my family has enjoyed
over the years.
When
school starts, the weather gets cooler, and fall begins to
set in, I like to add some oranges and brown in my decorating
including pumpkins and gourds, and wonderful fall leaves.
Kids love helping to pick these out! As Thanksgiving draws
near I begin to add turkeys and pilgrims, which provide reminders
of our national history and what we have to be thankful for.
After
Thanksgiving, many people, especially department store window
dressers, start putting up all of their red and green Christmas
décor. But I love building the anticipation of the
season by celebrating Advent. Four Sundays before Christmas
is the beginning of advent, marked by lighting the first of
four candles on the "advent wreath" (some people
prefer an "advent log".) The advent candles are
traditionally purple, symbolizing the mixture in the person
of Christ of the blue of heaven with the red of mankind's
blood. So during the early weeks of advent, which frequently
come before I am ready to pull out my Christmas boxes, I introduce
purple into my decorating.
Who
doesn't love the smell of Christmas greens? They are a wonderful
first step in Christmas decorating and combine well with purple
candles for the advent theme. I also use artificial grapes
or plumbs for additional purple accents. If you spread the
purple theme around a bit, then the purple candles do not
stand out as much, and it gives variety to your home until
you find the time and are ready to pull out your Christmas
things. Then I exchange the purple bows for red or gold ones,
on the wreath over my fireplace and my other greens.
Because
the birth of Christ is the focus of our Christmas celebration,
I put a nativity scene in a prominent place. For my children,
and now my grandchildren, the unpacking of the crèche,
along with the lighting of the advent candles, mark the beginning
of the Christmas season. The excitement and anticipation build
with the gradual decorating of the house. My granddaughter
moves the wise men of the crèche a bit closer to Mary,
Joseph and baby Jesus day by day as Christmas approaches.
She also loves an advent calendar where she can find and open
a window in it each day. I use this growing anticipation to
frequently talk with her about Jesus coming to earth and what
an amazing miracle it is, so that Christ is woven into her
thinking about Christmas.
On
Christmas Eve we take away the advent wreath and light for
the first time the white "Christ candle", which
reminds us that Christ is born and here with us now. And on
Christmas morning when people start showing up to open their
stockings I have the table all set with red placemats and
my good china. Red doesn't really go with my dining room colors
but I don't worry about it because it's Christmas. It doesn't
take much work to set a beautiful table but it creates a festive
mood and helps the day feel very special.
I
enjoy the Christmas environment that I have worked to create
even for a few days afterwards, but then gradually I begin
to take away some of the decorations, starting with things
like Santas and the stockings, so that by New Years Eve I
have taken away the reds and replaced them with gold and silver,
enhanced by white or glass accents. This gives the house a
fresh new look with very little effort.
I
usually leave up the Christmas greens enhanced with the gold
or silver through Epiphany on January 6th. Children don't
mind at all if you adopt the Latin American tradition of giving
them gifts on that day from "the three kings." I
set out any Christmas cards we have received with pictures
of the three kings on that day to remind us of the visit of
the Magi and their gifts to Jesus. Creating this special occasion
helps offset the "post-Christmas slump" especially
with children who are having to go back to school.
As
the rest of January is often cold and sometimes dreary, I
cheer things up by decorating with snowmen that I have collected
over the years or that the children make with cotton or marshmallows.
They keep the house from looking bleak after I have put away
all of the Christmas things, and they combine perfectly with
the silver and white accents I had for New Years. I try to
keep red out of my decorations for a few weeks and reflect
on the white of the snow and how wonderful it is that the
Lord promises that our sins will be washed whiter than snow.
That's a hope that can cheer up the dreariest of days.
With
the arrival of February I bring out red again with some fun
Valentine accents to help us remember to love one another
as the Lord has loved us and done so much for us.
In
March I am always eager for spring to arrive, so I usually
decorate with green and the colors of potted blooming flowers,
like hyacinth or tulips, and the bright yellow of my forsythia
that I force blooms on by bringing cuttings inside. I anticipate
and reflect with my decorating the glorious show of beauty
that the Lord gives to us with all of the blooming bulbs and
trees, from the early crocuses and daffodils to the late tulips
and newly planted annuals.
Easter
frequently comes as all of the trees and gardens are coming
to life, a perfect time to celebrate our new life in Christ
made possible by his dying for our sins. To all of the natural
beauty (imagine how much more beautiful heaven will be!) I
add candles and accents of purple for royalty and white for
purity and of course Easter lilies that fill the house with
their fragrance.
For the patriotic holidays-Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth
of July and Labor Day-I pull out red, white and blue, little
flags and patriotic things we have collected over the years.
They remind us to pray for our country and to take the opportunity
to do something special, like go for a picnic, have friends
over for a cookout, or just go a park that we don't usually
take the effort to go to where the kids run free and play
all day.
In
the summer I don't do a lot of decorating but I love to set
out accents of my favorite summer things like seashells, lighthouses,
and of course, flowers.
There
are so many little and inexpensive things you can do to make
your home an ever-changing, interesting place. I hope this
has given you some ideas of how, with a little thought and
planning, you can create a welcoming environment, while at
the same time creating the opportunity to be reminded of and
to teach valuable spiritual truths.
