Christmas in a Box

I'm having my second apartment Christmas this year. Last year was beyond depressing, but this Christmas is different. This Christmas the focus is on what I believe Christmas to be about rather than being focused on how alone I felt last Christmas. This year I in fact feel happy and blessed. For me, that's because I've gained some spiritual focus.

I even actually researched the symbols of Christmas for our Christmas board at the end of the hall. Religion aside, the research was very enlightening and made me look at decorations in a completely different way. I really started to look at it differently once I started decorating my tree.

I pulled 5 boxes out of my bedroom closet. After careful review I realized that most of my decorations not only didn't fit in with my idea of what Christmas was about, but I really didn't even like most of them! So, I minimized my Christmas storage. I even took a few steps closer to being a more Earth friendly decorator by recycling and planning for future Christmas recycling.

You see, even before I started decorating I thought about how much I dreaded dragging the Christmas decorations out because I was dreading having to put them away after Christmas and having to house the unused decorations during Christmas. Then it hit me! I don't have to store Christmas decorations over the holiday season! Why am I even keeping them I thought. That's when I made the executive decision.

Out of all of the Christmas ornaments, I kept about twenty. Ten of those are for the tree and the rest is for around the house. I picked out a couple of what I considered to be tasteful ornaments and put them on the tree. Then, I curled small pieces of ribbon and scattered it throughout the branches. One set of mother of the pearl style string of beads and a light set later, I was done.

I don't have to store any boxes because I know that Hunter will get something that comes in a small box. I'll use that small one to pack away the decorations for next year. I'm not even replacing wrapping paper when I run out because I plan to use alternative methods when I run out this year or next year.

The leftover ornaments are going to be given to my father and his wife to replace the ones they had before their house burnt down this past year.

In the end, I get Christmas in a box. As I look at my tree and talk to my son about the things that are on there I find myself more and more grateful that I did this. Now we can concentrate on Christmas instead of commercializing yet another holiday!