One Crafty Broad: Christmas Decorations

Hey, y'all!

Well, here we are at that time of the year again: the time when I can't share any of my crafty projects, because they're waiting to be presented to their rightful owners. Rather than spoil any of those surprises, I'd like to take a few minutes and show you some of my decorations at home.

For those of you who don't know this, my daughter is five and a half years old, and she has autism. I couldn't imagine loving anyone as much as I do her, and I honestly believe she's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

But decorating with autism in an itty-bitty house can be challenging. Functionality is key around here; The Princess needs her running space, we need our sanity, and we all need to be sure nothing poses a danger to her. Here are some of the things I've come up with over the last few years.

First, we only use two-thirds of our artificial tree. We find that the tree is less imposing this way, and it doesn't feel like we've lost half of our living room. I also wrap the front door with wrapping paper...not to worry: during the winter, we come and go through the garage, so we're not blocking ourselves in.

Another trick to save space and functionality is to simply switch out our decorations from season to season. We have two large bookcase-style DVD shelving units in the living room, which are great places for knick-knacks. This snowman is very special to me; The Princess made it at school last year, and I absolutely adore it.

On top of the other cabinet is our nativity scene:

Our kitchen serves as kitchen, dining room and entryway. Space is precious here, and we use a china cabinet as our pantry. Apparently, this was not a priority in the 1970's when the house was built, but we're happy with this compromise. It also makes a nice place for seasonal decorations. This year, I put my large tree-topper angel up (she's too big for 2/3 of a tree) along with our stocking hooks (stockings will be hung on Christmas Eve, as is tradition in my family). I also wrapped the windows to add a little extra cheer to the room.

I grew up on Disney. So did The Hubbs. My favorite character is Stitch...has been for some time now. He's all around my house, including the cookie jar in the kitchen, candy dishes, keychains, sweatshirts and my plush collection. On our honeymoon, The Hubbs and I found a Santa Stitch who we just couldn't live without. He is residing on our dinner table for the season.

Next up is our bedroom. My mom made the characters on the wall: Santa Claus and Willie Melt the snowman. On top of our electric space heater is Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.