I got a couple ideas from Jenny at ACME Gift, who said they would only be spending $10 on all their Christmas decorations. And as a retail store, you know they're going all out. The first idea is reusing packing peanuts like popcorn to make garland. This only took a couple hours and my garland is really long. I don't recommend going out and buying packing peanuts. Popcorn would be more eco-friendly. But if you have some sitting around this is a great way to put it to use. I would suggest using fishing line instead of regular string like I did.
The second idea was making tissue paper snowballs. Jenny gave me general directions but I was having some problems, so I did a google search and found more info on Martha Stewart's wedding web site, of all places. My advice is use more than the recommended 8 sheets of tissue paper (Jenny said 10) for the large ones, and the dimensions do matter. I tried using our leftover moving tissue paper with different dimensions and they looked pretty pathetic. I cut them in half to get the proportions better, then used 10 half-sheets per smaller snowball. They aren't perfectly round but look much better than my earlier attempts.
We also started a new tradition (shhh, Ian doesn't know yet it's a new tradition) of making paper snowflakes. Ian had lots of fun hanging them up in random places.
Here are some other shots of our Christmas decorations. Some things were handed down to us and some things were wedding decorations (a plus of a holiday wedding). The only decorations we've purchased since getting married are the stockings. I had my heart set on coordinating ones last year.
So what do you do with all that money you saved? You buy something, like a goat or a chicken, from the World Vision Christmas Catalog for someone on your Christmas list. Then forward the receipt to PomplaGoat (at) gmail (dot) com and get this Pomplamoose Christmas song for free (they're throwing in another unreleased song as well!)
"Always in the Season"
mistle toe and silver snow,
and ivy growing on the walls,
i wish i could erase these dreams, i do.
but all my days are running by
in shopping malls with endless lines
i don't know how i got here, do you?
somewhere between the catalogs
of what to get for him
somewhere amidst the china dolls
my vision starts to spin
'cause i thought christmas was supposed to be
more than lighting up the christmas tree
more than filling up our socks with toys
more than all of this tremendous noise
so all i really mean to say
is let's not throw this time away
i'd rather just sip chocolate with you
and if you'd like to treat me nice
don't wait for snow don't wait for ice
i'm always in the season, are you?
somewhere on santa's list
my name's been crossed off with a slash
somewhere i'm gonna find a better way
to spend my cash
'cause i thought christmas was supposed to be
more than lighting up the christmas tree
more than filling up our socks with toys
more than all of this tremendous noise
i'm always in the season, are you?