Simply Making Holidays Do: Christmas 2013

This Christmas has been different in a lot of ways for me.  This is the first Christmas that my parents are officially divorced, so there is the awkward process of figuring out what's comfortable for everyone. It's not fun, but what can you do?  This is also the first Christmas that I told myself that it's okay to refrain from "doing it up big," to create a more simple Christmas for me and my small family.

We decided to forgo getting a Christmas tree this year.  Shelling out at least $20 for a real tree (albeit a beautiful smelling one) that I always regret having to throw away in January just didn't sound fun this year or at all cost-efficient.  And while I do miss the pine smell throughout our tiny place, I am happy with what I did instead.

Because I do love the tradition of pulling out and hanging all of those childhood ornaments, I hung a garland that I already owned and strung the ornaments up.  Getting to see those ornaments on a daily basis this month made me smile and I still get that warm feeling that I normally would get when seeing them on a Christmas tree.

I also decided not to send Christmas cards this year and to give a call to those I normally would've sent a card off to. It's only a few dollars I'll be saving, but I'm also secretly happy to not have to brave the post office at this time of year anyway.

In my small family, there are only a few close people that I actually exchange gifts with.  Although I'd whip out my credit card and charge some wonderful gifts for them all in a second, I promised myself this year to keep it simple. For the ladies in my family, I found a tutorial online and made some homemade soy candles for them. I already had the mason jars so all I had to purchase was the soy wax and the wicks. I made a total of 6 candles and each ended up costing me about $1.25 to make. I added a homemade tag and some ribbon that I already owned to give them some charm. I'm happy with how they turned out and now I know that the next time I'd love to run to some fancy home goods store and buy a bunch of candles that I can make my own for a fraction of the cost.

Food costs continue to be an issue for me. Even though I can tell myself I don't need new shoes or some pretty do-dad, abstaining from splurging on comfort foods is proving to be really difficult. And the holidays make it tough. Who am I to deny myself my favorite foods at Christmas-time? It's the most wonderful time of the year, right? We have a lot of holiday dinners and get togethers in the next week and I'm trying my best to cool it on the food spending in the meantime. It's gonna be hard, but it's worth it.

From my little corner of the world, I hope you have a wonderful and warm Christmas.