Celebrate!
Inspired by my post, “Christmas in July,” here are some ways to celebrate everything from fall to St. Patrick’s Day, whether or not you have children at home.
It’s Fall, Ya’ll
When the days start getting shorter and the sun goes down before supper, I long to make our living spaces feel cozy, warm, and happy. One way I do that is by putting up a Christmas tree–in October. Yes, you read that correctly. Except it’s NOT a Christmas tree. It’s my harvest tree! This tree sits in the front bay window of my house, in my dining room. It is not my full-sized Christmas tree. It’s a 6 foot, inexpensive, unlit tree. I add amber colored lights and stuff it full of artificial leaves, pumpkins, acorns, corn, and burlap. When Thanksgiving Day arrives, I love the way my autumn tree adds to the scene of my dining room table all decked out for the feast.
Mantle Magic
I change my mantle to match the season. I have a winter mantle that’s all snowy white and glittery, a spring mantle with birds and bird houses, a summer mantle with a red, white and blue nautical patriotic theme, a fall mantle with amber lights, owls, pumpkins and leaves, and of course a Christmas mantle which displays my Santa collection and glimmers with colored lights.
Advent Activities
When my kids were little, we started using a Jesse Tree to help us focus our hearts for Christmas. Each day’s devotion has a coordinating ornament, and they trace the story of the coming of Christ from the creation of the world. A fun way to get started is to have a Jesse Tree party; you’ll need as many people as there are ornaments (likely 27 or so based on which reading plan you choose). In the fall, gather participants to explain the process and have everyone choose one ornament to make. Each participant makes enough of that one ornament for every person to have. Then get together before Thanksgiving, set all the ornaments out, and have everyone take one of each so that they leave with a complete set of Jesse Tree ornaments.
Snow is Falling
I always think it’s depressing to take down the Christmas decorations. It feels like big let-down. So I leave out any decorations that are not Santa or otherwise obviously Christmas….snowmen, evergreen, berries, pinecones…these all stay out. My tree that was a fall tree, which then became a Christmas tree, now becomes a winter tree. I make sure the house is still filled with white lights and battery operated candles that are on a timer and come on in the late afternoon. I also cut out paper snowflakes and hang on the windows. And if we have actual “snow days,” which are sporadic here in Kentucky, I love to make cookies and have a crockpot of soup simmering away all day (and maybe even a crockpot of hot cocoa!).
Luck of the Irish
I’m not sure why, but my son has always loved St. Patrick’s Day. His love for it sort of became contagious; now I love it too. When the kids were home, we learned about the real Saint Patrick, missionary to Ireland. We also made Irish food and listened to Irish jigs and reels. They loved the year that we had a leprechaun scavenger hunt, at the end of which was a sack of gold coins (chocolate of course). I don’t have children at home now, so I’ve evolved into a more grown-up celebration of the day–recipes made with Guinness beer. Check online for brownies made with Guinness; you will NOT be disappointed. (And no, they don’t taste like beer. I don’t particularly care for beer myself.) There are some great breads, stews, and potpies made with Guinness too. And I have found that I love corned beef and mashed potatoes with cabbage. My husband does not enjoy that dish, however. But that’s just more for me! I don’t mind leftovers!
Hail to the Chief
Now I know that Presidential Inaugurations don’t happen every year, but they are fun to celebrate, regardless of whether or not your candidate won. When the kids were younger, we always watched the day’s festivities because I wanted them to be grateful for the peaceful transfer of power we experience here in America, and for the right to vote and participate in a democratic republic form of government. We played Bingo while listening to the presidential address using words most often heard in inauguration speeches, and we did some presidential trivia. And since I always make sure to incorporate food into anything we do, we ate all-American type foods and decorated like it was Independence Day. This coming election I will not have kids at home, but I’m hoping to these same things…just by myself!
Thankful and Blessed
For several years, the day after Halloween, our family put out our “Thankful Tree.” This was a branch that had fallen from a tree, placed in a large glass container filled with fish tank gravel and decorated with some burlap and orange ribbon. I cut out paper leaves from autumn scrapbook paper, punched a hole in the top, and looped string through to make an “ornament.” The paper leaves stayed in a jar beside the tree (along with a pen–for convenience) and each day we took a leaf and wrote something for which we were thankful and hung it on the tree. For a few years after the kids left home, I still did the tree myself. But in the past two years I’ve shifted to a paper chain. It’s simpler. And let’s be honest…if these sorts of activities are too much trouble, we won’t do them.
Birds in the House
One Christmas, when my kids were little, my husband took them to the store to pick out an ornament for me. They each chose to buy me a bird ornament. Then the next Christmas, they got me two more birds. It quickly became “a thing” to get me bird ornaments. Even my mom and sister were getting them for me. I had so many, I decided they needed their own tree. So I got an inexpensive tree like the one I use for fall/Christmas/winter and made it the official “bird tree.” This tree also comes out in the fall, usually after Halloween. It’s filled with a variety of birds and white lights, plus earthy things like pinecones, berries, feathers, and burlap. The bird tree is now one of my favorite decorations that keeps my house lilt up and cozy from November through February.
I’d love to hear how and what you celebrate! Shoot me an email and a photo and I might add it to the page!
