Simple and Sweet! (Not to mention..QUICK!)

My de-lighted wire deer that was supposed to be turned into a grapevine deer has met a problem!  Mark came home and decided that the yard needed to be decorated.  My de-lighted deer which was now painted black caught his eye.  That and a funky-looking wire Christmas tree wound up being used as decorations near the driveway.  After a full can of spray paint, the deer is now white again. My vine covering experiment will have to wait for another time.  This reindeer has been called back into use!  We stripped the wire tree of all of its blown lights and put a small cluster of white lights at the top.  In lieu of snow (something we rarely get this far south!), we put some hay down on the ground.  At least our de-lighted wire reindeer would eat well! One string of lights around the whole little grouping was all that was needed to complete the look.  I had no desire to stay out all day decorating at this late of date. When I do that much work, it had better be for more than a couple of days!

 

The next thing Mark wanted to do was decorate the doorway.  The entryway had already been decked out on the inside but the outside was a tad dark to suit him.  I convinced him that a bit of garland and a few lights was all that was needed.  As I untangled a few strings of lights, I sent him down the lane a bit to gather a good bit of pine boughs.  What he brought back looked mightily like a full pine tree!  But it would work!  He snipped the "tree" into small workable pieces for me to wire together.  The garland only needed to be about eight feet in length so this task went quickly.  The lights were added and I wired the whole contraption above the door.  It looked quite nice!  Ahh....that was finished!  Admittedly, our decorations could never compete with our neighbor's down the street.  That house and yard is decorated with about a gazillion lights and all sorts of outdoor adornments.  It is beautiful but, personally, I will stick with just a few well-placed lights and maybe one or two ornaments.  Sometimes...simple is just better.  Besides, the Little Bayou House is not fancy..it is rustic.  A gazillion lights would not change that and I really would not want it changed in the first place!  I like it the way it is!

I believe all of this sudden desire to decorate the yard was in anticipation of the arrival of our son-in-law and daughter.  Robbie and Elizabeth were on their way here to spend the holidays with us!  Christmas is just so much better when kids come home to the Little Bayou House!  I am quite sure that tomorrow will see Elizabeth and me in the kitchen!  All sorts of cookies, candies and other goodies will soon fill the dining room table!  Yep, Christmas is coming!

Any suggestions?

Ok..so my little misfit of a tree, The Little Tree, has made its official debut as a decorated Christmas tree! It has brightened the dining room tremendously! It is absolutely pulchritudinous! (Now..be truthful..how many of you quickly looked up that word?!! Actually, my son and I were discussing this word today..it sounds like the exact opposite of its definition! Pulchritudinous.. beautiful, comely! Doesn't it almost sound as if it is something quite disgusting!) Anyway, now the question..my tree is decorated but has no topper..what should I use as the crowning glory of The Little Tree?? The tree itself is old, balding and tired.. it is leaning slightly to the left.. it is gorgeous if only in my eyes! It has the tiny, white lights and exactly $14.98 of ornaments! I challenged myself to decorate a tree for under $25 and have managed much better! The lights came from the local dollar store and the bought ornaments were from DollarTree! They actually have really pretty decorations. The boxes of glass ornaments surprised me with the quality! The garland of tiny light bulbs is another dollar store find and the green beaded garland is..well..sort of recycled. Actually, that will be called upcycled! Face it, Folks, I live on the Gulf Coast..we have Mardi Gras beads cluttering up every junk drawer in our house! The suggestion of using those for garland came from a young girl that I met in DollarTree. She and I were discussing how to decorate on a budget..I, because of my challenge and she, because of this being her first Christmas in her apartment. When I got home from the store, I dug around in every nook and cranny, box and basket, closet and cabinet to find all of the old Mardi Gras beads. What a collection! I had well over a hundred strings. I had multiple strings of all colors..except.....red. There were only two strings of red. I had so wanted a red beaded garland to match the big tree in the living room. Nope..wasn't happening..no way. Next choice was gold..only there were all sorts of golds..yellow gold..orange gold..almost white gold..hmmph! I am down to mounds of blue..too many different sizes..pink..whoever heard of a pink garland..purple..now there's a thought..and green. Green won out since the theme of the tree was to be red, gold and green following a gifted Santa ornament. So the garland was free. Since I have spent well under my allotted $25, I have leeway to splurge on a topper. I am just not sure that I really want any of the toppers that I saw at the stores..I want something a bit unique..something that will catch the eye and say "Hey..I am up here on the beautiful tree..look at me!" I would love something handmade perhaps! So there it is..what do I put on top of my tree? Any suggestions???

While photographing the Little Tree, I noticed the vintage Santas behind it on the shelf. Every year, I carefully unwrap these little Santas and smile. They make me happy! I remember as a small child playing with these very same Santas at my grandparent's house. Each holds a tiny tool in his tiny, hard plastic hand. I, also, remember as a child the horror I felt when I broke one of those tiny, hard plastic hands. I was trying to remove the tool and CRACK! Santa's hand fell off! Oh my! I just knew I was sooo in trouble! My grandmother consoled me and merely picked up the pieces. WOW! What a lesson in patience! But a few questions...are these supposed to be Santa? If so, why are there so many of him? Why is he the one (ones) with the tools..what is wrong with those elves? And why is he not wearing red? Is it his day off? So many unanswered questions!