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We recycle Christmas decorations from year to year. Our recycled, lit tree goes in front of the living room window. We do this in lieu of hanging outside lights. I wrap empty boxes to put around the tree. I also wrap the pictures hanging on my walls as packages. I make potpourri in the crockpot from oranges, apples, rosemary, cloves, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cranberries, vanilla.
The television is tuned mostly to the Christmas music channel, or Christmas movies. I'm a pastry chef, so I bake a lot of Christmas treats. I also like to make handmade cards. My gifts are mainly baked goods with my handmade cards. I make a special breakfast and holiday meal.
Last summer I made a 6' wood "tree" from 1x2 wood, used it to support runner beans but for Christmas we wrap it in colored lights and it's in front of the house. This year added a large star at the top from scrap wood, painted it gold, makes me smile to see it daytime or night.
Indoors we decorate the china cabinet with a string of lights, that's where cards and stockings go. Greens cut from fir tree go on a mantel with lights and some tinsel. No indoor tree, 45 years never had one.
Learning to make tarts, chocolate caramel individual tarts tonight, only needed 2 oz of chocolate. Savory tarts make a great dinner, swiss cheese and kale tart was yummy. But it takes time to make tart crust (needs to "rest" for 1-2 hrs in fridge before baking), better for retired people without time crunch (I'm retired).
I forgot to add that gifts are generally wrapped in recycled gift bags, newspapers, or comics. I used to send for Internet freebies all year and use them for stocking stuffers. We also hosted a Christmas Eve party where everyone would bring a dish and inexpensive gift. There are two chefs in the house, so we would provide the main meat and the Christmas cookies and desserts. Saved restaurant takeout containers during the year, so guests could take home leftovers.
No decorations or gifts, lol. I'm really not a scrooge, but this holiday was on the crazy side. Hopefully next year I'll at least get a few decorations up.
My wife has put $100/month into a Christmas club for long before we married 20 years ago. Between the two of us we have 5 adult kids, 12 grands (4 under 16 yrs old) and 9 great grand youngsters. For the adults, we make goodies. I have a 2 ingredient peanut butter fudge, a 2 ingredient chocolate fudge recipe and my wife found a recipe for crock pot candy. The grands over 18 also get a box of goodies plus a $25 gift card. The younger grands and greats get a toy and an outfit. My wife spends as close to the same amount on each one.
We got a late start on all that this year. We live in Mayfield, Ky., where the tornado hit Dec. 10. Took a little while to get settled down again (no structural damage to our house, thankfully) and get my wife's nerves settled so the candy didn't get delivered until the week after Christmas. Everybody understood.
Most frugal. My decorations and wrappings are bought the morning after Xmas when everything left over at Walmart is 75% off.
I have some LED exterior lights on the porch and a lighted wreath inside and don't do much decorating beyond that. That's enough holiday cheer.
I like to see the crazy decorated places, but I can enjoy them on their electric bill and not on mine.
We don't do present exchange, except for my son and I. No one else gets presents. Adults really don't need gifts of stuff that they don't really want and don't need. All of my friends and relatives are capable of buying anything they want for themselves which makes it difficult to buy them anything they want or need; they already have it.
Same here. I just don't get pumped about Christmas anymore.
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