When Christmas rolls around, I roll out the red carpet for creativity. I believe that Christmas should never be routine or boring.
Take my Christmas tree, for example. Since I’m a bibliophile, I built one out of my books. Maybe the photo from my den will inspire you to case your own bookcase for possibilities. Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: Crank up the Christmas music, and heat up a cup of cider or coffee or some other treat for sipping.
Step 2: Take photos of the books on your shelves. This will make it easier to take down your tree and reorder your bookshelves after the New Year. (I order my books by genre, Pulitzer winners, and book club reads.)
Step 3: Decide what colors you want to stand out in your tree. As you pull books off the shelf, stack the right colors together. For example, I wanted the trunk to be dark, so I stacked together all the books with black or brown dust jackets, like my “Twilight” series. (I planned on having blue, green, and red tree branches but quickly ran out of books with those colors!)
Step 4: Start building! Take your time. Take a break – and a sip – when you need one. It took me several hours to get my tree just right, but the results? SPECTACULAR!
Step 5: Insert pine-scented sticks (e.g., Scentsy sticks) between the books to get a whiff of that fresh tree smell when you walk by. You also can use the sticks to hold garland and glittery balls on your tree. I did not use lights, because I did not want to risk a fire.
If you prefer a traditional tree, that’s okay too. How about spicing up your gift-giving? One year, I created headlines for small, inexpensive gifts,and each person got something from each category. The headline categories included: things you find in a flea market; things that make you go “hmmm”; grin-worthy gifts; wallet warmers; and things that make you look FABULOUS. My family loved it, and the shopping experience on my end was unforgettable.
This Christmas, I hope creativity rains down on you…and lots of love, hope, and anticipation for a blessed New Year.