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Homes for the Holidays

Economical Decorating with Your Family

By Jenn Director Knudsen

Her family also makes letter posters by cutting huge "bubble" letters out of copy paper, coloring them with different patterns and designs and stringing them together with the same ribbon used for tying curly-cue bows on gifts.

"Decorations?" says Shel Horowitz, author of The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant's Pocketbook (Accurate Writing & More, 1995) and mother of a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old. "Save the shiniest, fanciest wrapping paper you receive all year on other presents (especially metallic ones), and cut strips of these glittery papers to spruce up a room or a Christmas tree."

She also recommends shopping the days after Christmas to stock up on "deeply-discounted decorations" to put aside for next year. "Or get your kids to do art projects that can be used to decorate," says Horowitz, who is Jewish and whose family celebrates, but doesn't decorate for, Hanukkah.

Instead, she says, "When we decorate the house for Halloween [and] birthday parties [for example], we do indeed decorate very cheaply. It's amazing how many parties you can get out of a couple of rolls of crepe paper!"

Most parents have lots of pictures of their children, and there's no better time of year to put them to use as creative holiday wares.

Burnes of Boston, one of the largest designers, marketers and manufacturers of ready-made picture frames and other photo paraphernalia, suggests adorning the tree with family photos or, for a holiday meal, putting tiny photos into miniature picture frames as place cards.

Peterson says photo tree ornaments can be made by cutting out picture and gluing it to cardboard. Hide the edges with trim or cording that's also used to hang the ornament from a tree limb or wreath.

Want to see more?

• Unconventional Holiday D袯r: Dressing Your Home for the Season
• Celebrate Hanukkah: Activities to Make, Play and Eat with Your Preschooler
• From Christmas to Kwanzaa: Learning the Different Holidays Through Crafts
• Distinctive Decorating: Creating Your Own Holiday Style
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!

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