How to Create an Old-Fashioned Country Christmas

Many people long for a simpler time and a return to the old-fashioned country Christmas reminiscent of the holiday celebrations you saw on "Little House On The Prairie." You can avoid the commercialism, pare down and focus on the true meaning of Christmas in a more meaningful, less hectic way.

Things You'll Need

• Plain brown Kraft paper or newspaper
• Ribbon, raffia or string
• Popcorn
• Cranberries
• Pine cones
• Whole walnut shells
• Gingerbread men cookies
• Gold spray paint
• Glue
• Glitter
• Needle
• Fishing line or thread
• Red and green construction paper
• Old Christmas cards
• Bible
• Nativity scene
• Candles

Instructions

1. Forget about most of your plug-in Christmas decorations. This year, if they require electricity--with the exception of a few strings of lights and the angel or star for the top of your tree--leave them in the closet. All those blinking, moving, singing holiday decorations add little more than chaos to your home during the holiday season. If you have similar decorations that require batteries instead of electricity, leave those in the closet, too. You're about to embark on a simpler, more peaceful season at your house.

2. Quit looking for the perfect tree. In days of old, most Christmas trees actually came from the woods or someone's pasture--not from a tree lot or a box to be put together. Those trees weren't pruned to perfection or sprayed to enhance their color. They were what they were, and that natural tree was absolutely beautiful just the way it was. If you're lucky enough to have access to a section of woods (and permission from the owner to cut down a Christmas tree) or a cut-it-yourself tree farm, take your family outdoors and start a new tradition. Cut down your own tree. If not, go down to the tree lot, but don't be so picky this year.

3. Decorate your tree naturally. Go ahead and put electric lights on your Christmas tree, because candles--the real old-fashioned way--are not safe. Then start thinking like they did in the old days and decorate your tree with traditional or inexpensive and easily available trimmings you help create yourself. Pop up a batch of unbuttered popcorn, use a needle and thread and string it into long sections you drape on the tree like garland. Do the same with cranberries. If you want to be really creative, alternate three pieces of popcorn, then one cranberry in a pattern on one string.

4. Make your own ornaments. Bake some gingerbread men, taking a moment to make a small hole in the top of each gingerbread man's head with a straw (before you bake them) so you will have a hole you can use to tie him to the tree with ribbon after he's baked and cooled. Take whole walnut shells, glue a ribbon to the top of each so you can hang them on the tree, hang the shells on an old dowel or branch and then spray-paint them with gold spray paint. Take pine cones of various sizes and shapes, glue a ribbon to the top of each so you can hang them on the tree, roll each pine cone in glue, sprinkle with glitter, and then hang the pine cones on an old dowel or branch to dry. You'll quickly--and inexpensively--have a Christmas tree that sparkles with old-fashioned charm. If you have children, get them involved in making the ornaments and start another new family tradition they'll remember.

5. Get creative with construction paper. Some of the simplest, easiest craft projects from back when you were in kindergarten or first grade make the coolest old-fashioned Christmas decorations. Cut strips of red and green construction paper, make a loop and glue the ends together, slip the end of the next paper into that loop and glue the ends together--alternating red and green--and so on to make a paper chain. Drape it on your tree. Cut red and green construction paper into shapes (cookie cutters make a great pattern) such as ovals, circles, bells and stars. Cut out pictures from old Christmas cards in ornate shapes and glue them to the construction paper shapes. Add some glitter and bows if desired. Then make a small hole with a needle, thread them on a ribbon for a hanger and add them to your tree.

6. Tie the ends of many of the tree branches with ribbon bows in red, green or gold.

7. Use a plain fabric Christmas tree skirt to hide the tree stand beneath your tree or simply wrap a few yards of solid colored fabric--red, green, gold, tan or even brown--around the base of the tree loosely to hide the stand.

8. Wrap all of your presents with plain brown kraft paper (or newspaper, for a less expensive alternative) and tie them with string, raffia or ribbon. Pile them beneath your tree and enjoy the pre-holiday anticipation and the old-fashioned charm.

9. Set up a small nativity scene beneath your Christmas tree in a prominent place and remember the real reason for the season. Take time to sit down in the evening with all of the house lights off, plug in the Christmas tree lights, look at that nativity scene and appreciate what the holiday is really about. If you have children, let them help set up the nativity each year and tell the story of Jesus' birth while you do it.

10. Open your Bible to Luke Chapter 2, the story of the birth of Christ, and place it in a prominent place in your home. Place a candle or two near the Bible and arrange a pine bough, some pine cones and a few cranberries near it to create an attractive display. On Christmas Eve, light the candles and read the story out loud. Let it become a new family tradition.

11. Focus on family. Simplify your home and your decorating and get the family involved in the preparations. Cut back on gift buying and let children, family and friends know that this year you're focusing on the real reason for the season and not getting caught up in the commercialism and overspending. Instead of spending money, enjoy the time you spend together having fun and making memories. Those memories are guaranteed to last much longer than the latest toy or fad--and your family will treasure them far more in the years to come.

Tips & Warnings

• Prepare children for a "different" kind of Christmas well in advance of the holiday. Get them excited by telling them how much more fun you're going to have this year celebrating the season as a family instead of focusing on presents and gift buying.

• Don't be too surprised if your family and friends don't embrace your old-fashioned country Christmas as much as you do--particularly in the beginning. The media, advertising campaigns for toys and gifts and peer pressure to have a modern Christmas with more, more, more are powerful influences.