Making Lemonade...Rethink, Recreate and Adapt!

This is going to be a very different holiday season this year. My current situation has pretty much changed my usual seasonal activities and plans...but...

...what do I do as a creative, or as a gal who loves to decorate? Well, I adapt! I make lemonade out of lemons! I reflect, I stimulate the creative juices, change my plans, and deal with it, to the best of my ability!

This year the Christmas tree I put up is very different, and my home looks a little less decorated, as I have been quite limited, so, I created something completely new and fresh as a Christmas tree, (for me), and I love it...or should I say, "her". I have an indoor tree this year created from what I had, easy on hand, and with mostly items I had a home.

Usually, I would be digging out my several bins of decorations and my multiple trees in various sizes, but not this year. Instead, I had a friend bring one decorative item from my bedroom to my living room and then I went to town. That item was my crazy, gold-sequined mannequin form. To dress her, I grabbed bits of red clothing, hats and a cloak, (which I tied around the waist to make a skirt), and then I added faux greenery with elastic bands, twist ties and a clip. I added a string of battery-timed lights from another display in my house, and simply left on the original bangles and necklaces. In the end, "Ruby", as I have named her, probably stands over 5 feet tall where I would normally have put up a more traditional tree. I love her! She is my "rethink, recreate and come up with something different" tree this year and she is nothing similar to what I normally put up...(and I have had some beautifully decorated and themed trees over the years). I smile every time I come into the room now, because Ruby makes me feel like things are alright, and that this whole crazy situation is just a blip on the map.

As for the other things I normally decorate with? Well, I put away some of that fresh, green-colored decor, and popped in some festive red highlights. I added a red glass vase, more faux greenery, some pieces with bright red berries. I even had a friend pull out my red plaid shawls and my red hats to use them as display items. I covered the green pillow cushions with my red and white seasonal-themed cushion covers, some of the only things I could manage to get my hands on this year from a "certain" cupboard. (Having multiple cushion covers for fresh changes and themed cushion covers for seasonal or holiday changes is a great decorating tip!)

I am happy in my home as I enjoy a change of scenery and seasonal sprucing up in the main living area. It doesn't take a lot of money, time, or effort, (okay, maybe a good shot of effort this year), to make things cheerful and festive.

I also made up these little, clear cello packets with Christmas chocolates, jellybeans and an ornament to hand out to all those who helped me with either friendship or care. Their smiles let me know that thanking and giving doesn't have to be expensive, and that kindness is appreciated to a busy, otherwise stressed person, who is taken the time to come by to see or help me. They can receive a small gesture, to get a little boost of happiness in return for stopping by. Such a small thing that gives me so much happiness back in a time when I need it, to0! Win-win!

The message today is that sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons, and, in the end, you may be pleasantly surprised by the delightful outcomes! Sometimes you have to be creative and simplify. Sometimes you have to take pleasure in the less than usual. Even when times are tough, there's always a way to brighten your day, in thought or in action or in deed, and each one of us can something to do to take the edge off our current tough life circumstances.

This holiday season, in this time of busyness and expense, remember sometimes you have to rethink your plans, make creative changes, simplify and then adapt. Sometimes you just have to make lemonade!

Seasonal cheers! Lise