Toddler Proof Christmas Decorating Part 2

Last week I wrote about how to enjoy beautiful Christmas decorating even if you have young children in the house. This week, I want to focus in on the ultimate Christmas decoration - the tree. We've all heard of or experienced a pet or child related Christmas tree disaster. While I can't make any guarantees, I will share what's worked well for us.

First, a smaller tree might help if you have a younger toddler. In our old home, we had a really small living room so we would buy a fresh, four foot tree and tie it to the top of a side table. We then put a small skirt over the stand and the rope and it looked lovely and was, for the most part, out of our daughter's reach.

If you love a full size tree, as I do, then you can tie it to the wall in the back to help prevent the tree from being pulled over. While the tree is up, you can't see it at all. When the tree is done, there is just a very small nail that no one ever notices.

Second, many writers suggest that if you have pets or children, then you should buy a tree with soft needles (assuming you're buying fresh, if you like artificial trees then this won't apply). However, I see things differently. It's a pain to decorate but if you use a fresh tree with very prickly needles - like a spruce tree - will act as a deterrent to the smaller inhabitants of your home. 

Third, everyone knows to put the fragile ornaments at the top of your tree out of the kids reach. Be sure to affix them firmly so if the tree is shaken for any reason the ornaments stay put. Also, be sure to have plenty of unbreakable ornaments around the bottom of the tree to keep your kids distracted from the ones higher up.

Finally, keep a sense of humor and remember that this is your kids home too. Even as perfectionist as I can be, last year I was fine with my daughter pulling ornaments off and playing with them. As long as she left the lights alone, we were fine with her "messing it up".

I know some people put gates or fences around their tree to keep the kids away but I never liked that idea. It takes up too much space, it looks bad and it sends the message to the kids that Christmas is hands off. However, every home is different and you've gotta do what works for you.

Also, I should mention that safety is crucial. Be sure to use relatively new lights that have less or no heat and won't start a fire. Keep all open flames well away from your tree.

How do you keep your Christmas tree beautiful? Be sure to post your tips in the comments below.

Toddler Proof Christmas Decorating Part 1

I realize this post is a departure from my normal subject matter but my garden is all but done for the year and this topic is very pertinent right now. Before becoming a stay at home mom, I actually got paid to decorate private homes and businesses for Christmas and I miss it, but having a two year old has brought new challenges. If you too, would like a festive home but have little ones (or pets, come to think of it) then this post is for you!

First, and I hate to state the obvious, consider scaling back on decorations in general. I'm a flaming hypocrite for saying it but think of it this way: you may love that wooden nativity set (and yes, it's not fragile) but do you want to pick it up off the floor six times a day? Me neither.

Second, embrace soft textiles. The stores are full of festive throw blankets and decorative pillows. You kids can't break them and they'll also keep you warm and comfortable - win, win! Just keep the grape juice and sharpies out of the family room....

Third, floating shelves are your friends. If you do want to display figurines, candles and vases that are breakable, then clear off your floating shelves and re-decorate them for Christmas. You can get your regular stuff back out in January. Floating shelves can make your house look festive and beautiful without your heirlooms getting broken.

Fourth, have a designated mess zone. I've actually heard moms say they dread making cookies with their kids because of the mess. How sad, because crafts and baking projects are the stuff that priceless memories are made of! So, designate a place in your house, for me it's my dining area, where the kids are allowed to make a mess. Ideally, there won't be carpet or anything else you don't want getting dirty.

Finally, be careful with poinsettia's and decorative berries like Holly and pepper berry. None of them are good for your pets or kids. They're beautiful but I'm not having them in my home until my kids are old enough that I don't have to worry about them eating them.

So, those are my best tips. How do you decorate with kids in mind? Stay tuned for next week when I share my tips for your Christmas tree.

Everything You Need to Know About Lilacs

A big thanks to my lovely mother in law, Cathy, for this weeks post. She sent me home yesterday with not just a big bouquet of cut lilacs but also with a section of her lilac bush to grow in my own yard. Lilacs are a sentimental and traditional flower grown in both my family and in my husbands family. The particular bush mentioned above was originally grown by my husbands great grandmother and now part of it will be enjoyed daily by my daughter as well.

Aside from sentimental reasons, lilac is a great bush to grow in your yard. The smell of fresh lilac flowers is absolutely to die for and even when the plant is done blooming for the year, it can still provide a nice privacy screen and habitat for wildlife.  As you can see, the blooms make a lovely cut bouquet in the house.

This plant is looking a little wilted because I had just
transplanted it. With time, it should do quite well here.

You can buy a lilac bush or get part of someone else's bush as I did. Spring and Fall are the best times to transplant a lilac bush. They prefer well drained soil in a sunny spot and may need some watering for a while after planting. However, once your bush is established, it will be very low maintenance. When established, I prefer to look the plant over towards the end of summer every year to prune out any dead branches but that's it.

If you're buying a new plant from a nursery, you may want to consider a "bloomerang" variety as they will re bloom again in the fall. One of my neighbors has a great specimen and it was quite surprising to notice it and enjoy the smell of fresh lilacs in October.

Do you grow lilacs in your yard? Do you have other sentimental flowers that you grow? Feel free to write about it in the comment section below.

How to Create the Perfect Evergreen Decorations Part 2

The first Christmas in a new home means figuring out how to do decorations. It can be very easy to get into a decorating rut: the tree always goes in the same corner, the nativity is placed on the same table and so forth. So this year feels like a clean slate for me, which is fun. On the other hand, I didn't want to go crazy and set the bar too high for future years. Here is what I came up with:

The window boxes where a gift from my father in law who is great at building things from wood. They were installed last month so this is the first thing I've ever put in them. Seriously, if you're going to do window boxes, you've gotta put some evergreen in them. It's not just for Christmas either, you can keep greens and pine cones out all winter and it looks great.

First, fill in with evergreens, keeping in mind the height and width you want. I didn't want to block the view out the window so I kept it short. You'll definitely want to use at least two different kinds of evergreen - typically a short needled fir and a long needled pine. I also added holly. The greens should completely cover the dirt underneath.

Second, add any ribbon, berries, sticks or pine cones that you have on hand. I've been loving burlap which will look great all winter. Pretty, huh?









Making your own wreaths is a bit hard core. It really takes time to wire that all together. If you're a purist like me and are determined to make your own, then you really need to check out a few youtube videos on how to do it. It's not that complicated but you've gotta see video to really get it. Alternatively, you could always buy the $8 wreath at Walmart and then decorate it yourself. The one I did here is a mixture of douglas fir, white pine and holly. I then added burlap ribbon, pine cones and artificial berries. I love real berries but with a toddler, I don't feel it's safe.

Pinterest gave me an idea for a porch light swag which was a snap to make. If you've never worked with evergreen before, swags are the place to start. You can do it!

Finally, you got to have a real tree. We had a blast discovering a local tree farm (just 5 minutes away!) and cutting our own tree (ok, Brian did all of that). My daughter is almost two and loved putting ornaments on. I'd love to hear about your evergreen projects and family traditions in the comments below!

A New House, A New Beginning

You can't really appreciate change unless you know what something was to begin with. A person who is 20 pounds overweight might look heavy to you unless you knew they used to be 100 pounds over weight. As much as I love HGTV, it often gives the impression that renovations take place over a few months and then you get a perfect home. Most of us, myself included, can't afford to hire professionals to renovate our entire home and build the garage I'd love to have. So in the meanwhile, my husband and I, with help, will grow our gardens, DIY skills and our family.

We almost didn't even look at this house because I hate the lack of curb appeal. It looks like a box stuck on a hill, doesn't it? However, when there in person, we realized it has tons of potential and had all of our essentials. The quarter acre yard was smaller than I wanted but it's all very usable.

Part of the lack of appeal was the lack of staging and cleaning done by the previous owners. Many of the paint colors where unattractive and the stickers left on the wall wouldn't appeal to anyone. Wait till you see what we've already done to the dining area. 

The yard is large but was almost completely empty. They left one small swing set (which is great for our daughter) a decent size shed, one Sargent cherry tree, and one small flower bed. We've already created three new garden beds and have planted several bushes, but I've got tons of plans for turning it into a little homestead. 

What's the most important thing we're going to be doing here? Raising our kids. We have a beautiful little girl and we plan to start taking in foster babies soon with the hopes of being able to permanently add to our family eventually. Hence the name, Growing Lillys. This is what we've started with. Future posts will show how we fixed up the house, developed the yard and learn new DIY skills, all on a very tight budget. Stay tuned!