Holidays, Decorations and Decisions

Halloween is over and down come the decorations.   Did you use everything you had and if so were you happy with it all?  As we and our kids get older, we tend to not want to put out as much and some of us decide to put out nothing but a pumpkin.  When you are at that point of being tired of putting out as many decorations as you have in the past, give yourself permission to eliminate those decorations that no longer bring you joy and happiness. 

Me?  I have decided I no longer want to put out the luminaries I put out for so many years.  Why?  A few reasons including, I no longer have a sandbox to get the sand from for the bottom of the bags and 2 years ago they got a little wet from a rain.  The last and biggest reason is because I no longer want to constantly check the candles to make sure they are still lit due to the wind that seems to always occur on beggars night.  Because of these reasons, the luminaries I slaved over for years are now in the trash.   I also decided no longer to stuff a flannel shirt with newspaper and make it look like a body coming out of the ground.  It never looked that great anyway and with the rain that happens before Halloween it always shrunk and looked weak.  I now just use the mask on the ground in my small graveyard.  That flannel shirt is now in the bag for donations. 

As we are coming up on even more holidays for decorating including Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukah consider reviewing your decorations before and after putting them out.  If they do not bring you joy and happiness, it is time to give them away so someone else can enjoy them.  If there are decorations that have sat in the bottom of the storage bin for a couple years, it is time to donate.  If you are waiting for your kids to take it, give them the decorations as a pre-holiday gift and let them make the decision.  Do not be upset if they do not use the item.  It is their choice. 

Once you have made the decisions on what holiday decorations to keep, organize them so they are easy to find and easy to put away.  One suggestion would to separate indoor from outdoor and Halloween from Fall decorations.   Make sure you label the containers you have placed them in so they are easily found next year.