by Amber Gomez

Created on: November 10, 2009

Right now our country is in an economical slump, and parents are having a hard time figuring out how to juggle bills, household chores, kids and now the looming holiday seasons. A good solution to two of those problems is to have a homemade Christmas! This is a great way to spend time with your family and save a money at a time where you desperately need it.

Decorations!

Decorating is a easy, fun Christmas project that your family will enjoy doing together. Start with the front door and work your way in. You can make a wreath for your door out of paper plates, wrapping paper and ribbon scraps. Just cut out a circle in the middle of the plate and you can decorate that for a tree topper. If you don't have the money to spend on a gigantic tree or cant afford even a little one, decorate a potted plant or have you kids make one out of construction paper, and let them draw their decorations. Just get creative and make it special for the kids.

Stockings!

Stockings are a must have for any Christmas celebration. They are inexpensive and fun to decorate. A couple weeks before Christmas put everyones name in a stocking and have each member draw a name, then over the next few weeks have everyone decorate the stocking for the person who they drew and fill it with homemade gifts, candy and nicknack's. Then on Christmas eve have everyone hang their stockings up. If you have little kids who believe in Santa let them know that you are only helping Santa out, let them hold on their innocence for another year.

Gifts!

If you have a large family you can do a secret Santa drawing, and instruct everyone that it has to be homemade. If you have a smaller family then just have everyone make a small homemade gift for everyone. You can also do a gift basket for each person where you take a basket and fill it with little stuff the person might like, and if you take this route head to the dollar store! Inexpensive yet effective and you can fill it with stuff they need or would enjoy. In my family each person gets a big gift from "Santa" and the rest are homemade and from the family.

Christmas is not about presents, money, or materialistic things. Its about family, love, and being with the ones you cherish. So don't make the holidays sad just because moneys a little tight, kids dont understand money problems. So hold your family tight and enjoy the holidays, they only come around once a year.

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