by Mary Tyrer

Created on: December 10, 2007

Homemade outside Christmas decorations:

Knowing we will be having a white Christmas in Las Vegas my family and I have other ideas to make our Christmas just as special,even without the snow. I have only seen snow in the Valley a few times here in my life. Having palm trees in the front yard, it is hard to imagine a Douglas fir decorating the outside of our home. Nor would it decorate many other homes in town. In 86 degree weather it is hard to get into the Christmas spirit. Nevertheless, we have to create a way to feel the spirit of Christmas.

Going to the snow:

We always make a trip to Mount Charleston before decorating for Christmas. It serve a few purposes, we get to see snow, it is only about 45 minutes from our house. Then we also collect items to help decorate the outside of our home for Christmas.

Collecting items for our decorating:

My family will go to the mountains and bring back a fresh tree that is going into the living room, and while we were there we picked up a few things to decorate our lawn. First, we found as many pine-cones as possible, they smelled so good. I had to take just a few for my room. We will scatter the pine-cones all over our lawn that will hide the rocks under neither for the season at least.

Next, we cut branches from the tree that we cut; they will make a nice wreath for the front door. We also found many things from the past that we use every year to bring in the spirit of Christmas to everyone each year. First, the stable is built, from scrap 2x4's that are hanging around. We make a trip to the feed store and get a bale of hay to lay in the manger where baby Jesus cradle will be placed. The cradle is also made from scrap wood, it is not very big, just big enough for baby Jesus to fit. We lay him in the cradle on Christmas Eve.

Before there is Jesus we have Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, and of course the innocent animals who all witnessed His birth. We have had the figures for years and I love the display, with fresh pine-cones, the wreath and the Nativity scene on display. It gives the season great meaning, even without the snow or the Douglas Fir. The true meaning of Christmas makes a wonderful display in our front yard.

We also make sure that Santa and his reindeer are on display, along with snowmen and empty boxes wrapped as presents. For Santa we have had a suit for many years which we stuff with pillow stuffing we get from the craft store. Our reindeer's are basically stick figures with their horns made from old branches we found in the mountains. The snowmen are fun and easy to make, they are made from Styrofoam balls of different sizes we also bought at the craft store, we try to find the largest Styrofoam balls we can find and go down from there. so we have three different sizes.

Knowing the entire family has participated in decorating the front yard, and doing it as a family is fun and something we look forward to every year.

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