Let me tell you how I start my Christmas decorating. You may be surprised when I tell you many times I start decorating for next Christmas before this Christmas is even over. I always have my eyes open for neat ideas, for clearance sales and for tweaking this year’s decorating ideas (by reusing my plan in a slightly different way or even a totally different way.)

So when you are out and about Christmas shopping, attending those Christmas parties and generally running errands don’t forget to keep your eyes open for neat ideas to implement into your own Christmas decorating. Bust out the cardboard boxes and get to work!

One year I drove past a house at night that had so many unusual things light up with Christmas lights that it gave me the idea to light up my boys basketball whoop for a two fold reason. One reason, because no one else was lighting up basketball whoops and two, because my boys’ team was doing extremely well and ended up making it to the State Finals. I use ten to fifteen stands of 100 green lights and simply ran the strand around the pole, then drooped the lights over the basketball rim. I even wrapped lights around a ball and sat it in the grass as if the ball had just rolled off once the boys finished playing. It was so neat and one of my fondest memories of an unusual idea turning out extremely well.

Tweaking ideas from past years is also a great way to decorate. I love tweaking my ideas because I’m bound and determined to not ever decorate the same way twice.  Oh I know, many people have had the exact same tree, sitting in the exact same spot, decorated with the exact same 25 ornaments for years and years. That is just not me! And by no means am I disrespecting anyone that wouldn’t consider deviating from duplicating the same tree year after year.

But that’s definitely not my style! I have so many ideas running through my head that I don’t believe I will ever use up all my ideas. So whether it’s simply putting the tree in a different spot than last year, or decorating the small tree the way the big tree was last year, I’m always able to find ways to improve upon what was done in the past. And when January comes around, all the trees go back in my cardboard boxes.