Decorating for the holidays.

With Gizmo the kitten (half-grown cat at this point), I knew that I couldn't get away with putting up my usual holiday decorations. Too much glass and other breakable stuff, too much fake greenery and other chewable stuff.  So, I decided to decorate a little at a time, and see how it goes over. But I won't be putting up all of it. I can just see coming home and the tree being down on the floor and the cat chewing on light wires. Which sucks, because last year after the holidays, I got a small, but very high quality prelit artificial tree for less than $10 because I happened to walk into the store minutes after the clerk put the 90% off sign on them. I'd had one since I first moved out in '88, but after 20 years of use, it was pretty shabby looking. I'd been looking forward to using the new one this year, but I like Gizmo more than the tree, so it's all good.  There's always next year.

The photo is my little "test run" of catproof decorations I put up Friday night.  So far - so good, he hasn't even jumped up on that cabinet to investigate them. It was all thrift shop and discount store stuff. The most expensive and breakable thing would be the silver ornament tree, and it's plastic and came from Target. We stuffed a small string of green lights all the way up into it, and it looks really cool when plugged in. Not the tree I wanted, but a completely acceptable (and fun) substitute.  Now that I know Gizmo won't bother stuff up there, I will replace the silver tin boxes with real presents, as I get them wrapped.

Last night I put up some more of our decorations on the baker's rack, coffee table, entertainment center, and fireplace mantle. If he leaves them alone, then great, and I think I won't press my luck with much more. If he gets too curious, then I'll have to pack away some until he's more mature and sedate.

My decorations are mostly silver, white, pearlized, crystal glass, and green. There is a lot of brown in the living room, and the throws we have on the chairs have green in them. So, I figured green decorations would work best. I also really like the color green a lot. I like to decorate with a lot of fake greenery (real would be great, but it's even less catproof than fake). I like stars and snowflakes too. I probably won't buy much more. I have pretty much all the decorations I can use in the living room. And that's really the only room I decorate in.  I've known people who decorate in every single room, and that's awesome. But I can't get into it that much. It's just D.H. and I living here, so no need to do more than we already do.

The only thing I'd like to do more, is outdoor decorations. I've seen some beautiful ones around town in years past, so I have a lot of ideas and inspiration. At the end of the holidays, when I have a bit more spending money, I'll keep my eyes open at the after-Christmas clearance sales and see if I can find any good deals on things for next year.