Tuesday, December 7, 2010

TITUS 2-SDAY - O, CHRISTMAS TREE!

Most of you have probably already finished your Christmas decorating. Me...I haven't even started. But, I have helped decorate the church. Do I get points for that?

Each year about this time, we take a Saturday afternoon and hike back on the farm in search of a Christmas tree - a fresh, soft, sweet-smelling cedar. Not too tall, not too big around. The boys cut it down and we hike back to the house with our prize.

Decorating can be a bit hard on the hands. The tree, though fresh and soft, still has scratchy needles. We discovered a couple of years ago that decorating is much more pleasant using this tip: Rub a generous amount of lotion on your hands; then, pull on a pair of snug-fitting rubber gloves (the cheapy kind you can get at Wal-Mart in the cleaning products aisle). The rubber gloves allow you to feel and manipulate small hanging hooks and to handle ornaments without dropping them. Using rubber gloves is especially beneficial when un-decorating, because by then the tree is really dry, stiff, and sticky. Ouch!

You use an artificial tree? I think rubber gloves would still be a great idea. We "fluffed" lots of artificial greenery when decorating the church last week. The work wasn't especially prickly, but my hands were gray with dirt/dust by the end of the evening. I'll remember to take some rubber gloves when it's time to put away the holiday decorations!

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