One of the great things about Christmas is of course decorating the tree. It’s a special time of year when the tree arrives in the home and whole family gets to come together to decorate it. Of course, this also means pulling out all the old Christmas ornaments and getting them together, untangling the lights, and hoping that the angel from years past didn’t get moldy or break. While all this is wonderful and really allows you to spread the holiday cheer, this year I have a different suggestion for you. Why not try trimming your tree with some simple homemade Christmas ornaments.

“Homemade?” you ask. Why of course homemade. Let’s face it, the Great Recession has bitten into everyone’s budget this year and many of us are out of work. We can’t afford to spend piles of money for new ornaments. And even if you are working, these are some great ideas that will really bring a family together for the holidays.

The first suggestion I have for you is the popcorn string. This is very popular and very easy to make In order to create your sting of popcorn, you will need:

• Popcorn, obviously
• a needle and thread
• dye, assorted colors if preferred
• Lots of patience.

Start by popping your corn. You should use plain, unsalted corn and allow it to cool completely before use. Now, take your cooled corn and dip it into the dye. I prefer to use more than one color because it’s prettier that way. Then, get your needle and thread. Thread the needle and start sewing the popcorn onto the the thread, one piece at a time. You should alternate colors in order to create a multicolored string.  Keep going until you have a long string of popcorn. Now tie off the other end of your string so the popcorn stays on and then lay it on your tree just like you would lay tinsel.

Here’s another  homemade simple homemade Christmas ornament you can try. It is also a very simple idea and will create small ornaments for your tree. You will need:

• old burned out light bulbs
• permanent magic markers in various colors
• Steady hands
• Lots of patience and imagination.

In essence, what you are going to do is to color your light bulb and then hang it from the tree like an ornament. This can be done in a very simple way, using your magic markers to simply color it all over, but a nicer idea would be to let the kids try to make various designs on the bulbs. They don’t have to be particularly fancy designs. Stars, angels, snowmen. Whatever they are comfortable drawing. What is important is to completely cover the bulb. Then, simply hang them from the tree and you will have a simple homemade Christmas ornament for your tree.