Holiday Decorating 101

Though it has been my experience that most people decorate their homes each Christmas with an almost child-like zeal, I think it is safe to assume that at least a few of you out there haven't given it even an ounce of thought. And if that is the case, then let me put your minds at ease. There is still time to deck the halls, and it won't take a lot of time, effort, or money to do it.

• Chances are if you've procrastinated on putting out the Christmas decorations, you've probably also procrastinated on taking down the Thanksgiving ones. So if that is the case, do a little bit of tweaking. Dig out Santa's flying sleigh and arrange eight of those ceramic turkeys in front of it. It might not be traditional, but I think it makes a lot more sense than reindeer – at least the turkeys have wings.
  
  
• Wrapping paper is always festive, so why not wrap up a few more things? By gift wrapping the refrigerator doors, television set, and house cat, you'll not only make your house the most Christmasy one on the street, but come Christmas morning you'll have even more stuff to unwrap.
  
  
• Nothing livens up a holiday household more than Christmas carols. And a great source of Christmas carols is your own cellphone. Simply download a selection of Christmas ringtones, and ask all your friends to call as soon as they can. And of course if you don't have friends, use your own landline to call your cellphone and keep the Xmas tunes going.
  
  
• Don't have time to pick up that Christmas tree? Don't worry – decorate any ol' house plant, feather duster, or sedentary grandfather.
  
  
• And what is Christmas without mistletoe? The great thing about it is – few people actually know what mistletoe is. So you can get away with stringing just about anything together (from rosemary and cranberries to green yarn and red paint chips) and still get away with calling it mistletoe. Besides, let's be honest here, if someone is willing to kiss you under the mistletoe, that person is probably also willing to kiss you under the almost-letoe.

And now that you have a few ideas as to how to decorate your home for the holidays, stop procrastinating. It's fun, I promise. And even if you don't have fun, you can always just leave the decorations up all year and avoid the hassle next Christmas.