A Very Dominican Christmas

First of all, I know it's not yet Thanksgiving. I, too, was once adamant about no Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. No Christmas music until then either. But alas, I have changed. Don't judge me.

Let me explain. We are leaving for home Dec. 13. Which means, the very Charlie Brown Christmas tree we bought here for a steep $40 EC ($15 USD, Holla!) would only get to be up for a couple of weeks before we were gone. And for that price, I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.

And I'm a little anxious to go home, so it makes it seem closer.

So yes, we are those people who already have our Christmas decorations up with the holiday music blaring. It makes me happy.

But look at this beauty.

Adorable.

Like I said, Charlie Brown tree it is. But we love it. 

I decorated it with the traditional Dominican plaid fabric bows. The 'skirt' is the extra fabric that I had every intention of sewing stockings for. We'll see if that happens. And the mat underneath is from my favorite Dominican basket ladies.

You'll notice there are no lights. We don't want to have to pay for electricity for the lights, so it will go without.

And although it is a very simple tree, we love it. We've made it our own with what we have here. And the purpose of the tree is fulfilled.

When we were home, we had purchased solar powered string lights for outdoor which we brought back. I have been so excited to put these up, but wanted to wait. We had two strings, so we put them on each balcony. They are perfect! And they add a bit of festive cheer to our home for the season. But let's be honest. We will probably leave them up.

So there you have it. I have to admit, it is hard to get in the holiday spirit being in the tropics when Indiana is getting their first bit of snow. But, putting a little effort into our surroundings has helped put us in the right frame of mind.

I remember when we were first accepted, Matt was reading up on several blogs of those who were already here. I think I was still in denial at that point. But anyway, one of the blogs he read was about a family decorating for Christmas, and using the limited resources (in comparison to those at home) to create a festive holiday atmosphere. He said that was one of the things he looked forward to the most, was having a simpler approach to things, and making due with what we have. At the time, I thought of it as one more item we would have to go without. But we've successfully used notebook paper as wrapping paper, postcards as birthday cards and now, fabric scraps as tree decorations. I don't think we're necessarily going without - it's just different. A different approach to our traditions which we will hopefully remember in Christmases to come.