Small Space Saturday: Holiday Decorations

On Saturdays I write about strategies for living in 300 square feet

Each year, we buy an inexpensive, pre-lit wreath and attach it to our front bumper. (We have a plug up there for the lights.) The artificial wreath is tough enough to withstand freeway driving. We prefer not to store such a bulky, limited-use item for 90% of its lifespan. So, after the season, we clean it up and donate it to the closest charity, such as Goodwill. Total investment each year: about $15.



This year the wreath has white lights, which is my preference. Last year, Sean got to choose the lights and selected the colored ones. One benefit of the white lights is that it is legal to drive with the wreath turned on.

This year for inside decorations, I bought five candles in the shape of evergreen trees. Different sizes, a variety of colors. We will burn them, so they are consumable. (We always monitor lit candles carefully, don't worry!) They are unscented, unbreakable and non-toxic, good for a moving vehicle with three pets.



(By the way, that's the view of the San Manuel Casino from the RV parking lot. Pretty nice!)

I used a match to melt the bottoms of the trees slightly, then quickly pressed them into place on the counter. They are stuck pretty well and haven't slipped while the bus is moving. Should one of them break loose, though, at least it won't shatter like glass or porcelain would.

We have a dark green couch, so I just added two red throw pillows. The striped fabric pieces are placemats. They look sort of "Christmas-y" with the red pillows and later would look nice with purple or brown. They were only $4 at Target (pronounced Tar-JAY), so I'm not overly worried about them becoming heirloom decorating items.



The pillows are actually dining room chair cushions. They are slightly larger than throw pillows so the red one shows up better when stacked behind the green one. For some strange reason, chair pads are almost always about 50% cheaper than throw pillows, even though they are more complicated. I guess it's a marketing thing: the practical is less expensive than the purely decorative? Something that's supposed to go under your butt must be less valuable? Who knows. I just tucked the little strings that tie the pillow to the chair out of sight and was happy to find the color I wanted. I like the little buttons, too.

Again, these will be donated to a charity later. In such a small space, these few touches add a festive air without too much bother, expense, or clutter.