Christmas is an extremely busy time of year. By the time you get you shopping done, gifts wrapped and your cookies and cakes baked, it's likely you don't have the energy left to put into extravagant decorating. Although less than energetic, you still want your home decorated for Christmas. After all, Christmas is just not the same without lights and decorations.

Christmas is the one time of year that most people pull out all the stops when it comes to decorating. There is no such thing in the eyes of many as excess and the one who gets started last is the one who often finishes last. Each year the displays, lights, and sounds grow larger and more complex. The problem is that most people cannot keep up with the newest, latest, and greatest in Christmas decorations. For these people there should be no worry. Christmas is a celebration of good will and not a competition to have the grandest display (at least that is what it should be).

Every year I am amazed at the range of emotions that occur during the Christams Season. Everything from extreme joy, to extreme depression. And the worst of it is the people that choose to skip the holidays or just go thru the motions of what Christmas is all about.

I love spicing up cohesive home design with a few unique pieces here and there. Don't get me wrong, maintaining flow of design is most important, but it can be a bit boring. The thought of changing your already beautiful home may feel a bit, well, unsettling. But no need to worry! Regardless of design style, a bit or wrought iron, such as a wrought iron coat rack may be just the adventure you're ready for.

After Christmas, remove all of the lights, ornaments, and tinsel from the tree and take it out of its stand.Take the tree outdoors, and with a handsaw remove all of the branches. Create an instant wildlife habitat by making a pile with some of the branches in an inconspicuous corner of your yard (i.e., behind a tree or large shrub). Within a matter of weeks your brush pile will provide shelter for birds and other wildlife, including beneficial insects.The evergreen branches of Christmas trees also make an attractive and long lasting mulch in ornamental beds. Place them around the base of shrubs, especially those planted in fall, to prevent frost heaving, a problem that occurs when the repeated freezing and thawing of soil pushes plants out of the ground.Use the trunk in place of a pole. Attract birds to your yard by mounting a bird feeder or bird house to the "pole." This rustic bird heaven blends in especially well in wooded areas.You can also turn your Christmas tree log into a mushroom farm. Several edible mushrooms grow well on coniferous softwood logs and a mushroom log is a great conversation piece in the garden. All you need to do is inoculate your log with mushroom spores (see the Resource section for kits)Of course you can also use your Christmas tree log in more traditional ways. Get some exercise and chop the log into firewood. If you have a chipper shredder, roughly chip the log and use the chips as mulch in ornamental gardens. You can also use the log to edge a raised bed and depending on the size of the bed, you may want to ask your neighbors if you can recycle their Christmas trees in your garden.Thomas Tooma

Decorating for the Christmas holiday is fun and truly creates the holiday mood. The highlight of decorating is the Christmas tree. Plan to involve your family when deciding how to decorate the tree this year.

Decorating your Christmas tree is a personal design. It all depends upon your interests and taste. Here are some suggestions for your consideration.

You might say that I have lost my mind if I said that I have a stress free Christmas. Well, my sanity is still intact and we have had several Christmases that were stress-free in the past. I would like to tell you about the things I've learned to help reduce the stress during the Yuletide season.

From early October to the New Year, the whole holiday season seems to be one giant whirlwind of colors and music and joy. There's something to excite everyone in every family. But Christmas is the time when the youngest family members seem to come alive the most, their excitement palpable, as Santa Claus's visit grows ever closer, with its promise of many treasures under the tree on Christmas morning.

No matter how many holiday seasons pass, each one seems to start earlier, than the last. September which has always meant the beginning of autumn, the football season, and cool days, now means the first appearance of Santa Claus, in many stores and commercials.