Prayer, Grace, and Tea: Christmas Decorating: Using What YOU Have and Leaving The FOMO Behind

photo from Decorators Warehouse

I love decorating for Christmas. You know that. And usually I'm ok with my decorations. Could I have more? Sure.... Could some use updating? Sure... But this year, I started to get envious of other peoples decorations.

YouTube is Great! I love it. I love it for exercise, for recipes, for decorating tips, and more. I get inspiration from so many wonderful YouTubers. But I noticed something. I found some interior designers that were decorating for Christmas. And oh boy, was it ever beautiful. Then I started getting FOMO, also known as the fear of missing out.

My decorations are not elaborate and they don't really match or "flow" from room to room. My garland is sad looking. I have a lot of "character" decorations that might not look very sophisticated. My mind started to race on how I could correct this faux pas. It seems that across the board with YouTube influencers, things are more glamorous this year for decorating. Trends are more minimal yet very grand looking. I need new garland. And I need large gold deer. And I need white fluffy blankets. I basically need all new stuff, because I don't have any of those things.

So I started to fill my Amazon cart with Christmas essentials. And I looked at Michael's and Hobby Lobby to see what they had. And I made a plan to do a tour of antique stores in the area to see what I could gather up to make it a very merry and glamorous Christmas. Clearly, my stuff is not on trend. And this needed to be fixed NOW.

Luckily I took a deep breath before checking out on my Amazon cart. And I was actually too busy to go to any stores. Did I really want to drop several hundred dollars on new decorations?

Yes. Yes I did.

But was that the best use of our family's finances? No. It is definitely not the best use of our family's finances.

And let's face it, my reasons for wanting all new Christmas decorations aren't rooted in reality at all either. What will next years trends be? Will I like those too? Will I need all new stuff again? I do not have the room to store all these decorations, even if I did spend the money on them. That would mean that something would have to go, and was I willing to give up our decorations that have sweet family memories attached to them? Would my family be ok with that?

It's so easy to see what other people have or are doing on social media and want it for yourself. It all looks so wonderful. And it's easy to forget that these people are making money off of it and most of the things they buy are written as a business expense or were given to them to influence us to purchase from a particular store or online retailer. I am not a business nor am I an influencer and no one is going to "give" me anything. I have to learn to watch these videos with appreciation, and not envy. People who celebrate Christmas want their homes to look festive and cozy. But that has NOTHING to do with the real reason we are celebrating Christmas. And because all of this Christmas decorating starts earlier and earlier every year, there is more time to get anxious about what we have, what design aesthetic we are going for, and it gives us more time to spend, spend, spend. When my parents were young, most people didn't decorate their homes or trees until Christmas Eve. We have moved far past that tradition. One lady I watched (whose decorating was spectacular) started to decorate in September. She decorated every room on her main level and changes out rugs, artwork, and furniture to match each years theme. But she clarified that by saying that this is "her job". This is not my job. Trust me, no one would hire me to decorate anything... lol.

I stopped watching that particular YouTuber. Even though her style is amazing, it wasn't something that I could emulate. And there was very little that I could take and use as tips (except maybe going forward, try to make my rooms flow better together).

If you can watch these videos or read magazines and see the beauty and leave it there, then you are ahead of the game. If like me, you struggle with FOMO or feel envious or start coveting all the things, it may be time to mute that content until you can view it through a grateful lens and not allow it to become toxic.

Another person that I watch went outside to gather dried flowers, grasses, and seed pods to spruce up her garland. So I took Daisy with me, and we went out back and did the same. Her garland looked amazing. Mine looks a little funky. I'm not sure I'm going to leave it this way through the Christmas holiday, but the good news here is that it cost me nothing to mess this up. It's not glamorous, but it did look a little better. And it was free.

I'm going to get my decorations out in the next few days and I'm not going to look at them like they are not good enough. I'm going to look at them with gratitude and try to carry that gratitude into every thing I do this season. And maybe I'll stay off of social media a bit more and just enjoy what I have right in front of me.

Advent hasn't even started yet. We have a long way to go, and I want Jesus to be at the center of this season. He's the one we are actually celebrating. That's where I need my focus to be. The beauty of the season is HIM.