THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

– How do you keep your home cozy? –

January 1st is one of those days when you throw all the Christmas stuff into a garbage bag with your hangover and toss the tree out the window. It feels good, cleans up, but it also leaves you with a somewhat empty house. Plus, it's a bit of a shame because nice Christmas decorations don't necessarily have to go away. You can just give them a new life. Just as cozy, not so bare, and a winter wonder scene is born.

During the correspondent lunch, they were on the table, and at Christmas, they hung in the tree. In short, we are fans of pom-poms. Especially the white ones. They don't give such an overwhelming touch to your room, so you can safely leave them hanging all year round.

We now know that jars are not only used to store food. We see people drinking from them, using them as pencil holders, as vases... But it's also fun to use a jar as decoration in winter. Place a small animal on the table with some fake snow around it and then put a jar over it. An animal is nice, but something else can of course work too. It looks cozy in any case.

Christmas lights hang in many homes all year round. But a garland with white balls looks a bit nicer. Hang them by your bed, in the kitchen, on a cabinet. It doesn't matter. These garlands can be used all year round. By the way, it's also a fun idea that my mother always does. She once scoured all the photo shops (yes, they still exist) for old rolls of film. She drilled a hole in them and put them around each Christmas light. Suddenly, it becomes a very nice garland that doesn't even remind you of Christmas anymore, but still adds atmosphere.  

I am a big proponent of collecting the coolest and cutest Christmas ornaments. I have deer, owls, and angels at home. I really only save those angels for Christmas, but the rest can hang in my house for a whole year. For example, I have a large board where I stick all kinds of postcards and notes, and there's also a cozy deer hanging there. I just think it's a shame if I can only take out cool Christmas ornaments for two weeks a year. The solution: make a collage. For example, hang your favorite collection on a hanger or place them on a plate. Mix in some other winter stuff, like feathers, glitter, and pine cones. This way, it becomes a winter collage instead of a Christmas collage, and you can easily get through the months of January and February with it.

I understand that at some point the tree has no needles left on the branches, so it looks a bit sad to have a bare tree in the house. But those branches can still be used. They actually look quite nice in a jar with a ribbon around it. And ornaments, aside from the angels and glittery Christmas men, still deserve a place there. Did you only decorate your Christmas tree with angels and glittery Christmas men? Then leave those out, give the branches a white color with a spray can, and you've still given the tree a second life.