There
is one thing you need for Christmas decorating that a camper is limited on…
1.
SPACE!
You
need storage space if you’re going to be traveling around with
decorations. Where are you going to keep
ornaments, a tree, stockings, blow ups, nativities, and more? You need an area
to put up your tree, stockings, and other decorations.
This
is our third Christmas celebrated in our camper and our first in our upgraded
camper. Even though we have more room, our living space is precious to us.
Putting up a traditional tree inside the camper is out of the question. There’s
no place we could put it that it wouldn’t be in front of or blocking something.
We can’t rearrange the furniture like your house furnishings, so we decided to
continue the tradition of putting up our Christmas tree outside in front of our
camper. I like this placement better than putting it up inside anyway because
now others can enjoy our decorations too.
Setting
up a tree outside, isn’t for everyone. We’re in south Florida where the
temperature has been in the 70s – 80s on Christmas. People celebrating
Christmas with a three foot deep blanket of snow surrounding their camper
probably don’t want to spend time setting up and decorating a tree outside,
much less open Christmas presents outside. There are people that choose to put
a Christmas tree inside. Some have pop up trees, but I believe most have small
trees that usually go on the dining table.
We
buy a once-alive tree so we don’t have store a fake tree for the rest of the
year. This year, we have an extra outdoor plug close to the front of the camper
so we were able to light up the tree including our star topper. I love it! We
haven’t done that in the past. All the ornaments I purchase (or make with the
kids) are weather-proof and not fragile. I want my little ones to be involved
in the decorating process and they like to decorate and redecorate many times
before Christmas comes. Like I said before, we are loving the outdoor speakers.
It was nice to sing along with beautiful Christmas songs while decorating our
tree together. It’s a great way to get you in the Christmas spirit.
Our
Christmas tree is our main decoration outside, but we also have a small post
that we hang seasonal flags on and a wreath on our door made from once-alive
tree branches. Our first year, I bought giant clear plastic snowflakes that I
hung from our awning with S hooks along with our large ball lights. I wish I
had a picture of it, because it really was a pretty site, but it didn’t last
long. Being in Florida, we can have very windy days. While you can tie down
your awning, we’ve never felt comfortable doing that. We’ve seen way too many
awnings break with a big enough wind gust, so we only put our awning out when
there is little to no wind and put it up when wind speeds pick up. Thankfully,
with our new camper putting the awning in is as simple as pressing a button!
Since our awning is constantly being rolled out and in, adding decorations that
you have to remove all the time isn’t for us. We talked about getting one of
those blow ups of the RV where the door opens and a penguin pops out, but I
chose not to for two reasons.
1.
Our kids would think they are the blow ups that they get to jump on at those
indoor playground areas and it would be a constant battle to keep them away
from it. It’s hard enough to keep them out of other people’s yards and away
from their decorations. They just get so excited and want to touch, touch,
touch!
2.
SPACE. I know they don’t take a lot
of room, but it does take some and there are other things I’d like to save my
space for. (like more books! Yes! I am a children’s book addict. I should
attend Children’s Book Addict Anonymous!)
Inside, we used 3M hooks to hang our stockings on the wall. I also use 3M stickers to hang our artwork on the walks. Keep checking back to see more examples of our holiday themed learning and crafts! The only other thing I plan to add is a nativity set. In the past, I’ve had beautiful porcelain scenes, but I’m into making my life easier and adding breakable things my kids aren’t allowed to touch just doesn’t work for me. Don’t worry though, they get plenty of practice “Not Touching” other things, but we have enough of those. No reason to add any more. That said, I still want a nativity, so I’m looking at getting the Melissa& Doug wooden nativity for their room. I don’t mind if they play with it. In fact, if they do, it gives me a great opportunity to retell the story of Jesus’ birth, the reason for the season.
We’ve
been fortunate to have good weather on Christmas day the last two years, so
we’re hoping our streak continues. In the past, Santa has delivered our gifts
right to our tree outside where we crank up the Christmas tunes while we begin
the paper ripping process. If we have bad weather that makes this scenario
impossible this year or in the future, Santa knows where the extra key is
hidden so he can deliver the gifts inside. (wink,
wink)
Remember,
whether you’re in a house, apartment, or camper, there’s only one right way to
decorate your home.
Have you been in the decorating spirit? I'd love to hear how you decorate your camper. Feel free to share your comments here below or find me on Facebook at The Learning Wagon!
God
Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~
