Surviving Christmas

Its always nice to add a little holiday cheer to your place of work. It helps you keep the spirit when you would rather be at home with the family!

There are a couple things to consider when decorating at the office...

Remember, You Are At Work...

First, you don't want to provide too much of a distraction! Flashing lights playing holiday music might just be a little over the top. Stick with things that will sit on your desk, or a small strand of lights that will be seen mainly by you at your desk.

If you have a cubicle, Christmas cards, cut outs and small figurines should do the trick. Even a Christmas plant would be a nice touch.

You can find tiny Christmas trees (decorated, or you can also get your own ornaments for them) that are less than a foot tall. You can also get live plants if they are allowed. Try using silk if you can't bring in live ones. Most Christmas plants will survive quite well for the season even with office lights.

Just putting a small, wrapped, empty box on your desk can sometimes be enough to remind you of the season while you are at work (and if your desk is like mine, that might be all the room you have, too!)

Most of your office decorating items can be brought from home, and saved to use from year to year. You really should probably stay away from things you only use once – after all – in theory you're going to be doing this every year for a long, long time.

Bring in the Scent of the Season!

A pomander tucked next to your computer, or a bowl of holiday potpourri works well, too! Especially at work, scent is as potent as scenery.

Some short sprigs of spruce or pine work well, and there are teeny tiny ornaments you can purchase to hang on them if you wish. A small vase will scent a large area and look beautiful while not being distracting to others.

Even if you can't have food, you can get scented wax ornaments that smell like everything from hot chocolate to cookies to pine trees... A couple of these strategically placed will keep you and anyone walking by in the spirit throughout your work day.

Do think about scented items! You'll be amazed at the Christmas spirit you can invoke in people as they walk by and get a whiff of pine, peppermint or such like! With a tiny, non-distracting visual reminder to boot, you could uplift someone's entire day.

Got More Space to Play With?

If you have a little more leeway, and a blank wall, what about using plain green napkins to tape a “Christmas tree” to the wall? You simply open them up, gather at the center (so the corners hang like a cone) and tape the gathered tip to the wall in a triangle. (Start at the bottom and work to the tip!)

You can get fancy and use brown under it for a trunk, or red for a “box” look so it appears to be in a stand.

You can decorate your “tree” with paper-doily angels, tuck in Christmas cards (or even a few gift tags), tape on a strand or two of garland, and voila! It comes back down in a jiffy, doesn't create a mess, and you can toss it or recycle the paper after the holidays.

If you have the room, and permission, you can also wrap a few empty boxes and create quite a display with them in a corner or under the “office Christmas tree.” To put these “up” with your napkin tree, try simply folding the paper (so the edges aren't “raw”), tape on a ribbon or bow, and just tape them to the wall around the bottom of the tree!!

You can create quite a lovely vignette without much time, effort or even creativity. (But come on... Everybody is creative – we just don't think we are!)

Simple and Understated, Yet Festive

As with certain areas of your home, you can also simply put a clear vase filled with ornaments on your desk, or hang a few bows and ribbons for a nice festive touch.

And, nobody says you can't toss a bit of bright Christmas-y material over the back and seat of your office chair!

If the boss allows it, and if you want to share – why not put up a nice little candy dish filled with hard candies for the holidays? Just remember if you are allowed to do this that you will be refilling that bowl often – treats like that are hard to come by sometimes! But – its also a terrific ice-breaker if you are new to the office.

Decorating your office for Christmas is largely a matter of what is allowed where you work. But, there are always things you can do to bring the spirit with you to work – even if you only have the corner of your desk to show off.

If you have any suggestions, please post a comment below! Join the party!

Many Blessings,

GrannySue