20 inches rims

20 inches rims

Christmas is definitely one of my favorite holidays of the year. One of the things that makes it so special is the warm and welcoming atmosphere that our homes and workplaces gain with the season's decorating. Lights, colors, a lit fireplace, nativity scenes and the smell of pine all contribute to create the sensation that we all belong to one great big family, which is our human race. So if you are already thinking of getting started with your decorating, here are a few ideas of how you might want to make your windows look more Christmassy.

Stained Glass Themes: This isn't real stained glass that we're talking about of course, but it will look great on your window and create the same effect. You want to get two large pieces of black cardboard and draw a Christmas motif on it (you can even outline one from a magazine). The design must be made on both pieces of cardboard and must be exact. Then you overlap both pieces and cut your drawing out. By overlapping them as you cut them out you assure that both cutouts will be the same. Make sure the design is large (10-20 inches). Then after that, you want to draw as many polygons (squares, triangles, rectangles, etc.) as you can inside your cutout design. Why are you drawing these shapes inside? Because they have to look as if they were different pieces of glass inside your cutout design. The next step consists in cutting out these shapes but leaving their outlines intact. Look at a picture of stained glass windows to see what you want it to resemble. Finally, you paste different colors of cellophane paper in each cutout shape as if it were colored glass. Now you're ready to glue the other piece of black cardboard (cutout in the same manner) onto the first piece covering up the edges of your cellophane paper.

Christmas Phrases: A simple but nice Christmas motif is to cut out letters using colored cardboard. It's always nice to use red cardboard and then surround the letters with holly. Form a phrase with the letters. Spell "Merry Christmas" or maybe try a biblical verse referring to Christmas. Add lights as well. Surround the phrase with colorful lights. This way you'll have your windows decorated both day and night.

Snow effect decoration: If you happen to live somewhere where it doesn't snow much during Christmas season, you can still have a white Christmas. All you need is some white spray paint. Preferably a brand that isn't too difficult to remove later. Then you spray paint the four corners of your window. You spray paint them very concentrated near the corner and fade out as you draw toward the middle. The idea is to spray paint the corners and rims only. You don't want to spray too much though; just enough to achieve the 'frost' simulating effect.

Snowflakes design: This can be done in two manners. For both of them you need to prepare a mix of glue with glitter (golden preferably). Then in the first method you design a snowflake on your window using your glue and glitter mix. This however, might require more artistic creativeness than you discover in yourself. Maybe you're just not sure of how to make a snowflake on your own. In that case you can make one out of paper or cardboard. Take a piece of cardboard and fold it diagonally, to form a triangle. Then fold it again to make an even smaller triangle. Finally, fold it a third time in the same direction. You should now end up with a small triangle. You can now grab a pair of scissors and cut the triangle in a zig-zag shape lengthwise. Do not cut the acute tip of the triangle because that is the part the keeps it all together. Now you unfold it and, viola! You now have a snowflake. Use the glue and glitter mix to decorate it and attach to the window.

Decorate it with Candles and hanging Christmas objects: A very traditional way to decorate your windows is with electric (LED) candles. This is a tradition that indicates that you have a welcoming home. You are hospitable to pilgrims in need. Above the candles you can use tiny suction cups to hang different Christmas ornaments. This sounds rather simple but it has a very neat finish to it. Besides it's also a good option if your short on decorating time and want to keep it practical.