Creating a Festive Home {Delightful Design}

Disclosure: I received complimentary products from Delightful Design LLC; however, all opinions are my own.

One of the delights of having children is getting to celebrate holidays with them.  It is enchanting to see the world through their eyes as they experience the magic of special days, and it is so fun to be a part of making that magic happen.

However, as a member of a minority religion (the Bahá’í Faith), that loving duty to create a festive home for our holidays weighs on me a bit more heavily.  My children are aware that though we honor the holidays of other religions, we don’t celebrate them in the same way.  To a child, of course, the most critical (and troublesome) aspects of this are that we have no Christmas tree in December, no Santa coming down the chimney to deliver gifts.

Instead, we try to ramp up the excitement for our holidays, such as Ridván and Náw Rúz in the spring, and, at the end of February, every Bahá’í child’s favorite: our gift-giving time, Ayyám-i-Há.  Ayyám-i-Há is especially fun for children.  We have parties, do acts of service, play games, make crafts, and give gifts – truly a joyous time.

Still, when you’re the only family on your street celebrating (or the only kid in your class), for a child it can sometimes feel like the celebration is a bit thin.

So we do our best to make up the difference by making it as festive a time as possible.  I have already strung up our countdown chain, and every morning during Ayyám-i-Há I’ll fill their little star stockings with treats, in addition to wrapping a few larger presents to open in the evening.

But what really signals that we are in a holiday season is hanging up decorations.

If you are thinking that all this sounds like a lot of work – you’re right!  And if you’re wondering where a mother of two small children – who also blogs and home schools – finds time to do this, I’d tell you the truth, which is that most of the time I don’t.  My dear sister gave us wonderful handmade flower chains that I hang every year, but otherwise I don’t do anything else in the way of decorating.

Until this year.

Last month Melissa of Delightful Design LLC (see their listing in the Ayyám-i-Há Gift Guide!) was kind enough to send me complimentary decorations from her amazing Etsy shop.  They are so beautiful and fun!  And – importantly for me – so EASY to put together!

Delightful Design carries everything from garlands to posters to interactive calendars for kids (in English and Spanish!) – all specially designed for Bahá’í holidays.  As someone who grew up without any such items available for sale, I am amazed and grateful to have such creative, enterprising people out there!

And did I mention how EASY the decorations are to do?  Each product comes with a set of easy to follow instructions, which consist of only a few simple steps.  For example, with the banner (pictured here), all I had to do was print, cut, and string it up with some ribbon!

So be sure to check out this wonderful company!  But be warned – you will have trouble choosing from all their super cool products, each made in numerous beautiful variations.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

How do you make your home festive for special holidays?