Decorating with branches

Plain.. rustic..frugal..

I found the fallen branches this morning while taking the kids to the playground opposite our house. Mommy suddenly got a light bulb moment - let's decorate! The other excited person was Aisya. I asked them what shall we do with it. Imran said 'Why don't we use it to hang our caps and jackets?'... 'It cannot hang, the branches are not strong', I said and thinking to myself .. typical boys.. they don't have any creative neurons. Aisya came to the rescue saying 'Why don't we put the lights from my bedrooms?' Great idea!

For a moment I was not sure if this would be like celebrating Christmas. What I read from googling about Christmas tree + Muslims made me worried. Aisya meanwhile whines..

Aisya: When are we going to put the lights?
Mommy: Wait, wait.. do you know that we cannot celebrate Christmas? (I already explained to them before)
Aisya: Yeah.. I know.
Mommy: Do you know that this is not like Christmas tree?
Aisya: (getting angry) I know. It doesn't even have leaves!
Mommy: (lol..Mommy worries silly again.)... Okay.. let's get your lights.

Found a perfect corner for it... 

We made some tulle pompoms

another alternative, mandarin tree.

I love LED or 'raya' lights as we call it. I hung them everywhere in the house, the kids' rooms, the kitchen, the porch... Aisya puts her star lights on every night before she goes to bed. We got mandarin lights, ketupat lights, lantern lights, etc... They are cheap (depending on where you go).. Now I'm thinking if I should get cottage lights I saw on the Ikea catalogue...