TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Send in the Elves

How to Keep Christmas trees alive till Santa Comes

How to Keep Holiday Greenery Fresh

Send in the Elves

We clean. We shop. We clean. We wrap. We clean. We decorate. We clean. We cook. We clean. We entertain. We clean.

Did I mention cleaning?

No wonder we moms turn into the Grinch before the goose is off the table. There's got to be an easier way...

Enter the elves. No, Santa's not sending down reinforcements. I'm talking about the "volunteers" stationed year-round in your home.

It's time to call up the troops. You can make it painless. You just need to 1. have a plan, and 2. to delegate - just a little. Here's how.

Christmas Tree Care Tips

It's all we can do to keep ourselves from bringing one home the day they go on sale.

In years past, we've actually sat in the parking lot the day after Thanksgiving, waiting for the Christmas tree lot to open. But we won't make that mistake again.

We've had too many Christmas mornings with the tree so dried out that we've been afraid t turn on the lights.

Now, we try to wait until at least three weeks before Christmas to get the tree. (We'll get it next weekend. Yay!)

As you can see, we've become experts on prolonging Christmas tree life. It's our own little Christmas miracle. And we'd like to share our findings with you.

Here are our tips for keeping a Christmas tree alive until Santa comes.

How to Keep Greenery Fresh

Reality: Anyone who has ever tried decking anything with holly has found out that holly will dry to a crisp indoors in a day or two if you don't stick its little boughs in floral foam.

Fantasy: A magazine showing a roaring fire with lush, fresh garlands draped from the mantel.

Reality: That scene is the "before" picture. The magazine never shows the "after" picture with toasted garlands dripping with brown, dried-out needles.

We all want the old-fashioned kind of Christmas we read about in books. The kind with greenery draped down banisters and across mantels.

The kind with huge trees bedecked with candles. The kind with fresh wreaths and mistletoe and kissing balls and...

What we forget is that these idealized Christmases occurred long ago - before central heat.

In modern times (when we don't have to wear gloves indoors), the decorating scheme must undergo a little change.