How to decorate cart & horse for holidays?

Well, I have just lost my mind! I ordered a Santa hat for my helmet and an inexpensive Santa suit for me. Now I would like some ideas about how to decorate Pepper and the cart for the holidays. I want to leave the decorations on the harness and cart until the holidays are over so they should be simple.

I'd love to see some of your holiday photos. I'm not going in a parade. I simply want to drive on our roads in a festive manner. I don't know what got into me. I don't typically dress up etc. It just sounded like fun.

This morning I'm feeling a little foolish. The "inspiration" came to me as I was riding my Rocky Mountain horse on the trails before my Thanksgiving dinner party.

Pepper is my first driving mini, and I am having such a wonderful time with him.

Thanks,

Karen

If he'll tollerate the noise of bells, how about tying a bell to his harness (breast collar) or/and on the end of the shafts. We have a string of plastic christmas bells from the $ store strung down the shafts and fastened with zip ties. But then we are going in parades.

I leave the tinsel attached to the cart till after Christmas. You can add tulle to the harness saddle and leave it on. The strap of bells that hang on business doors to jangle when customer enters work really well on the breast collar. There is nothing like jingle bells for that holiday spirit!

There are several posts with decorated carts to give you ideas.

Bells! I have five 'original' heavy brass bells that my mother bought while dabbling into antiques; they are about 1 1/4" in diameter. I just tie them onto the harness saddle. Try to find originals, they sound SOOO much better than today's thin metal ones! '

Margo

Bells. Nothing like bells and reindeer antlers to put you in the spirit! They're also simple and easy to leave on the harness and don't get damaged in storage between drives like wreathes and poinsettas and fabric stuff on the cart.

Leia

Here's two of our carts. If you look at the parade topic there are more pictures for ideas.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Sandee and others, I have been looking at the parade section. Well, I have decorated Pepper and his cart. It is still a work in progress. It has been worth the effort to see smiles on my neighbors' faces.

I don't know if I will have the nerve to wear the Santa Suit!

I'll post photos soon and will post them in the contest.

Sandee, I love what you have done!!!!

Karen

Thanks, Karen. My granddaughter lives to put on all the "costumes" I make for her to use with the horses. She a little diva when it comes to dressing up.

Here is a sampling of what we have done...but it varies every year.

Here is one more....there a many more parade videos on our site or my you tube channel. It is wonderful that you are sharing your minis with the public. They make so many smile!

Beth, Glad to see you on the forum..I ran across one of your videos on youtube about attaching the umbrellas to the cart and posted it on here..Great idea..Your videos are really heart warming and bring a smile to my face..Thank you for posting these .

Beth, just wondering with that many lights what do you use for power. Are they mostly battery lights? 'cause they look way brighter than the little battery ones that we had. We tried a BIG battery with a converter but the lights we used pulled too many (amps or watts) whatever and it constantly shut off.

Thank you, Peggy! I hop on and off of here late at night

Sandee, we use the battery LED lights that are at Walgreens. The bigger ones work better. There are about 20 strands on each cart. Two of the families that go with us have small generators and their carts are brighter. They also aren't looking for the on/off switches for hours after the parades. This is the first year in the last 5 that we did not decorate. We will be in the Fiesta Bowl though come the end of December. Can't wait to share our new little Mickey with the children.

Beth I love your videos! I had spoken to you a few months ago when I was looking at a mini in the Phoenix area to see if you had one for sale. You were so very helpful. I did purchase Pepper (from Phoenix) and am so please with him. I am in love.

I also have Papillons and may be interested in another and/or would like to explore the possibility of breeding to you beautiful male (way off topic!)

Karen

Thank you all for your suggestions on this thread and on others, especially the parade threads. This is what I came up with so far.

Here is another photo of Pepper and I:

Here we are "dashing through the snow."

You look very nice. It's loads of fun to drive anytime as long as you're not freezing your tush off!

Thank you Sandee, I really bundle up with lots of layers. I grew up in fridged Wisconsin, and ended up in S. Cal where I thought I'd stay forever. Now, I am once again back to cold weather and cold. Because of the low humidity, it is not a cold as WI.

Karen