Let me start with the decorating: we have hung Christmas lights on our wall that create this really warm glow in the apartment. Kind of like a fire-like glow at night, which goes nicely with our glowing fireplace. We used our old Halloween costumes and arranged them to look somewhat like a fireplace, then stuck red and orange and yellow construction paper in the middle to represent the fire. And to create that glow? We used these flashing snowflakes (it looks really close to a fire). There are paper snowflakes all over the walls and on the wall opposite the fireplace, we have a paper Christmas tree! Complete with paper decorations and paper presents under it. It looks simply magical at night! It really feels like home.
As far as the repairs go?The toilet has been fixed 4 times since the semester started, all by me, and the sink is now totally leaking. It's a mixture of the dishwasher and the clogged disposal. Needless to say, some of our pots and pans are being put to good use as water catchers!
It look something like these:
