This year I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to have a Christmas tree. Oh, I know. Bah humbug. With the baby mobile now and my husband not I felt it might be simpler.
But I was overruled. We decided to get a smaller tree and elevate it so it would be harder for the baby to reach. We stopped at the tree lot at Home Depot since we had to go there anyway. Turns out they were out of the 3-5 foot trees. They were cheap enough so we picked out a 5-7 foot tree with the thought of cutting it in half.
Once we got home my husband changed his mind and decided he wanted the full sized tree after all. He said we'd just figure out a way to block access from the baby and deal with it. Easy for him to say!
My son got the ornaments down from the attic and I went to work. When we first married and had our own tree I got the cheap ornaments from the drug store with the multicolored balls and the multicolored lights. My mom tried different styles of tree decorations but seemed to prefer the single colors. One year would be gold themed with golden ornaments, one year blue, etc. I've kind of followed in her footsteps. I prefer mostly silver or clear ornaments with white lights.
I get a splash of color every now and then. One year I bought some beautiful purple (and expensive) ball ornaments. I used them for a couple years and now they stay boxed up in their careful wrapping.
My latest craze is pinecones and birds. I have slowed down on buying them though, because I run out of room with all the other ornaments.
Pinecone ornaments (and an acorn or two)
But I was overruled. We decided to get a smaller tree and elevate it so it would be harder for the baby to reach. We stopped at the tree lot at Home Depot since we had to go there anyway. Turns out they were out of the 3-5 foot trees. They were cheap enough so we picked out a 5-7 foot tree with the thought of cutting it in half.
Once we got home my husband changed his mind and decided he wanted the full sized tree after all. He said we'd just figure out a way to block access from the baby and deal with it. Easy for him to say!
My son got the ornaments down from the attic and I went to work. When we first married and had our own tree I got the cheap ornaments from the drug store with the multicolored balls and the multicolored lights. My mom tried different styles of tree decorations but seemed to prefer the single colors. One year would be gold themed with golden ornaments, one year blue, etc. I've kind of followed in her footsteps. I prefer mostly silver or clear ornaments with white lights.
I get a splash of color every now and then. One year I bought some beautiful purple (and expensive) ball ornaments. I used them for a couple years and now they stay boxed up in their careful wrapping.
My latest craze is pinecones and birds. I have slowed down on buying them though, because I run out of room with all the other ornaments.
Pinecone ornaments (and an acorn or two)
My bird collection.
I also have a bunch of glass icicles of varying sizes and styles. My mom used to put tinsel on her tree which always gave it a finished look. To me it's like my mosaics. You can always be sure the mosaic will look so much better when it's been grouted. Sometimes I put tinsel on my tree too, but it's a rather labor intensive operation if you want it done right. And today's tinsel is so lightweight and flimsy compared to the lead stuff from my mom's day. It still makes the tree look finished to me though.
I know everybody has their preferred type of tree. Usually it's whatever they grew up with. Of the types available around here my preferred type of tree is the noble fir. It has a little more room between the branches so my ornaments can dangle properly. I can also load the branches with the light strands all the way to the trunk, which to me makes it look prettier.
This year I didn't put all the glass icicles on and I didn't do the tinsel. I also didn't put on the cheesy light-up angel topper we have either.
That's okay. I'm glad I was overruled on the tree issue this year. Even though it doesn't have all the stuff I normally put on it still looks nice.
5 comments:
It is STUNNING!! I am glad you have a picture of it now, I am just thinking the lower ornaments might be moved higher soon!! Or did you put all the chairs around it? Our tree hit the ground, first time ever! It is back up, redecorated with some of the love, when I was by myself I could hear it shifting again! My fix, took duct tape folded it in half, wrapped it around the trunk and nailed both ends into the mantel!! Kind of a "okie" fix job!
Patti
That is so funny, the exact same thing happened to me but replace baby with puppy. I even got the tree from home depot.
We've also done the "okie" fix using fishing line! Sometimes when nothing elso works like it's supposed to you just do what you've gotta do! The baby was here for a short while this morning but totally ignored the tree. That may be a good sign!
Your Tannenbaum ist Wunderbar!
Love, M
Oh my goodness, Tina. I have tons of cute and beautiful ornaments that I have collected for years yet for the past 2 years we've only used silver, clear and frosted silver ornaments only with little white lights. I will send you a picture. Mark never told me about your family tradition so thank you for sharing it.
When you mentioned the fishing line I had a thought (too late for you now, though) that you could hang your tree from the ceiling. I know it sounds strange but I've seen it done.
Anyway, your tree is beautiful and I'm glad you put one up.
Love
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