O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
We usually have two or three Christmas trees in our home each year. One is in our living room and it holds all of our more "traditional" ornaments (ones made of glass and porcelain; and most of them are in the same color schemes--clear, glass, red, gold, or white). An angel sits atop it.
Last year, I found a tree that just made me Happy with a capital "H." It's a white tree with bright lights; all of the ornaments are retro in style--think hot pink and lime green and purple and blue. It sits in my dining room, which is right above my living room.
I can sit on my living room couch and enjoy views of both of them.
We also usually have a live tree that goes in our den. It holds all of our more "rustic" ornaments, as well as all of our homemade ones. We haven't made it to the tree farm yet, so it's not up yet.
But I wanted to share pictures of my Formal Tree and my Fun, Funky Tree--and all of the fun we had decorating them.
Tree #1...
Tree #2...
Some of my favorite things about decorating the trees include...
* The girls making sure they are putting up "their" ornaments (they each have ornaments that have been given to them over the years)
* All the picking-up that has to be done to reach the high branches (Scout on Gary's shoulders; Delaney on McKenna's)
* Deciding whose turn it is to put the angel on top
* Turning out the lights, lighting the fire in the fireplace, then looking at the lights
* Being able to pile presents under them now!
What sort of tree do you have?
Have you put your tree up?
What are your favorite decorations?
Any special traditions connected to your tree?
20 comments:
We get a live tree, but have not gotten it yet, although most of the rest of the decorating is done. Capra has a small artificial tree for her room -- she already has quite a collection of ornaments she has gotten as gifts! My favorite ornaments are ones with meaning, like the very old ones that were my Grandmother's, the silly Santa on a gator we got on our first trip to New Orleans, handmade ornaments from Kentuck, a unicorn ornament that was a gift when I was a teenager, a ceramic one I painted as a kid, that kind of thing.
Where do you go to get your real tree?
What sort of tree do you have?
*We get a live tree but next year we won't lol. I HOPE to find a good artificial one at the end of the season.
Have you put your tree up?
*We put it up last Friday lol.
What are your favorite decorations?
* The ones the kids make are the ones I love most.
Any special traditions connected to your tree?
* Umm not really, other than the fact that I let them pick the color for ornaments every year. Next year is Kaylas turn and she has already picked blue, silver and hot pink lol
I love those pictures and the trees.
Can you believe it. I've never had a live tree, even when I was a kid.
Love your trees!!!
We just finished last night. We always get a real tree, frasier fir. It's a big one this year! I put traditional ornaments on it. Most have a "story" behind it or came from someone no longer with us. Bittersweet.
Madison was super-excited this year, helping decorate and I left things just as she put them too. No OCD in this holiday!!!
OMG I HAVE to tell dh that you have sometimes 3 trees...he'll scream!! I'd love more than 1 tree but he always makes a fuss about how much they cost (real of course) but they are soo festive...I just love it all!!!
Love the photos. I used to up up multiple trees in KC, but I barely have room for one here. In fact, even this one is too big for my taste at this house and for me alone, so at the end of the season, I hope to buy a smaller one, then recycle this one to a family. It's almost new, just been up 3 or 4 times.
I have an artificial tree, and I will continue to, simply because I think "real" trees, need to remain in the earth, keeping our air good. Haven't put it up yet, but will in the next few days.
No particular tradition with my tree, but each year I buy an ornament for each grandchild and great-grandchild, add their name and the year on the back or bottom of it. By the time they leave their parent's home, they will have the beginnings of a decorated tree of their own, and I hope, lots of memories.
What sort of tree do you have?
We have a live (well, dead really) frasier fir--6-7'tall
Have you put your tree up?
yes, we did so last Thursday after school--the only open slot before the 14th!
What are your favorite decorations?
I love the decorations from places we've visited, the ones made by little fingers, and the 2 that have our wedding date on them.
Any special traditions connected to your tree? We allow David to place the first ornament and Drama Girl to place the angel--this year she graduated to a chair (lift) because she's 5'1" and over 100 lbs, so Daddy had to save his back. ;) In previous years, she's rec'd a shoulder ride.
your pictures are beautiful
what a warm and inviting home you have
What sort of tree do you have? This year we got a smaller tree, about 6 to 7 feet tall. We got it flocked to make it a little more fun! For the past several years, our tradition was to drive up to the Santa Cruz mountains and cut the tree ourselves. This year we run out of time so we had to purchase one from one of our local tree farms.
Have you put your tree up? The tree is finally up! Yeay! I still haven't taken pictures yet though. I better do that tonight! :D
What are your favorite decorations? My Disney characters collection!
Any special traditions connected to your tree?
We love to listen to Christmas charols while we decorate it and drink hot chocolate! :D
Deborah--I LOVE the ornaments with special meaning!!! We get our live tree at Pine Hill Tree Farms. It's over in the Tarrant area. But there's also one down 280 that we've wanted to check out. It's down close to Morgan Creek Winery.
Adrienne--That sounds PERFECTLY like Kayla. I love it!
Gin--I never had a live one growing up either. But when Gary and I got married, he said that we HAD to have a live tree!
Queen--I bet your tree is gorgeous! THOSE are the best ornaments. The memories they bring back!
Muffin--LOL You absolutely go ahead and tell you DH that you need MORE than one tree. If my house was bigger, I'd have more!! :-)
Lynilu--You know, I think the best idea is to get one of those trees that you plant after the holidays. I may have to check into that option.
Gretchen-- LOL about Drama Girl graduating to the chair. D and M are really too old to be lifted too, but it's the fun of it I guess. :-) My house is small and cozy, but it's very warm and inviting during the holidays.
Maria--We always listen to carols while decorating too. I love that!!! I can't wait to see pictures of your tree and decorations; I know they're gorgeous!
I SO Wish I had enough room for more trees! May be in my dream house. HEY! WOuldn't it be cool to
have a small tree in the bathroom?
Like within view of a big soaker tub?? :sigh:
I love your disco ball,that's a neat ornament!
My fave decorations are the ones that the kids made and my fancy one,shoes,beaded stars..snowflakes,maple leaves
Cheryl,
Your trees are lovely. What fun the white tree. I agree, it is something that makes you happy just looking at it.
We have an artificial tree now. We always had a real tree until a few years ago. We so often travel to visit family on Christmas now. I finally gave in to the artificial one. It is still lovely.
Ours is up and decorated. I have a small one for the dining room that will probably be done later this evening.
I have Jim's mom's artificial tree that is about 35 years old. I put that on the sun porch with just white lights. It looks so pretty when you're driving down the road to our house. Since Jim doesn't do "outdoor lights" this is my answer to that.
Like you, we have so many wonderful memories tied up in our decoratins. My favorite is one I bought the year I accepted Christ. It always has a special place on the tree.
Except for my little dining room tree, I think my house is decorated.
Your home looks wonderful.
~hippo hugs~
P.S. With all those trees, where to you open gifts?
P.
Beautiful! I have 4 , but will probably only put up one this year. But I will admit I am looking to snatch a few more after Christmas (lol).
i can see that you have a warm and a home filled with Love! those trees are Beautifully decorated and it must be so much fun doing so :)
have a Great Thursday!
We are in a quandry about our tree. We re-arranged our living room/dining room space (which is kinda one big space in our apartment) and we don't know where to put a tree! We need to figure this out soon, right. * ugh *
Also, posted a meme sort of thing over on my blog today, inspired by someone else. You should check it out... might be fun for a random Tuesday sometime :)
I absolutely LOVE Christmas. We have a normal tree, and this year Kris and I decided to just do red bulbs, and colored lights. We also have a mini tree in our kitchen so people on the back can see. best time of the year for sure.
Your trees look gorgeous
Ms. L--A tree by a soaker tub sounds HEAVENLY. We can dream, right? :-)
Pam--The tree from Jim's mother sounds just perfect. I love that you still display it! And your special ornament? What a wonderful thing.
Pam again--LOL We FIND room, believe me. :-) (Mostly, right infront of the fireplace. I love it!)
Scrapper--Wow! Four trees!!! That's awesome!
Ed--Decorating the trees is definitely one of our favorite activities!
Jeff--Okay, guys, get with it! You can figure out where to put the tree!!! (But I can see how a space like that would cause a problem.) I am definitely checking out your meme!
Phats--I knew that you loved Christmas!!! Your tree sounds great!
I blogged about our tree traditions earlier. We make a BIG deal about it!! Some people think we are crazy, but I love it!
I need you to email me your address so I can send you your Pay it Forward contest!!! tncitizen_alfan@yahoo.com
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