How our tree comes together.

I had a request that I do one post all about our Christmas tree.

I thought I could tell you how it all comes together.

Next year, I will have to try to take step by step pictures.

First of all, I do not have a pre-lit tree.  I light this bad boy all by myself with some help from my hubby or the kiddos.

I think it is important to wrap each branch with lights so they go in and out. 

Although quite time consuming, it makes for quite a beautiful sight.

Tip: stand back and squint.  If the lights are evenly spaced and there are no holes in your tree then you have done a good job with your lights.

When I was taking these night pictures, this one ended up on my camera.  I thought it was fun.  Obviously, I bumped my tripod.

Once we have the lights on, we start with the basic ornaments.  I bought a box of 40 red and a box of 40 silver ornaments.  They are in all different shapes and sizes.  I found them at Target after Christmas one year.  This gives us some really good coverage with 80 ornaments.

The basic ornaments are the base of the tree.  They are the ornaments that fill in the gaps, but not the ornaments that catch your eye.

 

We don’t just hang on the outer limbs of the tree.  We stick our hands all the way inside and hang there too.

Now, begins the fun ornaments. 

I have collections of ornaments.  I buy a few new ones each year for our tree.

When I find an ornament that I like, I buy them in sets of 3 or 5. 

That way I have a variety of my favorite ornaments.

 

I have never been a matchy-matchy(my computer says this is not a word, but I am using it anyway) sort of girl.

 I like my ornaments to be a reflection of things I love, or to tell a story.

 

I only buy ornaments that fall into my color scheme of red, silver, gold, and white.  I have a few touches of black in there too.

When looking for ornaments, I tend to be attracted to glass vintage looking ornaments.

I also love things that sparkle with lots  of glitter.

I love ornaments with words on them.

I also think big ornaments, and ornaments with texture are always fun.

I have had lots of luck finding ornaments at thrift stores, hobby lobby, the dollar store, and target.

I pick up ornaments year round.

After we have added all the varieties, then it is time for the kids ornaments.

They receive an ornament from us each year for Christmas.  I also try to keep them in our color scheme(if possible), and I like them to be classy enough that they would want to hang them on their tree when they take them with them.

For example, although they might like sponge bob now, he might not look so beautiful on their tree when they are 30.

I do pick out ornaments that reflect them during that particular year.  For example, Stella will get a white ornament because she was baptized this year. They receive these on Christmas Eve.

Then it is time for the picture frames.  My personal favorite.

 

This is the part of the tree that really represents me and my love for photography.

I have just found frames at thrift stores, and spray painted them in white, and silver.  I found the red frames at Hobby Lobby.

I change these pictures from year to year.  The red frames have a picture of the kids, and the others have fun candid moments throughout the years.

The little white frames were a score that I found at a random store in Kansas City years ago for a dollar each.  These little white frames have some of our earliest family pictures in them.  I also put the date on each of these pictures.  It is kind of fun to look back and reminisce.

The picture frames are what make the tree. 

I also have ornaments that are picture frames as well.

(yes that is me, when I was a youngster)

Picture frames are what I use to complete my tree, and make a statement.

I don’t think you have to use picture frames to finish off your tree.

You can use anything you love.  It should be big, and make a statement.

A few ideas that I thought of; If you love to read, you could use books that you love, children’s books, and ornaments covered in book paper.  You could also use your initials(big wooden letters). If you love to bake you could make big gingerbread cookies.  If you love to sew, you could cover ornaments in fabric, or hang spools of thread from you tree.  I have also seen nice big words out there to buy.  I think those would look real fun stuck in a tree.

We top our tree off with our vintage topper; this topper reflects my style and goes well with my ornaments.

We can’t forget what goes below the tree.

 

I am in love with my new red tree skirt.  I made this in honor of Baby Ruby and I love looking at it and thinking of her.

(tutorial found here)

Thanks for asking me share this little post.  It was fun putting it together.

Oh, and one more thing.  You are probably asking if our kids help in this little process.  Well yes they do.  They help all along the way.

We have had a few ornaments broken, but it comes with the territory.

I would rather have ornaments broken and memories made.

Do I rearrange the ornaments on the tree when they go to bed?

Why yes I do.

Shhh. Don’t tell.