Start with the tree. LOL Welcome to the Blog today, Friends. I can’t believe it’s that time of year when we start posting Christmas and Holiday blogs. One of my favorite things to do is decorate the tree for the holidays. Over the years we’ve had different kinds of trees from real to faux and sometimes a tree where I’ve mixed the two. We generally have a couple of trees set up in the house. The Great Room tree is the one we decorate together with family pieces that have meaning and ornaments that we’ve collected that tell a story. Typically we’ll decorate Thanksgiving weekend so the house is ready to welcome Christmas on December 1.
It’s now the week before Thanksgiving and I’m starting on my fist of two trees. This one I decorate pretty much by myself. My hubby sets it up and worries about the lights then the rest is up to me. This tree sits at the edge of the dining room and can be seen as soon as you enter the house. You can also see it from the kitchen. I’ve been collecting Thrift Store ornaments for this tree so we’ll find out, together, how the thrifted ornaments work.
When you first set up your faux tree you will see that the branches are all clumped together. Large holes appear and you can see the workings of the inside of the tree. That, of course, is not good. The first and most important part of decorating your tree is the “FLUFFING” of the branches. It can take an hour or so to do this part. Put some Christmas music on, have a scented potpourri steaming and relax into the moment. When your tree is fluffed you can see if you need to add any filler picks or, if the tree is full enough without any additions.
There are so many trees on the market it can make it difficult to choose. Lots of people are leaning toward flocked trees and they can be beautiful. I like the more traditional look but it is all a matter of personal choice. This tree is 7 1/2′ tall and has cashmere branches which soften the look …..which I love. The tree was originally $180 from Park City sold at /big Lots. However, we bought this one at the Thrift Store last year for under $10. It’s a beautiful tree and I was so happy to find it.
After the “fluffing” and the lights I add ribbon. I like to use ribbon that is at least 4″ wide. You can certainly use narrower ribbon and pair two types of ribbon for a more complex look. I wanted to keep the look light so I used a 4″ gauze-like golden wired ribbon. I attached the ribbon to the tree diagonally using wire twists to anchor the ribbon to the tree. In the above pictures you can see that the ribbon progresses diagonally around the tree. Each time you anchor a section of the ribbon you twist the next section before anchoring. I love how the diagonal approach adds a bit of movement to the tree.
Here’s a close up of the ribbon and of the tree branches.
Once the ribbon is added I put the topper on the tree. In this case I used a St. Nicholas that we have had for years. It’s still a favorite. We put St. Nicholas on a wooden dowel and than insert the dowel from the top into the middle part of the tree. St. Nicholas stands straight for the entire holiday season.
The tree skirt is placed around the bottom of the tree. Now you have the top, the bottom and lights and ribbon on the tree.
Next I lay out all the ornaments that will be placed on the tree. It helps to see everything laid out in one place. The ornaments going on this tree have all been found in the past year or so. I found so many glass ornaments this year and together they make a very colorful and sparkly collection for the tree. I added the White House ornaments I recently found to this collection. There are some Radko ornaments mixed in this group. They are very colorful and detailed in their execution. The tree will also have some Victorian feathered birds on the branches…..once I find them. They are in a box somewhere. LOL. There are one or two exceptions to this which make the tree a little more personal.
Start with the largest ornaments and set them as far back in the tree as you can. I use large ornaments to cover any gaps between the branches and to draw the eye into the tree. Santa Mickey reading a story is one of the larger ornaments.
Then begin adding the smaller ornaments and the icicles.
This trio of ornaments is a train and should be hung together.
Special ornaments need to be displayed prominently on the tree so they can be seen by everyone. This teapot is from the Wedding Box of ornaments.
White House ornaments make the tree special as we recall Christmas’s of the past century.
Very lovely crocheted ornaments hold a special place. They were made by my sister-in-law for our first married Christmas. They are always placed on one of our trees.
Trees are always special. This one turned out really well using thrifted ornaments and special keepsakes. I hope you have a wonderful time decorating your tree this year. I am really happy with the way my thrifted tree turned out. The ornaments, the lights, and the ribbon all worked together to create a special tree for the holidays. I’ll put the birds on as soon as I find them!
Found another box of ornaments for this tree that included my feathered birds.
Here’s the bottom row of ornaments from the same box.
It’s amazing what gets tucked away from one year to the next.
Here’s some closeups of the birds on the tree.