Decorating My Trees

This year I have made the bold decision NOT to have a big Christmas Tree. I hate to sound like an old curmudgeon, but I just hate the whole Christmas Tree process. Typically, the day I choose to go buy my Tree, it is the coldest, blustery, most bitterly cold and snowy day imaginable. I sift through all the trees and finally find the one I absolutely love or more likely… just grab one because I’m too cold and miserable to endure another minute of the process. Once home, I have to untie it from my roof rack, lug into the house and struggle with getting it to stand upright in the tree stand. My front porch, entryway and living room, now covered with pine needles, then beckons me to spend a fair amount of time cleaning up. I usually put the lights on and leave the ornaments for the next day. Putting on the lights… that whole process is enough to drive any sane person crazy! Day two is spent lugging all the boxes of ornaments up from my basement, putting them on the tree, and then carrying all the empty boxes back down to the basement. More pine needles every where, more time spent cleaning up. It’s just not that Norman Rockwell scene in my home when it comes to The Tree. My daughter is now 24 and has her own apartment, but I have to say, even when she was living under my roof, her participation in all of this was very limited! She would hang a few ornaments and then suddenly disappear until the job was done. When I informed her of my decision not to have a big Tree this year, she was quite disappointed. I was not buying into her sad looking blue eyes though. Heck, she has her own apartment and can put up her own tree.

So, this is what I did. I bought this cute little live tree at my local Home Depot. A real steal for $16.99. There, I also found a strand of lights that only had 5 light bulbs on it. Surely I could deal with 5 lights. 🙂 Once home, I went down to the basement and just pulled out a few ornaments. The annual ‘lugging of the boxes’ routine up and down the basement stairs was not an issue. Very nice. Ten minutes and I was done!

I then decided that since I already had my Birch Trees painted on my walls, I would hang some bells on them. I used these removable hooks made by 3M. It says they will not damage the surface when removed, so I’m giving them a try. If they do end up taking off a little paint, I can just touch it up. I’m lovin’ these bells! It gives the Trees a whole new, festive look!

My real Tree does not seem to have much of a scent at all, which is the one thing I really do miss about not having a big Christmas Tree. I have a Pine scented candle that I light though and that seems to be solving that problem.

Now typically, next weekend, the weekend right before Christmas, would have been spent in Christmas Tree Hell. Instead, I will be heading off to NYC with the bf to enjoy a relaxing few days. I’ll return rested and relaxed, ready to welcome and entertain my family and friends.