Christmas lights are magic... There is something about the way my house feels in December when its getting dark at dinnertime and the only lights on in the house are Christmas lights. I rarely turn any lamps on all month long! I'm so excited to share with you my Christmas trees and my mantel this year. For those of you expecting an elegantly decorated tree and ornate decorations, you may be disappointed. For me, Christmas is about being a kid or feeling like a kid again; it is remembering the feeling you had as you fell asleep on Christmas Eve listening for Santa's reindeer hooves on your rooftop. For that reason, my Christmas style is nostalgia.
This is also the reason that I love colored lights! I am one of the few people I know personally who still prefers them. My mom always used colored lights when I was growing up, as did my grandparents. Most of my mom's sisters still use colored lights as well. To me it just feels like Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I like the white ones too! I have more than one tree... Knoxville holds an event each year called "Fantasy of Trees" which showcases a bunch of Christmas trees of various sizes and styles....my house is staring to look like a small-scale fantasy of trees.
This one is filled with ornaments dating back to my first Christmas and reminders of memories from each year. I also use cranberry picks to add to my tree and used them as a simple topper this year.
I always place my tree in front of our window to the porch so that it can be seen from the outside. I love driving around at Christmas time and seeing people's trees lit up in their windows. To coordinate with my tree, I also use colored lights on my mantel. This year I used several items that I already had to create a new look for my mantel.
Because I had my garland, the snowflakes and larger red ornaments, and the small tree, the only things i had to purchase were the small red ornaments, the sticks, and the berry filler for my mason jar. All three of these I found at the Dollar Store. I have several mason jars and used to twine to dress them up just a little. The big red snowflakes were a gift years ago and they are one of my favorite Christmas items. I usually hang them in my kitchen window but love them on my mantel!
I am still working on my centerpiece for my kitchen table. Last year I had a bowl filled with beautiful ornaments, but because I have a mischievous little girl, I found myself cleaning up lots of broken ornaments. I decided to make something more kid friendly this year and hopefully I will actually get it done before Christmas. For now I simply have a bowl of green apple on a Christmas placemat - simple but festive.
My kids each have a small tree of their own in their bedrooms. Savannah's room is pink, pink, pink so her tree is naturally pink.
Landon's tree - which he decorated himself - is like my big tree. He insisted on a simple green tree with colored lights. Then he chose Tennessee ornaments for decor. He is so proud of it. I resisted the urge to make his ornaments more symmetrical for this picture. (Wonder where he gets his OCD tendencies...hmm...)
In my bedroom is my final tree. As most people do, Craig prefers white lights. For the first several years of our marriage I decorated our tree with white lights and beautiful and simple ornaments...when we had kids I cheered at a good reason to pull out my sentimental ornaments and colored lights, but I still decorate a simple tree with white lights in the spirit of compromise (and because I enjoy having a tree in every room!)
This tree was our first tree...it is a little bit of a Charlie Brown tree but I like it. Since my bedroom is beach themed I use silver and blue ornaments and keep it really simple.
I'm going to complete this post with my favorite tree... It is quite different from anything else that I have. Although is isn't really my "style" it is so special to me for those nostalgic reasons I mentioned before...
The reason that this little ceramic tree is my favorite is because it was given to my mom by my Great Aunt Susan who passed away several years ago. She was such a special lady. My mom always let me have this tree in my bedroom every year and long after all the other lights were turned out, it kept glowing. I spent many late nights in December staring at it, dreaming of the pine tree in my Nana's front yard that was sure to be decorated with big colored lights for Christmas and covered with snow - just like this one! So for me, when I put this tree out and turn it on...it's Christmas.
