In the Spirit of Christmas

Christmas is less than two weeks away.  And in the spirit of the holiday, Chris and I purchased our very first Christmas tree yesterday.  In the five years of living at our house and the four years of being married, this is our first family tree.  So I am super excited about it.  Not only does it make the house smell fresh and piney, but waking up to the vibrant reds and greens puts me in a happy mood looking at all of my Christmas decor knowing the holidays are here.  I mean, my husband actually hopped out of bed this morning singing “Silver Bells” in his deepest manly voice. 

I always admire trees that have a coordinating color scheme rather than a mish mosh of random ornaments collected throughout the years.  Although I have a collection of ornaments that I’ve been given as gifts from students, coworkers, friends, and family; I opted to decorate the tree without them.  Perhaps when I have children of my own that may change because I couldn’t possibly leave off my child’s handmade picture wreath or popsicle stick snowflake, but only the future will tell.

As for the husband’s and my method of decorating the tree, we first trimmed the trunk and got the tree into some water—about a gallon.  I put on the tree skirt, which I purchased for half off at Michael’s craft store, and the St. Nick tree topper, which was a gift from Mom several years ago.

Chris added a poinsettia to his hand for an added touch.  We then strung 600 lights around the tree for that traditional Christmas tree glow.  Artificial poinsettias were added in what I would like to think was a thoughtfully placed pattern.  Next, thirty green, gold, and red ornaments were added to the eight foot tall tree.  Lastly, I wanted to add some cascading ribbon for the final touch.  I purchased some red velvet ribbon; however, I decided it just wasn’t the look I was going for.  So I asked Mom to take a ride with me back to Michael’s to help pick out a ribbon for my tree.  We decided on the red and green plaid, which I think adds the perfect touch of casual sophistication.

You may be wondering why this is our first Christmas tree.  Well, having two dogs and a cat I always feared they would knock the tree over, eat the ornaments, lights, etc.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that doesn’t happen now that the dogs are out of the puppy stages hopefully.  The cashier at Michael’s suggested tying the tree to a 3M hook on the wall to prevent the cat from tipping it; Chris said he would tie it today to prepare for the animals being left home tomorrow while we are at work.  I keep telling them no when they walk over by the tree.  Maybe they’ll get the message (because we are convinced the two dogs understand English) and stay off my tree!

My tree came out just as I envisioned and does just what I hoped it would—put me in the Christmas Spirit.