Oh Christmas Tree

(a preview of our Christmas picture)

I have started following the blog of Jill Savage who is the founder of Hearts at Home. She is doing a week of contests. Today she is having us answer the question, "How does your personality show up in your Christmas tree? What an excellent question. :)

My Christmas tree is one of those trees with an bit of an eclectic theme.

When we were first married we had on old fake tree from my parents which we decorated with colored lights just like my parents and then put on colored balls which my mom passed on to me because she was done with them and then finally we added a small handful of personalized ornaments we had either taken from our parents or bought that year. This is the 20th tree we have decorated as a family, we have made a few changes since that first tree.

Several years ago I decided I liked the simple elegance of all white lights on a tree rather than the colored bulbs. Then a couple years ago we bought a pre-lit tree with all white lights which has revolutionized the Christmas decorating experience.

My mom always made us fill the tree with red balls before we could put the "fun" ornaments on. After following this same pattern for several years I realized that I didn't need to do that and so now we only put "fun" ornaments on our tree.

I must admit that I LOVE themed trees. They are so beautiful and have all this continuity throughout them. I love the colors and I love big ornaments. One year, the year we bought our pre-lit tree, I thought I wanted to go with a woodsy theme for my tree and my lower level so we chose a tree that has pine cones attached to various branches. I bought a few north woods type ornaments and some red and black plaid ribbon to finish it off. It was lovely for a few years but I never did decorate my basement in a north woods theme, only set up the tree down there once anyway and quickly got bored with the theme. In the end the theme that never fails me is the traditional red and green theme throughout my house.
(The inspiration for my never fail red and green theme, started by my parents when I was 5)

This year I didn't even decorate the tree. I was busy with all the other accessories of Christmas and delegated the job to my very enthusiastic 4 year old and her willing, although not quite as enthusiastic, teenage brother who did a fantastic job. I didn't even feel the need to re-distribute to balance it out.




So how does my personality come through in my tree? I would say that it is ever changing and growing. Not afraid to try new things but always staying grounded in the traditions of my childhood.
(Posed since, remember, I did not actually decorate the tree this year.)