I think this is the largest tree I can remember decorating in a very long time - if ever.
And the aroma? Oh my! Our bedroom is in the back of the house, off of the kitchen, and whenever we walk back into the house, we start to smell the tree. We love it! I was making coffee yesterday morning, and G said "It smells wonderful right here between the tree and the coffee!" If I had been cooking bacon, too, we would have hit the trifecta! Can I make some gingerbread now please?
Since pictures are worth a 1,000 words, I will let the pics tell the story. It's a story retold in thousands of homes every year, but it never gets old. Each year we remember and celebrate the treasures and the decorations. Whether you are from the camp like our friends W&D who have a Santa Explosion! all over their house each year or you are like my daughter, S, who leans towards themed trees, or you are like S&A who go on a Christmas tree hunt to cut down each year, or a combination thereof, each tree each year is an individual creation. We play Christmas music, and we smile more and we laugh and may even well up a tear or two at some of the memories. What is not to love?
And so our story begins with the star...we had to put it on first, because like I said earlier, this is the largest tree I can remember ever bringing into this lil' house of ours, so some trimming was in order. Good thing G has tools and skills for such things. And yes, you're right. It does look like a thunder cloud on our ceiling in this pic. Not quite sure why...but so far no floods inside our living room...
Next we pull up the totes of all the Christmas decorations...
We like lights!
And we have our own designated "Lighting Crew." Please note that Deb is not part of the Lighting Crew and trust me, she likes it that way!
B&G make a great Lighting Crew. First the white lights inside the tree for depth of light...
And then the team works on the colored lights for the outside of the tree. I do love me some great teamwork!
Then go to bed. Cause you've made 2 trips to Home Depot, 1 trip to Mid Rivers Mall, 1 trip to Hobby Lobby (for said star above...they have quite the collection that aren't cheesy stars, if you're in the market) 1 stop by your daughter's house to drop off her small tree star to replace the shell casing "star" that was on the "Grandma N Ornaments" themed tree on Thanksgiving Day, plus 1 stop at the tree lot for the tree. It is now after 10pm, and G has some drilling to do for a couple of other Home Depot projects that were picked up that day, so ornaments will have to wait till tomorrow.
Did you sleep well? Good. Me, too.
And the first ornament has been hung! It is a green one, because G is convinced there is an Anti-green Ornament Conspiracy going on. It's quite the conspiracy theory, let me tell ya.
And then the memories and treasures begin....
This teacup is one of four that my daughter, S, gave to us cookin' sistas. Fragile. Special. And we do like our tea and teapots. So conducive to a good chat. I do love a good ladies' tea.
I always remember a lady I used to work with at Vi-Jon who gave our family Christmas ornaments years ago when we needed them. This is one she gave us, and it always takes me back.
See this little guy? He is one of the more bashful gingerbread boys we made a few years back. He likes to hide inside the tree boughs. We have given them as gifts as well as kept some for ourselves.
This guy is much more bold and "edgy". Get it? Both of these guys are from our latest batch, but we first did this about 15 years ago, too. And I still have some of those.
Even though the left-hand bow broke off years ago, I still hang this one up from our first batch. We used the cinnamon-glue dough, and they still smell wonderful when I first open the box of these each year. How cool is that? If we had a themed tree, we have enough of these to fill a small tree with just these...as in a Homemade Cinnamon Gingerbread tree. Maybe someday...
Other ornaments remind me of my mother. This one was a gift from her to Grandma N years ago, and when Grandma N divided up her ornaments last year amongst all of the grandkids, this one was given to me. I do love a full circle thing, too.
And before you know it, you have a finished tree!
And because you have a few trimmings from the tree, you also have a bit of extra home décor.
For the back of the piano...
...or for the table. See the table runner? This is the other one my friends, C&B, (mother and daughter - or really daughter and mother, based on the order of the initials) gave me for my birthday. I love it!
And finally, you set up this year's poinsettia...
And when it's all said and done, you sit down to a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers (I think I almost enjoy those more than the original meal) and a Christmas movie, and the only lights on are the tree lights. Does it get much better?
Merry! Merry! Happy Christmas beautifying in your neck of the woods. Enjoy the story you're writing this year...
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