Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!! (Part 2)

I showed off our $5 steal of a Christmas tree in an earlier post and now I'm back to share the pictures of the tree that lives in our bedroom and tell you one of my favorite Christmas decoration stories... so make sure and keep reading!

This was the tree that lived in all my (pre-married life) little, adorable, gingerbread style, doll houses that I lucked into year after year! (See, doesn't that totally look like a gingerbread house?! I loved living in a college town full of cute little old homes!) Since I bought it 75% off at the Hobby Lobby after Christmas sale it is a really nice tree with realistic looking pine cones and prelit lights that actually work. I picked it because it was skinny and therefore, didn't take up a ton of room because, quite frankly, I didn't have a lot of room to spare!

The bedding that matches our bedroom Christmas tree...
Clearly didn't think this one through!

Being OCD and always packing a plan, I had determined that it would go in our bedroom when we got married... so last year I started collecting red and gold ornaments of all shapes and sizes to decorate our tree with. It worked great - I have a lovely collection of beautiful ornaments that didn't cost a fortune since I wasn't in a rush to buy them at Christmas time... the only part I didn't consider was that we would get new bedding when we got married. Duh. So now we have a beautiful tree that matches our guest bedroom. Whomp whomp. 

Tada!!! Please ignore our rather boring bedroom decor,
we haven't hung anything because we are going to paint over Christmas break.

I choose to just put the tree in our room anyway because it would have been dreadfully under-appreciated in our guest room and I really liked how it turned out, despite the fact that it doesn't match our new bedding quite as well. So, of course, I'll be collecting gold and brown ornaments (and a few with a "touch of leopard" just because I love leopard) throughout 2012 for next year's Christmas! See, this is why I need three trees!! I don't want this one that matches our guest room perfectly to go to waste... it needs it's own tree. Don't you agree? I thought so.

So here are a few close ups... 

You'll notice the ornaments that were previously hung over my former bed are now finding a new home on the tree! 

Also, if you look closely, you'll see some glass balls that are more red than the wine color I was really going for... I found these ornaments at an estate sale and I couldn't pass them up. It was virtually an entire tree's worth of vintage glass red bulbs of different shapes and sizes for $1! Too good to be true!






So, there you go! Christmas tree #2. I thought it was a fun new addition and even though it doesn't perfectly match our bedroom like I'd like it to, it's brought me great joy every time I've turned the corner and saw lights sparkling down the hall! I hope each of you has a tree or decoration that brings you joy every time you see it... (Uh oh, small rabbit chase) I have to tell you one more quick story!! When my parents got married they, like most newly married couples, on a tight budget... my mother LOVES decorating for Christmas but didn't feel comfortable spending what little money they had on buying decorations that would only be used one month out of the year, so my dad sweetly bought her a new decorative Christmas piece every year for Christmas. *Fast forward to 2010. I'm helping mom with some Christmas decorations and I start giving her a hard time about never throwing any decorations away... I mean, I understand keeping the ornaments my brother and I made but there are some decorations that have faded with time... plus, now my mom has very beautiful Christmas decorations and I was encouraging her to chunk some of the old stuff so that it didn't get too Christmas cluttered. So I walk over to one of the cabinets and point out this straw mobile (like you hang over a baby bed but this one is relatively small)... the straw is shaped into little angels and they are all hanging by what looks like some not too great twine. I proceed to tell her how this piece should probably be the first to go, my mom very sweetly tells me that the Christmas mobile isn't going anywhere. I continue to push, (I know, imagine that!) until finally, she tells me the story of the mobile. Apparently, every year my dad not only bought my mom a Christmas decoration but he really splurged. He'd buy something she had seen in a catalog or store she had been browsing, but this particular year they were dead broke. So instead of the big wicker bells that are still beautiful hanging by our dining room entrance... instead of the pretty nativity that sits on our grand piano... instead of a grand gesture, he bought her this little straw mobile because that's all they could afford. So now, thirty-some odd years later, the little pitiful straw mobile hangs in our pretty kitchen amongst all the lovely Christmas decor... my mom sweetly said, that the mobile reminds her to be thankful. Guess what? That mobile isn't going anywhere. Ever. Someday (hopefully a very, very long time from now), I will proudly display the little straw mobile in my kitchen. It won't just remind me to be thankful... It'll also tell a story of my daddy loving my mom and wanting to spoil her. It'll tell me that even during hard times, my parents were happy because they had each other, their happiness doesn't come from the sparkly things that surround them. So regardless if you have a Charlie Brown tree or thirty trees that all rival the one sitting in the White House, be reminded that our joy doesn't come from the decorations it comes from the people we get to celebrate this wonderful holiday with! 


Thanks for reading about one of my favorite Christmas decorations and for looking at pictures of our cute little Christmas tree!! Only three more days until the birth of the KING!! 


Be Blessed!
Raegan