This is part of the dining room forest of trees on my side chest. I love this one because it looks like a topiary with clean lines. It also doesn’t scream Christmas so it could work at other times of year, but I haven’t done that. I found this at the gift shop of a local nursery.

This is part of the dining room forest of trees on my side chest. I love this one because it looks like a topiary with clean lines. It also doesn’t scream Christmas so it could work at other times of year, but I haven’t done that. I found this at the gift shop of a … Read more →

Today’s tree is in my office. It’s made of rolled up magazine pages and I am in love with it. I don’t do a lot of writing for magazine anymore (editing by committee does not translate to a reasonable per word rate for me in any way) but I still love to read them. My favorite is the December issues with all the gift guides. I look forward to those issues all year! So having this tree on my desk reminds me of how much pleasure I get out of reading them. I happened to find this at TJ Maxx a couple of years ago.

Today’s tree is in my office. It’s made of rolled up magazine pages and I am in love with it. I don’t do a lot of writing for magazine anymore (editing by committee does not translate to a reasonable per word rate for me in any way) but I still love to read them. My … Read more →

We bought this tree on Amelia Island, FL a few years ago. I’m completely crazy about the color of it. What I can’t get out of mind however is that when we bought it, the artist told us she made it from a gin bottle. Which did not enhance it for me in any way! I manage to overlook that unfortunate fact as I see this hanging in our front hallway. This is the only Christmas tree I have that hangs on a wall.

We bought this tree on Amelia Island, FL a few years ago. I’m completely crazy about the color of it. What I can’t get out of mind however is that when we bought it, the artist told us she made it from a gin bottle. Which did not enhance it for me in any way! … Read more →

I made today’s tree myself. After the popcorn wreath that I made turned out so well, I decided I simply had to have a popcorn tree to go with it in the kitchen. I bought a foam cone shaped form and glued the popcorn on with styrofoam glue (which dries quickly and also dries clear). I originally tried using Alene’s Tacky Glue, Clear Gel and it didn’t hold. This project was pretty quick to put together. I like have a tree and a wreath in the kitchen that match!

I made today’s tree myself. After the popcorn wreath that I made turned out so well, I decided I simply had to have a popcorn tree to go with it in the kitchen. I bought a foam cone shaped form and glued the popcorn on with styrofoam glue (which dries quickly and also dries clear). … Read more →

I gave these glass trees to my grandmother because she loved the color blue. After she died, they came to my house. This year I’ve displayed them on a small buffet in my dining room. I made the floral arrangement that is next to them – it was a snap to make with two icicle branches and an evergreen spray I picked up at Michael’s. The covered dish was also my grandmother’s and I’ve filled that with fake snow and some snowflake ornaments. The vase was my mother-in-law’s, as was the Christmas tree dish.

I gave these glass trees to my grandmother because she loved the color blue. After she died, they came to my house. This year I’ve displayed them on a small buffet in my dining room. I made the floral arrangement that is next to them – it was a snap to make with two icicle … Read more →

This trio trees used to reside in the dining room forest, but they don’t really fit in. The trees in the forest are generally skinny and tend to be silvery so these three just didn’t fit in. I moved them to the top of the china cabinet and like the way they look there.

This trio trees used to reside in the dining room forest, but they don’t really fit in. The trees in the forest are generally skinny and tend to be silvery so these three just didn’t fit in. I moved them to the top of the china cabinet and like the way they look there.

As I explained in an earlier post, my daughter moved out this summer, taking her collection of animal ornaments with her. My son has vehicle ornaments and we always displayed them together on a big tree in the family room. We made a change from the big tree to two small skinny trees this year and his ornaments fit nicely on the bigger of the two trees. At this point, I like his collection more than he does – what can you expect from a teenager? The ones I like the most have to do with trips we took – a gondola from Venice, a houseboat from our houseboating trip, a streetcar from San Francisco, the cruise ship we went to Alaska on, and a London cab. If he admitted to liking any, it would probably be the Oscar Meyer weinermobile (which plays the song) and the sports cars.

As I explained in an earlier post, my daughter moved out this summer, taking her collection of animal ornaments with her. My son has vehicle ornaments and we always displayed them together on a big tree in the family room. We made a change from the big tree to two small skinny trees this year … Read more →

The gumdrop tree is a tradition in our house.  It sits next to the gingerbread house we make each year. My kids loved it when they were younger. There’s someone else in our house who loves it also – our dog Percy. I used to put this on a side table in the family room. Then one day I caught Percy helping himself to the gumdrops. We moved it to a shelf in the family room. He promptly demonstrated he could stand up and reach it. It now goes on the top shelf, but he hasn’t forgotten about this wonderful treat. This year, I was standing in the kitchen putting the gumdrops on. Suddenly he leapt up and ran over – he either smelled it or recognized the sound. This will forever be Percy’s tree in my mind.

The gumdrop tree is a tradition in our house.  It sits next to the gingerbread house we make each year. My kids loved it when they were younger. There’s someone else in our house who loves it also – our dog Percy. I used to put this on a side table in the family room. … Read more →

This might be the oldest tree in my collection. It was made by my husband’s grandmother for me soon after we were married. It has always sat in our front hall, but this year I moved it to the spare room after the icicle tree took over the hall table. What amuses me about this tree is apparently it is back in style. First of all, I had no idea these trees were out of style! My mom and my aunt always had one and I was happy to get one of my own as a young married woman. I never stopped putting it out because I think it is pretty. But apparently these type of trees are now “vintage” and are suddenly hot again. Look at me, the style setter. I love having something my husband’s grandmother made.

This might be the oldest tree in my collection. It was made by my husband’s grandmother for me soon after we were married. It has always sat in our front hall, but this year I moved it to the spare room after the icicle tree took over the hall table. What amuses me about this … Read more →

This tree is new for me this year. Our daughter moved out this summer to start med school. Both of my kids have huge themed ornament collections. Hers are animals. We’ve always had a big tree in the family room for their ornaments. With her ornaments gone, it seemed the tree would be too big for my son’s collection (his tree is coming soon!). So we instead bought two small skinny trees. I love having the pairing of two trees and they have really made the room feel less crowded than the big tree did. Our son’s ornaments fit on the bigger of the two trees, which left me with the little one, which is about 4 feet tall.

I have unintentionally been creating a collection of snowflake ornaments over the years and I moved those from my tree in the living room to the little tree. A few of the snowflakes were crocheted by my grandmother, so those are precious to me. My friend Claudine made me several gorgeous beaded snowflakes last year and add in the ones I had randomly bought over the years and I had a collection. Then I stuck some snowballs in the branches. I got these snowballs for Christmas last year and I didn’t really know what I was going to do with them. More snowballs are in the containers below (which were my great-grandfather’s and were used to take produce to the market to sell – he was a farmer). The dogs and I are having an ongoing discussion about these snowballs. Merlin, who loves nothing more than a good ball, has pointed out to me that they are balls. Really nice soft balls. And he has removed them from the tree and scattered them around the floor to prove his point a few times. Percy has chimed in by simply grabbing one from the tree in front of me so I would understand my errors in reasoning. Despite the dispute with the dogs, I love the way this snowflake tree came together!

This tree is new for me this year. Our daughter moved out this summer to start med school. Both of my kids have huge themed ornament collections. Hers are animals. We’ve always had a big tree in the family room for their ornaments. With her ornaments gone, it seemed the tree would be too big … Read more →