Monday, August 19, 2013

Christmas Countdown! What's in Store

I know it's a little early to be thinking of Christmas but my theme this year makes it crucial to get started now! I've always loved decorating for the holidays (and by holidays, I mean things start going up in September and they don't stop until after New Years) When my children were still toddlers and I was staying home with them, money was tight and I didn't have any extra to go out and spend on ornaments (not to mention glass ornaments and two tiny tots do NOT mix). My solution to this problem was to get a small (3 or 4 foot) tree and put it up on a coffee table. For ornaments, I went through the tons of toys spread from one corner of the house to another and picked out as many tiny, colorful toys that I could find and used them as ornaments. This was such a special tree and I regret so much that I don't have any pictures of it (the film was damaged). When the kids got older, we would take turns picking the theme/colors of our Christmas tree each year. Most years were pretty normal - red & green, the bright colors popular lately, silver and blue - until the year my son picked black. Black. For Christmas. My initial instinct was to talk him out of it and then I thought what the heck? Might as well give it a try. I found a white Christmas tree (never thought I'd get one of those lol) because black against the dark greens wouldn't be nearly enough contrast. Much to my surprise, the look was actually stunning! We ended up with the white tree and black ornaments (with some silver thrown in). Last year, I had just hurt myself at work (four herniated discs) and I was depressed and sore and didn't even bother to put up a tree because our kids (who live about 3 1/2 hours away) were not going to make it up. This year will be a particularly hard one, as my fiance just lost her mother and we're all having a tough time. I have, however, decided to make sure the tree is put up this year and my plan is for a beautiful, rustic country tree. We recently bought a lovely home in the Adirondacks and our decor is very ADK in style so I think it will be perfect! Because I have a world of resources outside my front door, I've decided to make as many of the decorations as possible, using natural items as much as possible. Other than some supplies here and there, I do not want anything that comes from the store; I want authentic nature and upcycled items that I already have. This is going to mean a lot of work but I spent the day searching and pinning ideas so stay close - there will be many how to's and pictures to come in the next couple months!




















White tree with black ornaments - in progress**


White tree with multi color ornaments - I loved the look of this one!




















Green tree with traditional colors

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