One of my favorite Christmas traditions is cutting down our tree. I absolutely love having a real tree. The rush of choosing just the right one to bring home is such fun. I also really like that no tree looks exactly alike or perfect. We've had a few that we've brought home and thought...."Ooo, didn't realize it was crooked at the farm." The imperfections always add to the charm though.
Scott and I are partial to blue spruces. In my opinion none is prettier, but they do hurt when you touch them. Scott always strings the light for me. This year the girls and he did the lights while my son and I were out at catechism class (hence no pictures).
My job is to put the ornaments on. We have an assortment of sentimental ornaments. As I pull at certain ones, I just can't help but smile as I recall the occasion behind them.
The kids get to put the candy canes on. They aren't the best at spreading them out evenly. I don't change it though. To be honest, I love it this way. I love that it is their contribution to the tree. The bottom half of our tree has massive candy cane clumps while the top half has them spread more evenly. One day it won't look like this and I will miss these days immensely.
"One for the tree and one for me!"
Next I string cranberries and popcorn for the garland.
The trimming of the tree takes several days at our house. But in my opinion, it is worth it when we get our final product.
And at last we have our tree...
Visit We are THAT Family, to check out more beautiful Christmas trees.
That is awesome I love picking a tree from the farm... maybe someday we will do that again.
ReplyDeleteI wish this had smell o web. I love the smell of a live tree and this post is making me miss a live tree this year :( :) Your tree is very pretty and everyone did a great job decorating!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you string popcorn and cranberries! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have such great memories of stringing our own garland....well, except for that poking my finger with the needle incident. Beautiful tree.
ReplyDeleteIt looks amazing! We did popcorn garland one year, but the smell made me hungry for weeks!
ReplyDeletevery nice! I LOVE the smell of a real tree- ours is artifical so I have to buy the candle to make the "smell"
ReplyDeleteOOPS!! I noticed after posting this that one of the pictures has a startling resemblance to this post!
ReplyDeleteLove the tree! Love that you are such a good mom and you let your kids leave the ornaments where they put them. Of course, my OCD would have me rearranging them after the kids went to bed....maybe if I read enough of your blog I will learn to be more like you!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful!!!! When I see a tree like that, makes me wish we still went out and got a real one still - we switched to fake several years ago.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
~Tidymom
Looks great and I can't wait 'till we get a real one!
ReplyDeleteit looks fabulous, crystal. i've always been envious of your star at the top. and ever since you've done popcorn and cranberries, i've done popcorn and cranberries. did you know you were such a trend setter?
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Here's mine.
ReplyDeletehttp://smilingsally.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-tradition-decorating-tree.html
I have miss cutting our own tree, it was one of the things we gave up when we moved overseas. I have never strung popcorn but I think we may give it a try this year. Your tree is lovely!
ReplyDeleteI love the garland! If I didn't know that my children would try to eat the tree, I'd do the popcorn and cranberry stringing. But they would. So I don't.
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful!! I love the garlands you string especially! You are right...one day I'll miss the time when ornaments were all on the same branch....I really should leave them that way like you do! :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks great, as usual!
ReplyDeletelove your cranberrys and popcorn! Sooo cute. Looks like the kiddo's had fun.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! I like how the trimming of the tree is an event in and of itself. Thanks for sharing ... Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post. I love the idea of cutting down your own tree. And the cranberries & popcorn garland I want to do. I've decorated with cranberries and they lasted a good long time - do they still last a while if they've been strung? Your tree looks great.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!