Happy Friday! I am about to share with you our fringed & beaded Christmas tree, but let me just say that it doesn’t really feel like December, does it? Temperatures have been on the warmer side, snow is not even in the forecast…. I sure hope we get more “Christmas weather” coming our way! Anyhow, last week I shared with you my living room tour, but at the time I shot it we didn’t have our tree.
We headed out as a family to Gaver Farm in Mt. Airy, MD. Each year we’ve lived in Frederick County, we’ve tried a different farm. There was one near us we loved the first year, but sadly, it closed. Gaver Farm is our new favorite- they had a great system in place, and had fields and fields of trees to choose from, and carts that made hauling the tree once you cut it sooooo much easier.
We wandered past the Canaan Firs because Chris was sure we needed a Douglas or Fraser Fir although I saw plenty Canaans I thought were perfect. So we walked, and walked, and walked… we hemmed and hawed over several trees. That was one of the only days that has actually been wintery and freezing cold… my hands and feet were suffering and my lips were blue. We finally headed back to where we started at the Canaan Firs and found the perfect tree for our home.
As you can see from the photo above, my lips were purply, Sawyer has a look of relief that we are finally done, but Emmy at least looks thrilled. And I promise Chris was there with us… see? Someone needed to do the actual labor part. The kids and I just pick the winner. 😉
We got it home, set it up in the living room, and let it rest for a day before we went to work the next day decorating.
While the kids were at school, I strung lights on the tree, and added the red wooden beads that belonged to my Great Nana. I am personally not a red person, but they must go on my tree every year. I wanted to add more garlands to the tree this year, so I removed the fringe from my mantle and added it to the tree as well. I had two very long pieces of fringe, so plenty to make it around the tree. Once the Emmy and Sawyer arrived home, it was time to decorate! We added the ornaments as the sun worked its way out of our sky.
At first, just Emmy and I decorated… Sawyer was not very interested. However, Jake decided to join us, and we were glad to have his company.
Lately, my poor old man is really showing his age, so I welcome his presence whenever I can. I don’t know how many more Christmases we will have with him, but I sure hope there are a few more left. He did me a favor and sat for a couple photos…
Emmy and I continued to decorate, and we had a laugh at this ornament… it was made by my bestie, but during storage the hot glue that held Snow White on the base unglued and reattached itself to the side of the dome. We thought it was pretty funny, and we put it right on the tree like that!
Eventually I coaxed Sawyer into joining us by telling him I had his brand new trumpet ornament ready to hang on the tree. He excitedly joined in and stayed for the rest. And then I forced my kids to pretend to really like each other for a photo.
When we were finished, we sat back and enjoyed the twinkling lights and warm feeling in the living room.
I thought I would also give you a chance to check it out in daylight as well. As you can see, I had extra of the red beads since I mixed them with fringe this year, so I placed them in my lucite coffee table tray.
I love the look of the fringe and beads together… there’s just something about garlands.
And right now, this is the most magical seat in the house. Who wouldn’t want to cozy up next to the tree? (Well, probably people who are allergic to natural trees, but all others would love to!)
Aside from the fringe, beads, and lights, our tree is decorated simply with ornaments that are special to us.
There are ornaments that have been in the family for years…
Oh I wish I could crochet- I used to strongly dislike that ornament as a child, but now I wish I had a whole tree full.
There are ornaments that were gifts from special friends…
There are handmade ornaments, like this one that was made by Cheryl of Reclaimed, a Sweet Clover vendor. She and her partner gave one each to me and Sarah for Christmas. I already hung it on my tree.
And then there are ornaments that remind us of those we have lost.. like this one that reminds us of our old dog Charlie who passed away two years ago. As you can see one of the paws came off of it… it’s imperfect but it’s sweet and makes us think of him at the holidays.
I better wrap up this post before I go and get too emotional on you… with Jake’s aging, and seeing this ornament I can’t help but be a little weepy. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend making Christmas memories with the people and pets you love. Cheers to the weekend!
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