So I haven't blogged in a few days and I have had so much to blog about that I will probably have to backdate some of these. We finally got our tree last weekend. I am extremely late this year. I usually like to have it up the day after Thanksgiving, but it just didn't happen. My Mom got the crazy idea that I should put the Christmas tree on the smallest wall in the smallest corner of our living room. We have a small living room so I usually have to make some major furniture arrangements in order to accomodate the tree. I also really wanted to get a taller tree this year. We have vaulted ceilings on one side of our living room and this would be the perfect location if we can find one that is skinny enough to walk around and still be able to make it into the kitchen. So off to Snowy Peaks in Forresthill, CA to pick out our tree. The husband loves to go and chop one down rather than buying one off a lot. Personally, I would love to have the ever popular faux tree that are so hot right now. That way I wouldn't have to mess around with watering and the major drooping due to my love for hundreds of heavy ornaments. Alas, we must sacrafice a real tree for the love of tradition. It is fun, going out there with the girls and hunting around for the "right" one. This year I found one about two seconds after I stepped on the soil. It was perfect with one whole side missing, just right to fit into the corner. The husband rolled his eyes. "We drove all the way up here, we have to look around a while." I looked around making sure I had a marker of where the "perfect" tree was, and luckily, there was a great big mammoth tree there to mark the spot. I kept looking back as we walked on wishing that I had brought bread crumbs or at least the girls graham cracker snacks to mark the trail. In the end, we went back to that same tree because it was "perfect" for our house. I also got the idea to put the tree in a wine barrel. I just thought it would look cool. Two days after I got the idea they had an article in Better Homes and Gardens with a tree in a barrel of sorts. It looked so fantastic. The husband went to Lowe's where we had previously seen a barrel in the garden department, but no such luck. Then he traveled to Home Depot and no such luck. I told him to hop on Craigslist and see if anyone was selling them. We found a winery up in Camino who had whole barrels for $20.00 a piece. Yay!!! The husband and the Scout jumped in the truck the following Monday and headed up there. He came home with six, yes I said six, full wine barrels. He said that he got some strange looks driving down the freeway with them. He cut one in half and we ended up turning it over and setting the tree on top of it. It looks so great. We are using some of the other barrels as planters and some we are giving to family. The back porch smells like a wine cellar. On to the decorating.. I had much help from Scout and Peanut with the tree. Most of the ornaments ended up right along the bottom, but they were a huge help and the tree looks great. My parents had been to IKEA Christmas shopping and brought me back the most beautiful box of red glass ornaments. They really added that extra shine to the tree and only $4.99. Gotta love the bargains! I added a pic of the tree without the flash. Trying to capture the ambiance of the lights. I really need to take a basic photography class or read the instructions to my camera because everything I take always comes out blurry.
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