We were given, so very kindly, a live tree this year.

And what a treat it is! Our live tree smells wonderfully. It brightens the family room like nothing else could.

Silly as it is, I couldn't part with our fake tree in my front entry. I spent River's first and second Christmas seasons, when he was just a tiny little guy, walking, rocking, and singing in front of that tree, letting the lights and sparkle mesmerize him into tranquil slumber. I love spending evenings looking at the ornaments and lights. I know a different tree would have had the same ornaments and lights, but I've got a silly sentimentality thing going (even though that dang tree sat on the living room floor until April waiting for someone to take it apart - it was stuck - and swearing every day that it was going in the trash).

The fake tree is pre-lit and has all the many years worth of collected ornaments.

Pretty, scented new tree was naked. Mia found a spare tablecloth to use as a skirt. The kids and I took ribbon and my large collection of cookie cutters and began decorating. We then strung lots and lots of popcorn and red beads onto thread for garland. And so the decorating began, with a goal of having everything created from materials found in or around our house ... not one penny was spent decorating this tree.


The blue/ribbon/glitter/bead thing-a-ma-jig started as a wooden spool, intended years ago for some long-forgotten craft. It was painted with glue on the top and bottom and dipped in glitter. Ribbon was glue-gunned around the middle. The beads are threaded onto the hanging ribbon, which runs through the center of the spool.


Paper balls in blue and white. The ornament in the top left corner Kaden made from a cork, googly eyes, and some foam.


Pinecones from behind our house, rolled in glue and then glitter. This was a great project for River to do, all I had to help with was tying the hanging string on.


Birds from tan cotton, stuffed, and decorated.


The circular disk things are just sewn together with one long straight stitch in red, with beads added to the tops and bottoms and butcher's string to hang them with. The balls are mostly from bow and neck tie fabrics ... my "homage" to this season's work. (it's possible that I might have just been using whatever fabric was already on the sewing table)


The tree is topped, of course, with a star.