After the disastrous tree of 2010, I was at my wits end about what to do. We couldn’t skip out on a tree this year… with two little girls at home we needed one for Christmas morning. I couldn’t stomach paying for another tree, so we borrowed an artificial one from my parents. I never thought I’d be okay with this, but it really turned out very pretty. I used twice as many lights, tons of ornaments and filled in with gold mesh. I was hoping that if it the branches were full it might could pass as a real tree!
The other problem we had was making it tall enough for our house. We have tall ceilings and this shorty looked a little silly. We decided to get it up off the ground by securing it in a large planter and I wrapped the trunk with some silk sari table runners. We hung a metal star lantern above the tree to bridge the gap and I filled it with an extra strand of lights. Fake or not, this is my new go-to for a tree topper. I love how it turned out, but photos don’t do it justice. Sitting in the living room with all the lights off is so pretty with this little gem!
I don’t know if I’ve joined the “fake-tree-bandwagon”, but I’m satisfied for this year. We finally finished wrapping all of the gifts I’ve bought and they are under the tree. I have a few more things to pick up this afternoon and a STACK of gifts from a certain someone, hiding in our bedroom.
I thought while I was at it, I’d snap some photos of some of my favorite decorations at the rock house.
Of course, these girls are my favorite and having them both happy and cooperative at one time was a major coup. This is the first picture in front of the tree where they weren’t in danger of having it collapse on them!
My pretty orange front door with a grapevine and garland wreath. I snagged the vintage, gold basket bells at an estate sale and I like them a lot. I think next year I’ll be a little more creative with them, but this year was an experiment in decorating with two assistants. It took practice.
My pretty buffet would be even prettier without the lovely thermostat in the way. Thank you, concrete walls.
I have all of Ella’s Santa pictures framed throughout the house, but this is my favorite one. Her first Christmas, she slept through the entire process. She looks so sweet and that was THE prettiest. Santa. ever. I brought my junk angel in from the porch this year and love it! My dad made if for me two Christmases ago.
I love these stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. Sophie’s is a little different, but Ella insisted that she have a ballerina one, too. I have three more gender-neutral ones in the closet if I can ever afford to take maternity leave again!
One of my favorite decorations yet. A sweet nativity scene that Ella made in Sunday School this year.
I love the garland over the mantel and bookcases in our bedroom. They have lots of lights, sparkly snowflakes and glass ball ornaments. I love laying in bed at night with them all lit up. This picture cracks me up because you can see the baby monitor on my bedside table. I only have time to snap pictures during nap time!
In Ella’s room, we hung her pretty feather wreaths again. This year I decided to put them in front of the valances instead of letting them hang low from underneath. We also opted to nix her white Christmas tree since we’re lacking floor space with the arrival of our dollhouse. Instead, we hung a big white branch from the ceiling full of pink tulle, starlights and pretty ballerina ornaments.
In Sophie’s room, we added a tinsel tree to the mantel with glass ball ornaments and filled her hospital wreath with some more colorful ball ornaments. I think we’ll probably be a little more dramatic next year, but since this little one is into everything I decided that less was more.
And just for the heck of it, here are a few more pictures of my sweet girls. As you can see, Sophie cannot sit still. We are really enjoying these girls this week and hope to have lots of pretty pictures to share as we enjoy Sophie’s first Christmas. I am so looking forward to Christmas morning through their eyes.
A big thanks to Amy at Tootlebugs for our super-cute Christmas outfits this year. She is currently on maternity leave, but be sure and watch after the first of the year when she’s open for business again!
