When we moved into this house over a decade ago we had to adapt our Christmas tree tradition to fit a 8 foot ceiling home as opposed to our previous vaulted ceiling house and Viola! the Silver tip tree tradition began.
We.love.these.trees! We love the space between the branches so the ornaments can shine. We love the elegant silhouette against our big picture window. We love the skinny, spiked top that fits our tree topper perfectly. And that silver color…is.everything!
These trees have become more difficult to find, but we hunt around until we find one that fits perfectly in it’s spot. We need one around seven feet tall, give and take, and not too wide either.
I remember one year at our first stop we walked right into the tree lot, found it right away, and walked right out with a tree in less than thirty minutes. That hasn’t happened in a long time.
Another time we found one in the back, discounted, because it was imperfect. Ok, just simply calling it “imperfect” called out to me, “take me home please!” We looked at it up and down and all around from every angle and could not find anything wrong with it at all. You bet it came home with us….. to the land of misfit toys 😉.
Our Christmas tree tradition consists of all of us going hunting for it the weekend after Thanksgiving and hope it’s not raining {here in Northern California it’s a 50-50 chance this time of year}. That being said, you know where to find us next weekend.
Once we find it and bring it home, it either goes right into the living room or sits overnight on our front porch if it’s raining to dry out. Mr. M situates it in front of the picture window, fitting it into the stand and cutting and trimming whatever is necessary. Since he was old enough Master M helps with this as well if he isn’t busy with friends. Stringing the lights is Mr. M’s last step.
Next I add the garland and then the Masterpiece kiddos hang the ornaments. Mr. M and I might help here and there with the ornaments. When the kiddos were younger I had to supervise much more, avoiding the ornament cluster or the offset composition, but they have learned and they do a beautiful job decorating the tree.
Then a squabble ensues over who will place the tree topper. I think Miss M has done it the last few years so maybe Sebastian should do the honors this year since he has been at college the last few months. That’s just my thought, we’ll see what happens.
{On a total side note, it was great creating this post and seeing all the family photos of us doing the same tradition year after year while the kids went from littles to tweens to now teens; I won’t bore you with all my family photos here but it was good for my heart and soul to go through this exercise “the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day”}.
We have had the same tree skirt for like 20 years. We used it at the old house and kept using it when we moved to our current home. A couple of years ago I wanted to change it to a galvanized tub but couldn’t find the right size and last year I considered using a basket collar and Mr. M was having none of it. Apparently he has become quite fond of our tree skirt and argued it’s a “tradition”. He knows me too well, yup the tree skirt is here to stay.
When we were first married and I started designing our first trees I stuck to a very tight color palette of cream and gold. Through the years I added silver and last year I bought some ornaments that actually had copper writing on them. There’s a little bit of green here and there too because I am always drawn to green but the main feel of the tree is still silver & gold with creams.
Do you have a Christmas tree tradition? Do you use an artificial tree or do you buy a real one year after year like us? I’ve always wanted to chop down our own tree, which is on the bucket list for one of these years. Do you decorate it differently every year or do you keep it the same? I love all the different varieties and traditions out there. It’s so fun!
“Just remember the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.”
~The Polar Express~
Hi MaryJo,
I enjoyed your trip down memory lane with the Christmas tree traditions. The holidays are certainly a time for traditions. When I was a kid we always celebrated the holidays the same. Thanksgiving was at my grandmother’s house. We always had turkey and fixins. There was always my great aunt’s fruit salad which I helped make from a young age. It’s a tasty concoction with grapes, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, bananas, whipped cream, mini marshmallows and chopped pecans. Some of my earliest memories of Thanksgiving are of helping my aunt cut lots and lots of red grapes in half and taking out the sees. Back then grapes more often had seeds than not.
Christmas Eve was always spent at my grandparents’ house. When I was young Grandma always made oyster stew, but when I got older she switched to chili, and then some years later to ham balls. It was always a good natured argument between my mother and grandmother over whether we should open presents or eat first. Mom always argued for opening presents and grandma always argued for eating. Grandma usually won. After eating we opened presents from my grandparents and great aunt and uncle.
Christmas morning was at our house, with the opening of stockings first. Santa always brought me what I asked for – every year – for as long as I believed in Santa. I always asked for the same thing. A package of paper and a package of markers.
A bit later, about 9 or 10, my grandparents and my great aunt and uncle arrived at our house where we’d eat cinnamon rolls (the kind from the can) and sometimes sausage. Then we’d get down to the business of opening presents. On Christmas day we gave gifts to my grandparents, great aunt and uncle.
It was the same every year until I was grown. It’s still what feels like Christmas to me though things have changed over the years with the passing of my grandparents, great aunt, and uncle. The memories of those long ago Christmases are still cherished all these years later as I’m sure your Christmas memories will be cherished by you and your kids.
Laurie at Laurie’s Place
http://www.lauriesplace.net
Thanks so much for sharing Laurie! I loved hearing all about your traditions. This is the best stuff and what the Holidays are all about. Wishing you a fabulous Holiday season. Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you here again.
XO- MJ