Happy December folks! Today I wanted to share our Christmas tree for the season with all the final details. The glow of the tree is magical and we have it on everyday, for most of the day! It’s the most wonderful time of the year indeed! Come on in and let me share the details about the masterpiece Christmas tree for the season.
The other day I shared some of our family traditions {our masterpiece Christmas tree tradition}. Today I am sharing more about the styling of the tree and how we decorate it. Come on in, grab a beverage of choice and stay awhile.
what type of tree is the Masterpiece Christmas tree?
Over here we prefer the silver tip trees with the sparse branches that allow the ornaments to dangle just so. The tree might be too thin and bare for some folks and I totally get it, but it’s very much our jam over here.
You can read more about this type of tree here {a Christmas tree tradition continues & why it’s important}. Traditions during the holidays is what everyone looks forward to across all ages. Some traditions are worldwide, while some are different country by country, and others are individual by family.
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all about the ornaments
Basic
As newlyweds, who were just starting to establish our home and create our style, I started curating our Christmas tree look without even realizing it. I focused on gold and cream ornaments, which is the foundation to our Christmas tree over two decades later.
Through the years the gold and cream ornament family expanded in all sorts of shapes and sizes, including bells, pine cones, orbs, finials and more. Here are some finial styles I like and mercury style ornaments are a favorite of mine.
Sentimental
Then as our family started to create memories, we added ornaments which are significant to our family. Milestones like the birth of our children were honored and remembered.
We also honor our furry, four legged family members as well. I shared about our latest Masterpiece family member not too long ago in this post {meet Misty – the tale of a silver labrador retriever pup}. Our family dogs are always the heart of the family.
Annual
Most makers introduce an annual ornament every year. Although we don’t collect any per se, we have acquired one here and there. The year Lenox introduced their Grinch ornament I jumped on it. The original Grinch movie is one of my favorites.
A year that many of us will never forget is 2020 and to remember it in a light hearted way we introduce a toilet paper roll ornament (yes, you read that right) to our tree. In my defense, it’s kind of cute and totally funny. We all lived through it guys.
Gifted
Several of the ornaments on our tree were gifted to us by family and friends. For many years we held an annual cocktail and hors d’oeuvres soiree, and our neighbors across then street brought a Swarovski crystal ornament as a hostess gift. We have quite a few and they are sparkly!
Also we have a few traditional Lenox ornaments since they coordinate with our wedding tabletop pieces. This was a gift of choice for many who new us as we embarked in our first Christmases together.
Destination
On many vacation destinations I like to pick up a little something as a memoir for our tree. Of course the majority of our vacations spots are beachy, tropical destinations like St. Thomas, Hawaii, Baja, etc.
Sea shells, starfish and even a palm tree grace our tree in honor of all these family vacations. They bring back great memories and start conversations.
Just Because
Then cue in some favorites, like a glittery Eiffel Tower or a sparkly, dashing reindeer. Or the queen bee is always around here in some form or fashion.
Not only do these motifs speak to me, but the design of the ornaments match and complement the entire tree styling as well.
This Year
This year so far I have added this little plant mister. I love houseplants and when I saw this little guy it just made me happy. We will see if I find anything else to add to the tree this year since it’s early in the season yet. Vintage tinsel keeps calling my name. We will see.
all about the details
Topper
We have owned the same tree topper for over two decades now. It’s been so long I do not remember where I found it or exactly what year we introduced it to our tree. What I do know is that I love the finial profile. Here’s something similar.
Every year one of the Masterpiece kiddos does the honors of crowning the tree, and this year it was Lexi’s turn to place the topper on our tree.
Garland(s)
Our garland is a ribbon I wrap around the tree horizontally, starting on the top and working myself down. For the last few years I’ve used this Merry Christmas ribbon, which I absolutely love.
The bold font is everything and it stands out so pretty on the tree. This year I also added these spiral glitzy garland strips that I hung vertically on the tree. I love the coily spirals.
Lights
This is Mr. M’s department so my details will be brief. We only use white lights, cool white, to be exact. Mr. M does not like the yellow cast of warm lights. It’s the first detail that goes on the tree, meticulously weaved from the tip of the branches into the trunk of the tree. I’ll leave it at that.
Skirt
Just like the finial, I bought this tree skirt a gazillion years ago. My memory is also fuzzy on this one, but I want to say I stumbled upon the skirt at TJMaxx or Marshall’s or a store like that and the gold immediately grabbed me.
I tried to change to a galvanized or wicker collar a few years ago. You know, to stay on trend, but Mr. M would have none of it. He’s all about traditions so the gold tree skirt is here to stay.
Presents
I’ll start with a side bar here, once the kids were of a certain age I could not use my own handwriting for the Christmas gift tags so I started using the computer, but then Master M found my laptop open to my tag file…..ooops. That’s the year I started color coding the kids’ gifts.
Each year Miss & Master M are assigned a color for their gifts so for example all the pink gifts under the tree are for Lexi and the white for Sebastian, etc. The first year I did this I found these fabulous gift boxes at Target and it started the tradition. I use them as props leading up to when I start wrapping the gifts since they look festive under the tree. You can read more about it here {I went to Target for toilet paper…}.
the masterpiece process
So I know that was a lot, and maybe more information than you wanted to know about our tree, lol. I just wanted to show how you can balance between personal & sentimental ornaments and the prettiness of a stylized tree, bringing them together. This creates a pretty tree that is individualized to your style and family.
I hope this helps and inspires you if you are just starting out on your Christmas tree journey or if you are simply just updating the look of your tree. The Christmas tree is the iconic symbol of the holiday and we enjoy all the traditions around it.
We have a smaller flocked tree in the family room, which I did stylize in a woodland theme. I will be sharing that shortly so make sure to visit often.
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Tom Baker