12.09.2010

HOLIDAYography: Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Tree is up and decorated!  As I said yesterday, I just love having a real Christmas tree and just cannot yet let go of that tradition yet.  (Read all about our expedition to cut down our tree here)  We have a tradition of watching my favorite Christmas movie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, while decorating the tree.  (click here to see one of my favorite clips)

This year, we made a big change to LED lights.  We had made some previous attempts but I just don't love them.  This time I bit the bullet and used them and I still don't love them.  Perhaps its just the type because they are somewhat blue looking (just like all CFLs and LEDs) but it's hard to get used to it on my Christmas tree.  I wonder if colored lights might be more palatable.  Will consider that for next year.

Then come the ornaments.  You won't see any turquoise, fuschia, and lime green oversized glass balls on my tree.  Sorry if you are disappointed.  Mostly traditional red, green, gold, and silver with a few others mixed in.  We have to get a huge tree every year because we have so many ornaments - and I don't usually end up putting them all on!  We have never counted how many ornaments we have but I would say it is probably around 200.  It's crazy, but I love it.  We have a tradition of buying an ornament or two when we travel on vacation.  Some of the other ornaments have been gifts from my mother and grandmother over the years.  As a result we have a huge collection.  Over the next few weeks, I'll highlight a few of our favorites and give you a little info about their history.


 


Finally, I add the glass garland which was a hand-me-down from my  mom when she couldn't use them for a project.  I love it and I think it really finishes a tree.  Next year I may add some ribbon as well because I think it might stand out a little bit more against the LED lights.  I have a feeling I'll be shopping for new lights as well.  We top the whole thing with an angel which has no real significance which is a bit ironic because everything else on the tree has meaning to us.  I don't even remember where the angel came from!
 
What are your Christmas tree traditions?  Do you decorate as a family?  Do you decorate the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, or sometime in between?