When I was a kid my dad and I could cut down a Christmas tree every year. My dad was picky – meaning he always picked out the tree with long floppy bushy needles or sometimes something that looked like a cedar tree. He also didn’t let me put lights on it because it was a fire hazard. If you know my Dad, you’ll laugh at that. The tree of my childhood is a lot different the trees I like to put up now, but we made handmade ornaments, and popcorn garland, and it was perfect.
Fast forward to adulthood, and I wanted to keep the tradition of a live tree alive with my kids. Except, lights on the tree were always included. For years, we’ve made the trek to the tree farm and chopped our own tree down. However, last year, after I took the tree down, I found that it had leaked all over the wood floor, for a good month, and ruined the floor. Talk about a downer. So, this year – we broke tradition and went for a fake tree instead.
Flocked Christmas Tree
I was a little bit sad at first, skipping one of my favorite traditions, but after seeing all of the beautiful flocked trees on Instagram, I knew a faux flocked tree wouldn’t be so bad after all. I found King of Christmas on Instagram and loved their beautiful trees! I did some shopping around, but ultimately, decided to order one of their trees, and I’m so glad I did.
The kids weren’t sad about not cutting the tree down, but they were extra salty when I shared my vision of having only white, red and silver/sparkly ornaments on the tree. At one point I was told “I was ruining Christmas!” The drama y’all. Don’t worry the boys were given free-range to decorate upstairs, with all of the multi-colored garland they wanted.
They also chilled just a bit when I pulled out the ornaments that are part of one of my very favorite traditions – the picture ornament.
Christmas Traditions – Picture Ornament
Since Maddox’s very first Christmas I have bought a picture ornament every year. I buy them at Pottery Barn Kids and they’re perfect. They started out with sweet little pictures, then I started using them to put the Santa pictures in, which has resulted in some pretty hilarious years, like this one.
I can’t wait to see this tree when they’re teenagers, full of memories through the years. I look forward to pulling out the ornaments every year.
Decorations
We had a lot of red and green ornaments that we used previously, as well as a red tree skirt, but this year I really wanted to keep the tree white! I picked up a box of bulbs and the cute Merry Christmas sign from Hobby Lobby.
I snagged the tree collar on sale at Crate and Barrel. I originally was going to use a big galvanized tub that we had, but when I went to set the tree up, I realized it was too small. So, the collar was an afterthought. I had to pick up the whole tree to put it in there, but it was worth it.
Shop The Tree
The tree did shed snow during the set up and continues to shed if you bump into it, but it’s nothing compared to the needles a real tree drops. Turns out, I like this fake tree maybe a little more than our past real trees.
What about you – are you team real tree or faux tree?
-Brooke
