O Christmas Tree!

 It's December and that means it's time to break out the Christmas tree and decorations and make the house look all festive.  


I love this time of year, but. . .
one of the unfortunate things about being an "empty nester" is that none of your kids are around to help you decorate the Christmas tree.

 I decided this year I would document the tree decorating in my blog so that my kids could feel like they were right here with me helping me out (or just eating Christmas candy and busting out the Celine Christmas tunes at the top of their lungs.)


My tree is pre-lit so I don't really have to string the lights each year, which is really nice.





I start by running some thick gold ribbon down the tree at a diagonal.


I don't have much of this particular ribbon so I start a little ways down and try to gauge things right.  


This year I started a little high and didn't make it down as far as I would have liked, but it's not a big deal.

I follow the gold ribbon up with 
a thick red ribbon.  I wind it around the tree a few inches below the gold ribbon, making sure to keep the same angle.


I think the red ribbon really makes the tree stand out.

I add one more gold ribbon to the tree which may seem like too much ribbon, but in the end it will look great.


I try to tuck the ribbon into the branches a little to make it look like it is lying naturally on the branches and doesn't look too stiff.

Next comes the red berry garlands.  I only have four of them and they are very fragile, so I try to be careful when I put them on the tree.  


I just let the tiny branches fall where they may so that everything looks a little imperfect.










 Next I put on the ornaments.  I have deep red, ivory, silver and brown ornaments.  They are all different shapes and sizes.  I  add a few rusty balls and stars for variety.


I also put a few berry sprigs and flowers here and there.  And, of course, a star on top.

The final step is to add a tree skirt and VOILA!!  The Christmas season has officially started.


Over the next few days I will "fine tune" the tree moving ornaments around as I see fit.  It's never perfect on the first day.  It takes a few days to get it just right. 


By the time the kids really see it, it will be a masterpiece!