Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of my year. As soon as Halloween is in sight, I start slipping in the occasional Christmas song on our playlists, burning those pine-scented candles, and Pinteresting the heck out of the holiday searches. By the time Hallmark starts airing Christmas movies 24/7, I’m living and breathing all things – and only things – Christmas, just to be sure I get my fill because it all goes by too fast.
This was our second Christmas in our new house, and while we didn’t depart much from what we did decor-wise last year, it dawned on me that I did a pretty stellar job of decorating for less than what you can buy a pair of leggings for these days. Granted we have bulbs and a few other items in storage that we use, but even those are things I bought on a shoe-string budget back when we were newlyweds. (NINE years ago.) A little look at what I did this year, for around $100 or so….
Our bar cart has sat empty since I bought it three years ago (except for its brief stint as a side table), and I think it has finally found its calling as an oversized plant stand. I found cream, peach, pink, and red poinsettias for $6 each at Trader Joe’s, bought plain terra-cotta pots for $2 each on sale at Hobby Lobby (which I spray painted cream), and voila! Got the whole look for under $30. And as long as Jake doesn’t intentionally hold out on watering these guys while I’m gone (he’s not a fan of poinsettias and has already tried to sabotage Big Red in the family room), these should last for months.
Another Trader Joe’s find that I buy every year: their boxwood wreaths, which run for $11. I LOVE red at the holidays (so festive!), so I decided to add red berries, birds, and ribbon to the wreaths on our front doors this year. We had these little extras in storage from the year we went rogue and had a red and white tree, but you can find them pretty inexpensively and on sale at Michaels.
Our carolers always make me smile. Notice their little friend?! By the way, James’ sweater is from Homegoods for $12 (and it’s NICE!) – and I have to say this crazy dog lady is so pleased to see they have outerwear (I refuse to call them clothes) for large dogs now.
I’ve done the same look on the mantel for the past two years, and the only thing I buy here is the fresh garland – again, at Trader Joe’s, for something like $8. To that strand, I add things I pick from around the neighborhood – eucalyptus, pinecones, and some sort of tiny white flowers that dry well. (Trader Joe’s also usually sells some variety of eucalyptus – I know most people can’t go pick it off a tree in December.) We bought the stockings and their holders years ago at what was probably a 75% off sale at Hobby Lobby, post holidays. Luckily I still love them and we have just the right number of them since we adopted ol’ Stinko.
Speaking of, I can’t resist anything Golden, and I also can’t resist peeking into Pottery Barn every year to take a look at their ornaments. That’s where that little guy on the right is from (last season).
There’s Big Red below. He’s hurting a little bit since Jake refused to water him when I left town, but luckily he was initially big enough to still have some leaves left. Fourteen bucks goes a long way when it comes to poinsettias at Costco. (Though I wish they’d offer more colors!)
Stinko loves to pose for me in the beginning (because treats), but by the end there’s always hate in his heart. (Yet he still does it – testament to the fact that he can listen.)
A few of our favorite ornaments on our tree…
See a similar theme? Probably not so I’ll just tell you. They’re all from people we love (and coincidentally places we love.)
I should also mention that our tree is a faux from Costco – a new addition this year since I just couldn’t wait til the fresh trees were available to decorate the house. I’m not counting it in my budget as I consider it a lifelong investment, since Jake has made me swear to never mention buying a live tree again. (Translation of ‘never’ in my mind = maybe not for a couple more years.)
We’ve now had both real and fake trees over the years, and here are my thoughts on the fake:
Pros: Available to pull out anytime (me, November 1); the lights are pre-strung and can be white, colored, or both; easy cleanup. No nasty needles ground into the rug; no poking out my eyes trying to get underneath the thing thing to water it – not to mention spilling water all over the floor; no drooping of the whole thing a few weeks in.
Cons: I miss the fullness of the real tree (the fake seems a little more slim); I miss picking one out (even if it’s only out of a truck at Costco); there’s just something a little extra about having a real tree at Christmas.
Undetermined: I don’t know why everyone talks about the fresh pine scent of a real tree. Our last two real trees smelled like dead fish and I’m happy not to hear about the stench again this year.
I will say that the fakes look more and more real every year, and while you can still find ones with the ‘traditional’ branches, the new ‘realistic’ trees are becoming increasingly easy to find and less expensive. Ours is the more realistic type, and was a deal at $260 at Costco. Here’s the 9′ version of it – it looks like the 7.5 footers like ours are sold out online.
Ah yes, the new yearly tradition of baking a pie. After last year’s raging success making this amazing peach and bourbon pie totally from scratch, I wanted to give it another go with blueberries. Same crust, but store-bought filling which… meh. Next time I’ll leave myself more time to make something from fresh fruit again.
Jake and I split up for Thanksgiving this year, but I wanted to set the table for the Fuller Thanksgiving before leaving for Chicago 🙂
That’s it for now! But with another 19 days to go before Christmas, there’s still plenty of time to make this post even longer!!