It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Tree's up! Yay! (a few pics)

[MerryBlooms]

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

I of course had plenty of supervision.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

So nice to have most decorations and lights up. We have a bit left outside to do, but that's it. Whew. I'm taking tomorrow off for rest and crafting. Ho Ho Ho

[mnhtnbb]

1. Lovely! Isn't it nice to be done with the decorating?

I couldn't bring myself to do it yesterday or today. Going out of town Tuesday, so it will have to wait until
we're back.

[MerryBlooms]

3. Have a great time! Thanks!!

[Kath1]

2. Beautiful!

With all of the depressing news out there, I needed this.

Have a wonderful holiday! Peace and joy!

[MerryBlooms]

5. I agree... so much bad news, I just have to take breaks.

Decorating, cooking and making cards has kept me sane.

Peace, Joy and love to you and yours!

[Kath1]

27. Excellent.

Stay sane and happy. Peace & Love to you and your loved ones!

[merrily]

4. Lovely, but you're never going to win the war on Christmas that way!

Unless, of course, Christmas just spontaneously surrenders.

[MerryBlooms]

6. lol

[merrily]

8. I wish I were as organized as you. Usually, I consider myself lucky if I get the cards ready to mail

during Thanksgiving weekend--and I don't make my own cards, either.

[MerryBlooms]

15. I don't work outside the home anymore, so there's no pressure.

I'm not all that organized. The living room is a wreck with boxes, etc... but that can wait until tomorrow. I have mobility issues, so I figure any big task like holiday decorating, taking me on average of three days. I have to pace myself.

[merrily]

19. Organized AND wise. Enjoy your beautiful decorations. nt

[LiberalArkie]

7. A what point does the cat usually attack the tree?

[MerryBlooms]

11. We have two cats and they don't bother the tree. They lay underneath, take baths

and/or play with each other, but they leave the ornaments alone. I wouldn't dare fill our tree with glass ornaments otherwise.

[LiberalArkie]

14. Maybe I will try a tree. They are a lot older now, but when they were young

nothing survived. I don't know if it was the black lab or the cats that started it. None of them fessed up.

[MerryBlooms]

17. Black lab tails can be hell on trees... and coffee cups left on the coffee tables.

[Freddie]

57. My daughter has a lab puppy

They're bringing up the artificial tree with unbreakable ornaments. Might have to barricade it with baby gates.

[MerryBlooms]

58. Good plan! Those are going to be some very cute Christmas photos.

[Texasgal]

9. Beautiful!!!

Enjoy!

[MerryBlooms]

12. Thank you!

[etherealtruth]

10. Lovely! n/t

[MerryBlooms]

13. Thank you!

[NightWatcher]

16. Ugh, it's nice...which means I gotta get moving and decorate my house

The neighbors have already gone full-Griswold and I haven't even gotten the lights and decor from storage. It was 75 today and supposed to be around 80 all week. I have a hard time decorating a fir tree when it's that hot. The thing won't survive the month. Maybe I should decorate a palm tree and put lit pink flamingos in the years in lieu of reindeer and snowmen.

[MerryBlooms]

18. Our next door neighbors have had their tree and outside lights up for two weeks. :/

We invested in a really nice quality artificial tree last year and man, my only regret was we hadn't done it before.

[NightWatcher]

20. I want a fake tree, the dog and cat enjoy screwing with the real thing.

My wife says it's not Christmas unless I'm covered in sap from balancing and leveling the tree in one of those horrible plastic stands/water bowl and the house is covered in needles for the next month.

Either way, on December 26' the tree is out the door.

[SoapBox]

24. LOL

I love my fake tree...and I don't miss what you described including sneezing and the inevitable fire hazard.

My fake tree is considered ancient...7 foot, slim...not pre-lit AND I have to insert each branch...people think I'm nuts for dealing with it but I love the size and I get to control how many lights I put on...a lot of pre-lit are just too bright for my taste.



And about outside...I've been collecting since last year, those laser lights...red, green, red and green...some are fixed points of light, some move and some are kaleidoscope...just need to get out and start positioning them. Only 1 string of red and green LED lights are going along the front of the house.

[wezl]

21. Good job, it's gorgeous!

[MerryBlooms]

39. Thanks!

Welcome to DU!

[SoapBox]

22. Wow! Beautiful!

I'm sort of working on it...had to crawl under the house to get stuff...a neighbor helped pull it out for me.

He had his mouth hanging open...guess the half-a-house-underneath of Christmas stuff took him by surprise!

[MerryBlooms]

40. Wow, I bet he was surprised. My mom used to have loads of decorations too, so pretty and versatile.

All my Christmas decorations fit into just 4 of the big rubbermaid boxes, and stack in one corner of the garage. I have a collection of snow globes that I store in an upstairs closet, but I don't put them all out every year. The tree zips into an upright-luggage type of thing w/rollers.

[roguevalley]

23. awesome!

[MerryBlooms]

41. Thank you!

[oldandhappy]

25. very nice, Merry

Pretty decorations, nice cat!

[MerryBlooms]

42. Thank you! He's a good supervisor- stays out of the way. lol

[Omaha Steve]

26. Winter storm warning for here tomorrow

I'm staying inside.

K&R!

OS

[MerryBlooms]

43. We had 17 inches of snow last week, all gone now. Crazy.

Stay cozy, OS.

[lindysalsagal]

28. Did all my shopping this am: Went in for a turtleneck for myself.

Nice to have it all ready to go! Pressure's off! Sometimes, you just go with it. The sales were amazing. Everything was so cheap.

Ho ho ho

[MerryBlooms]

44. Good job! I don't have much to buy these days, but my shopping is also done.

I have a few sets of cards to mail out, but the rest was online shopping and shipped.
You're right, the sales were great this year.

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. pretty

[MerryBlooms]

45. Thank you!

[MissDeeds]

30. Absolutely beautiful

Thanks so much for sharing your tree with us, MerryBlooms. I hope you have a wonderful, memorable holiday season!

[Waldorf]

31. Very nice! We will be putting our stuff up in about a week.

Glad you had a supervisor on the scene.

[MerryBlooms]

46. Thank you! He's so funny. He watches and purrs, then after a while zonks out.

He loves Christmas and always knows which are his pressies under the tree. lol

[tavernier]

32. Thanks, Merry...

My dad passed away at Christmas last year and I've been a bit weepy. He used to dress as Santa on Christmas Eve when I was little, and when my kids were small as well.

Your picture made me smile.
😊🎄🎅

[MerryBlooms]

47. I'm so sorry for your loss. The holidays can be the toughest time of the year.

Hang in there. I'm glad my photos made you smile.

[catbyte]

33. Wow, I can't believe your cat leaves the table decorations alone. I had to chase Cranky Nigel

all over the house 2 Christmases ago trying to wrestle the Baby Jesus out of his mouth that he swiped from the Creche. No more table decorations, lol.

[MerryBlooms]

48. Oh no! lol bad cat.

One of my sis-in-laws also has a cat who thieves decorations- he's a huge Ginger tabby. Luckily, the only problem I've had with either cat is one year the Meezer chewed the tassel off a table runner. :/

[Nye Bevan]

34. Wonderful tree! (nt)

[MerryBlooms]

49. Thank you!

[DesertRat]

35. Very pretty

[MerryBlooms]

50. Thanks!

[passiveporcupine]

36. Your tree is lovely

and I just love your beautiful silver deer candle holders.

I haven't decorated in years, and don't have room for a tree, but I can hang my ornaments overhead with wreaths wrapped around ceiling beams. You are inspiring me to dig out my precious ornament collection. Mine is all breakable too, so I hang my ornaments where cats and dog tails can't reach them. It's been at least five years since I've seen most of my ornaments. It's the digging them out that makes me put it off. I have some precious ornaments and would love to see them again. I even keep some hanging over my kitchen table year-round.

Have a very merry holiday season.

[MerryBlooms]

52. Thank you!

The combination of wreaths and ornaments sound really pretty, and I love the idea of some hung throughout the year.

I still hang a few of my heirloom ornaments from my mom and grandma, but others have become so fragile, I leave them boxed and just look. I may play on your idea of keeping some up all year, and put a few into memory boxes and hang them that way.

A very merry holiday season to you, as well.

[passiveporcupine]

64. I have one my Grandmother gave me that is too ugly to hang

It's a vintage Czechoslovakian glass ornament that is maybe six to eight inches tall, and is a standing up cricket with an umbrella or a cane (can't recall which) and a top hat (not green like Jiminy...if I recall, the body is kind of brass colored), and he has dollar bill signs in his eyes. It's worth money to a collector, but I don't know how to part with it...yet it's so ugly I would never hang it on a tree. I might hang it out this year.

If I dig out my ornaments I'll take a picture of it and post it.

I should not have said wreaths. I meant garlands. I wrap that around my round wooden center support rafters in my cabin, and hang the ornaments from the swag. I'd like to wrap a string of tiny lights with it too...maybe I'll try that this year.

I also have an adorable glass cat head my sister sent me. That is one that hangs out all the time. I'll take a pic of that too. We should do an ornament or decoration picture thread. Maybe I'll start one (unless you don't mind me adding to this one). That might get my juices flowing enough to unpack my stuff.

[GummyBearz]

37. I like the icicile ornaments

And the kitty planning its future attack on them

[MADem]

38. Ha ha ha!!!! I had the same thought! They are very nice ornaments, though!

Hopefully the cat will do a bat and tease, not a search-and-destroy, mission on them!

[MerryBlooms]

54. We're very fortunate, neither cat bothers the tree.

There's no way I'd fill it with glass ornaments otherwise.

[ileus]

51. Awesome...

[MerryBlooms]

53. Thank you!

[yuiyoshida]

55. very nice...

I am still going with the Virtual tree this year...

[MerryBlooms]

59. Pretty.

[yuiyoshida]

61. THANKS!

[peacebird]

56. Absolutely lovely!

I love the tableau with the reindeer, Santa, and the pinecone lights!

[MerryBlooms]

60. Thank you!

Those lights are battery powered, which comes in so handy when there's no plug around, but you need a splash of light.

[ladyVet]

62. Gorgeous! Love the supervisor, too. :)

I'll be putting up a small tree this year, about four feet tall. I don't decorate until after my oldest son's birthday, which is a couple of days from now.

Most of my stuff is packed away in storage from when we rearranged another building, and I just don't have the energy to haul everything out, get what I want, then put all the other stuff back in. So, I picked up a few ornaments at a thrift store, got a couple of garlands for $1 each, and my mother bought me the tree, which I suspect is going to be "the tree" from now on. I plan on wiring things on securely, then wrapping it up in a bag for storage after the first of the year. Easy peasey!

I'm going to use what ended up stored in the house from last year, raid the craft supplies to make some stuff, and maybe find a few more things thrifting. Primitive and rustic is my style. Nothing but a wreath for the door for outside.

It's hard for me to physically deal with the big trees I have -- one really big one that the branches have to be fluffed and inserted, and isn't pre-lit, and another, smaller one that has attached branches and is pre-lit. The skinny alpine tree that I love has burnt out lights, and no way an I trying to fix that this year.

I always do the decorating; my boys don't care one way or another, though they praise how nice things look.

[MerryBlooms]

63. I've done small trees too, and I love them just as much.

I love crafting at Christmas. My mother and I used to make a lot of ornaments together... man, I can't believe she's been gone 25 years already. Time really flies. *sigh

Have a merry time crafting, thrifting and designing.