Holiday tree decorating

[Mom in High Heels]

So, I've been decking the halls, and wondered what the hive does with their own trees.  

[Anne]

We alternate between white lights and multi-colored lights.  Our ornaments are an eclectic collection of purchased and homemade.  We have a tradition of purchasing an ornament from every new country or location we visit (if possible), so decorating the tree is always a trip down memory lane.  My mother-in-law made a lot of ornaments years ago, and my kids and I made a lot of ornaments when they were young.  I love our tree!!

 

Anne

[GSOchristie]

We have multicolored lights on the tree upstairs that the kids decorate exclusively, and clear on the other two.  On our big, real tree, we do red and silver.  I collect Wallace Silversmith sleigh bells, so we now have 14 of those, one for every year we have been married.  I also have the ornaments that my kids choose each year on that tree.  The other downstairs tree is lavender, violet, and navy, these were the ornaments I used on the big tree until I changed the color scheme a few years ago.  The kids' tree upstairs has all our original ornaments  that we bought when we were first married, plus the ornaments all my students gave me, plus any tacky ornaments the kids get from their various activities  :lol: .  

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I'm "other" on the ornaments and type of garland because I do a different theme every year. This year is brown balls, pinecones, tulle garland, and paper birds.

[regentrude]

Clear lights, red glass balls, traditional wooden ornaments and straw stars from my home country

 

Back home, I would have REAL candles on the tree. Here, they trim the trees so that they grow with no spacing between the branches which makes real candles impossible to put on.

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm "other" on the ornaments and type of garland because I do a different theme every year. This year is brown balls, pinecones, tulle garland, and paper birds.

 

Oh, I like it!  I do a color theme too, only I generally keep it for a few years.  I've done blue and white, blue and silver, red, green and gold (I didn't like it-I'm not a fan of god for Christmas), red and white and last year and this year it's chartreuse, red, white and silver.  It's my favorite so far!  The funny thing is, last year, chartreuse was hard to find and now it seems to be everywhere!  What's up with that?

[SKL]

Ours is a combination of typical store-bought ones and "special" ones.  The "special" ones are mostly keepsakes from other countries, especially my girls' birth country and an auntie's parents' birth country.  There are also several photo ornaments with my girls' Christmas pictures from past years.

[OnTheBrink]

We have two trees. One is white and is prelit with clear lights. The other is green and DD strings multi colored lights on it. Her tree is a hodge podge of jewel tones. Disco balls, various ornaments she's gotten over the years. She has a purple ribbon garland and purple deco-mesh as the skirt.  Mine has more of a theme: snow men, moose, penguins, bears, aqua balls in various textures and shades of aqua, snow flakes. The skirt is red and the bow on top is glittery lime green. 

 

 

[lavender's green]

Ours has clear lights (I find multi-colored stimulating and irritating in a migrain-y way; but clear makes me feel calm).  Ornaments are traditional/hodgepodge over the years, but generally in jewel tones, but I'm intrigued by the idea of doing different themes.  Or maybe I'll do what my aunt did: she had a pretty, elegant, themed tree in the living room where she liked to sit alone and read, and a monstrosity of a tree in the basement TV room/playroom with a million garlands and lights and kid's crafts.

 

I never do a garland.  I've never seen a tree with a garland that didn't look dumpy unless the owner had an excellent artist's eye.  Which I don't have.  So, no garland.

[RoughCollie]

DD and I like clear lights.  The males like multi-colored.  I bought an artificial prelit tree last year that had multicolored lights, to DD's disgust.

 

We use a wide variety of ornaments.   The tree looks like a family tree, not a gorgeous themed tree. 

 

I love tinsel on a tree.  Knowing our dog, he would eat the tinsel and require thousands of dollars worth of surgery afterward.  So I  no longer use it.

[Farrar]

Ribbon garland!

 

Though not every year.

[Alice]

White lights, hodgepodge of ornaments. We have some garlands that are tiny gold stars and some that are tiny gold hearts. 

[Classic Mom]

Oh, I like it!  I do a color theme too, only I generally keep it for a few years.  I've done blue and white, blue and silver, red, green and gold (I didn't like it-I'm not a fan of god for Christmas), red and white and last year and this year it's chartreuse, red, white and silver.  It's my favorite so far!  The funny thing is, last year, chartreuse was hard to find and now it seems to be everywhere!  What's up with that?

 

 

Ha,ha!  (I know you meant gold.)

[Mom in High Heels]

Ha,ha!  (I know you meant gold.)

 

LOL!  I did mean gold.  Oopsie!

[TechWife]

What - no blinky lights vs. non-blinky lights? 

 

For the record, I'm non-blinky, clear lights! 

[Word Nerd]

Right now all our tree has on it is multicolored lights (not blinky). I kind of like it like that, but we'll finish decorating tomorrow with bead garland and purple and silver balls and bells—and whatever random decorations the kids put on. 

[skeeterbug]

Ribbon garland here also.

[Mom in High Heels]

What - no blinky lights vs. non-blinky lights? 

 

For the record, I'm non-blinky, clear lights! 

 

It would only let me do 3 questions!  I thought we could do more than that!  I'm non-blinky, clear lights as well.  Some of the patterns on the blinky lights make me feel like I'm going to have a seizure.

[joannqn]

White lights that don't blink.

Each year I buy a special ornament for each child and myself.  I try to have the ornament reflect something that happened that year or something the person liked that year.  

I have a gold bead garland that I put on the tree.  I used to love it, but I'm not fond of it much anymore.

[Khselee]

We have an artificial tree (I can't handle the mess or smell of a real tree in the house), pre-strung with clear, non-blinking lights. We use silver bead garlands heavily over the tree, and decorate with Disney ornaments. Each year, we each go out and choose a new ornament to add to our collection for the tree. 

[M&M]

Ribbon garland here as well

[Jen in NY]

Ribbon garland here as well

Here, too.

 

We have clear lights on the tree... sometimes we add a string or two of one other color. Last year the tree was red/white. We have way too many ornaments, so I can pick and choose what to put on/leave off ... so we do vary the color scheme a bit without getting too fussy about it.

[marbel]

Clear, non-blinky lights.  My daughter used to ask for multi-colored lights every year but has since come 'round to my way of thinking.

 

I voted other on garland because I don't go "ack" over it, but don't use it.  If I could find (and afford) a bead garland like the one my mom had on our trees when I was a kid, I'd use that.  Real glass beads, very rich colors, very elegant.

 

I enjoy looking at themed trees but honestly I love our hodge-podge of ornaments and I think our tree is gorgeous every year and we have fun exclaiming over old favorites when we decorate.   I remember a boss I had years ago who had new ornaments and a new theme every year.  Her son didn't even get to display the ornaments he made at school.  I know a lot of people have a "kids' tree" for all that. I also like to go to someone's house and see their hodgepodge.  I guess I just like a more personal tree.  Sometimes I feel bad that the kids' tree is stuck away in a playroom or something as if it's a second-class tree.  It probably doesn't feel that way to them - for all I know it seems special to have their own tree!

 

 

[Jenny in Florida]

White lights, not blinky. We switched to LED a couple of years ago, and I love the fact that they don't get hot and draw so little electricity that I don't have to feel guilty leaving the tree lit all the time.

 

We have a rather huge and eclectic collection of ornaments, about 1/3 handmade. We buy an ornament for the family on each vacation. And the kids get two ornaments each year, one they select that we buy and one I make. Since she was tiny, I've made my daughter a clothespin angel ornament each year. I started with the generic ones from a kit, but over the years have branched out and begun personalizing them to match her interests and achievements. The ones I make for my son have varied more.

 

As we've collected more and more ornaments each year, our tree has gotten very full (perhaps over-full). So, I've added smaller auxiliary trees. We always buy a real tree as the primary one, but I have a couple of pre-lit artificial trees: One displays all of the Hallmark Star Wars/Star Trek ornaments we've acquired, and the other gets a couple of sets of ornaments of which we have multiples (some small salt-dough gingerbread men the kids made one year, a whole bunch of shiny red hearts, etc.).

 

I used to hang beaded garland, but as the trees have gotten more and more full each year, we've gradually abandoned those. We just don't need more stuff to make the tree look full.

[Liz CA]

Clear lights, red glass balls, traditional wooden ornaments and straw stars from my home country

 

Back home, I would have REAL candles on the tree. Here, they trim the trees so that they grow with no spacing between the branches which makes real candles impossible to put on.

 

Same here, except I have golden and green glass balls and bells. The straw stars are few nowadays after years of storing and taking out again but the few I have left, I actually put in the window.

[Mama Geek]

We do colored lights, ornaments that we have collected since we were kids.  My folks divorced and then my dad passed away, so I have several of the ones he had and I have a bunch that were grandparents as well.  Dh and I have collected a bunch over the years and dd and I made several last year.

 

We used the traditional fluffy garland, dh grew up with icicles and thought that anything else was sacrilege.  So now we do icicles which are a real pain in the neck, but it makes dh happy so it is worth it.

[SailorMom]

We use the clear lights - they look more like tiny candles to me :)  Each year all 4 of us get an ornament from Santa, and those ornaments represent something important from that year.  We also buy ornaments on vacations if we find something cute.  All the homemade little ornaments from when my kids were little are up there as well.  As for garland, we've done a few.  I've had beads, we've done the popcorn and cranberry thing.  We haven't had one on there in a few years, though.

 

[Luckymama]

We have two Christmas trees :D

 

Tree 1 is in our family room (back of the house)------multicolored, nonblinking, LED lights, oodles of them. No garland, not even ribbon (which I like) because the kids don't like it. The tree is covered in ornaments-----some from my parents' tree (my sisters and I split them), some from my grandmother's tree, an ornament from every single vacation we've taken, elaborate hand-made felt ornaments my grandmother made every year for everyone, ornaments made by the kids in the past, gifts from friends. I remember the stories of all our ornaments :)

 

Tree 2 is in dh's office (front of the house, visible from street)------a narrow prelit tree with lots of white nonblinking lights. This year's color theme is blue and silver. We separated all the appropriately colored ornaments as we decorated the main tree. No garland this year (last year the tree was red and gold and I used a gorgeous chiffon ribbon as garland).

[Annie G]

Our ornaments are a mix of traditional German glass ornaments, the kids' yearly ones, and handmade ornaments.  They look hodge-podge but I don't care. 

 

When our kids were young- up to age 13 or so- we let them pick out a Hallmark ornament every year. To them, it was a HUGE deal be because our rule has always been no buying anything for yourself after Halloween. (This goes for adults, too). So getting the ornament in early December was fun for the kids!

 

They have now abandoned Hallmark for their ornaments and instead choose something from the Christkindlmarket in Chicago. 

 

 

[dbmamaz]

I asked my husband to get the tree out of the attic yesterday, my teen did most of the work with a little help from me and the 10 yo.  Dh has already said 3 times that its ugly.  He seems to think thats funny.  I finally let him know its NOT funny, he's insulting me, and i asked him for years what he wanted on the tree and he refused to answer, but its easier to insult other people than to help!  (I rarely every criticize him for anything, so this was a big deal)

 

We use multi-colored lights, a red garland thats old, and random assortment of ornaments, some inherited from my mom's second husband, some i bought over the years.  We havent bought any since dh joined the family, though, because he's so disinterested (except in criticizing)

[Heather in Neverland]

All white lights

Beaded garland in gold and silver

A variety of style of ornaments but all in gold and silver, mostly antique-looking

A huge bow at the top with ribbons streaming down, sort of a gold/cream color trimmed in gold beads

A gold tree skirt underneath

[Julie Smith]

Artifical tree with bulit in fiber optic lights that come in many colors. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9pS-4LFnXw

 

For the most part the only decorations are little teddy bears stuffed around the branches. 

[Jilly]

My mom always had bubble lights on our tree when I was little, and I do the same. This year because we are going to be out of town for most of the holiday I just put up an artificial tree with pre-lit white lights. It is pretty but not as magical as a real tree with bubble lights.

 

Our ornaments are a hodge-podge of ones we have collected over the years. We do not use garland.

[Alessandra]

I clicked other for ornaments. I love my red, gold, white and silver color scheme. Lots of gold plaster-looking cherubs, gold pine cones, white feather-looking doves, snowflakes (white, gold and silver), fancy gold ornaments, red and white (fake) poinsettias, and then Ikea red and gold balls on the inside branches. White lights, no garlands.

 

Years ago, I used to have a small tree that was filled with Santa ornaments that was filed with Santas -- arriving on helicopters, planes, trains, etc. Also lots of mice dressed as Santas. They get lost on a big tree, but I still love these ornaments.

[Alessandra]

All white lights

Beaded garland in gold and silver

A variety of style of ornaments but all in gold and silver, mostly antique-looking

A huge bow at the top with ribbons streaming down, sort of a gold/cream color trimmed in gold beads

A gold tree skirt underneath

 

Ooh, I love this!

[Garga]

We used to do a hodge podge and I hated it. Some ornaments were heavy and would weigh down the branches and the tree was just plain ugly.

 

A few years ago I started buying matching sets of balls and ribbon. Every year we pick a different color. We put a few extra things on besides the balls, but not a lot. For 36 years I had the hodge-podge somewhat ugly tree. Now, I like it that the tree is simple and pretty. No, it's not sentimental, but it's pretty. The boys aren't overly sentimental and don't know any different anyway, so they're happy. DH hates Christmas (he's a scrooge), so he doesn't really care either way. Whatever makes it easier is fine with him.

 

For lights: This is big in our house:

 

I like multi-colored. DH likes white. We put strands of multicolored on and also strands of white. Each night, we can plug in either the multi colored OR the whites OR both! So versatile.

[Belacqua]

I'm pretty flexible about which ornaments make it onto the tree, as long as we include Ron's Head.

 

Several years ago, somebody gave us this goofy collection of Harry Potter ornaments; tiny, tiny Harry, Hermione, Ron, Scabbers, and Hedwig. At one point, Ron's head became separated from his body. We tried gluing him back together, but it kept separating and the body was dangling ghoulishly from the head, which was just disturbing. So we gave up and kept just the head. It's about the size of a popcorn kernel, but it gets a place of prominence on the tree.

 

So as long as Ron's Head is there, I don't much care what the rest of the tree looks like.

[Mom in High Heels]

My mom always had bubble lights on our tree when I was little, and I do the same. This year because we are going to be out of town for most of the holiday I just put up an artificial tree with pre-lit white lights. It is pretty but not as magical as a real tree with bubble lights.

 

Our ornaments are a hodge-podge of ones we have collected over the years. We do not use garland.

 

Oh, bubble lights!!!!  My aunt had bubble lights on her tree and I was always so jealous that we didn't.  I found them fascinating.  In Germany I had the regular lights and strands that looked like candles with bigger bulbs.  I can't find any here that aren't outrageously expensive or have flimsy clips.  :(

[KarenNC]

Both? We actually have 2 trees, one on each side of the fireplace. They're about 4 ft tall on low tables. The one on the left is the Solstice tree---white clear lights, a very nature-themed Santa on top, lots of nature or solar themed ornaments. I'm keeping an eye out for a sun topper for that one. The one on the right is the Christmas tree---multicolored lights, Moravian star on top, lots of family ornaments, either ones that were passed down or have a special family significance (such as the small cross-stitched ornaments for the three cats we've had that have passed away). We actually bought the Santa to replace a tatty angel as the topper for the Christmas tree, but he really seemed to want to be on the other, so we switched him with the star. No garland or tinsel.

[QuirkyKapers]

I actually prefer clear lights.  However, since we just had to get new bulbs this year, the kids wanted multicolor.  The garland I use if from Ten Thousand Villages. It is green, red and white.  It is made out of paper. 

[nd293]

Our tree is decorated almost entirely with stars. Ornaments are red, gold and silver stars.Multi-coloured lights are stars. Garlands are beaded with stars. The 'almost' is because of two bronze angels my mother gave me, the candy canes and one or two homemade ornaments which I've allowed space on the bottom row.

 

ETA: We don't celebrate a religious Christmas, so do recognise it as more of a Solstice Tree.

[fraidycat]

I voted clear, hodge-podge, homemade, and other.

 

The truest answer for lights and garland is: it depends on the year. My tree is pre-lit with clear now, but I have used multi-color in the past. Garland, sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes tinselly, sometimes strung popcorn. It just depends on my mood and motivation levels.

[StaceyinLA]

Clear lights, ornaments we have collected over the years (dated, etc), and no garland.

[MrsMommy]

Where's the option for people with more than one tree?!?

 

In the "den," which has the big tree placed by the front windows, we have multi-colored lights, and a hodgepodge of ornaments (but all store bought, some of which are the traditional Christmas ball).

 

In the living room, which is the room we spend the most time in, we have a slightly smaller tree with all white lights, and all handmade ornaments.

 

No garland on either, but I'm not opposed to the idea of tinsel. Just not the fluffy stuff, which may cause me to have unfortunate childhood flashbacks!

 

I love both trees, but the living room tree has a special place in my heart!

[ThisIsTheDay]

We have two trees.  One has clear lights and red, gold and silver balls.  It's in front of the living room window and is more of a decoration (both outside and inside).

 

Our "real" Christmas tree (which is also fake) has colored lights and the wonderful, precious hodgepodge of ornaments that makes my heart ache as the years go by.  We ditched regular garland several years ago and have a 3 to 4" wide gold decorator-style ribbon that I weave around the tree instead.  I love the ribbon!

[AmandaVT]

I used to be a white light only with green and silver decorations type. That was in my early 20's and I've since embraced the homeyness of multicolored lights and a collection of both homemade and purchased ornaments of all shapes and colors. I buy an ornament from places we have visited over the years and buy one for DS every year. 

[marbel]

We finally started decorating last night.   In our hodgepodge we have a number of bird ornaments. Maybe someday I'll have a bird-only tree.