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I love seeing all the differently decorated trees. How is yours decorated?
Ours has gold bows, gold music notes, silver strands of garland beads, purple ornaments, clowns, teddy bears, ornaments friends have made, the kids pictures in little frames from their first Christmases, but the ones I love the most are the ornaments my kids made when they were very little. Yep there are a couple of toilet paper rolls carefully decorated with glue and glitter, little wreaths made with chubby little kindergarten hands hanging proudly on the top branches for all to see. One year my son made me some earrings. They are made from paper and are in the shape of big hoops. He said I should just 'hang' them from the top of my ears. I did. I wore them all day. My daughter gave me a little box for Christmas one year when she was two. Inside were her favorite things. A bead, her little teddybear, and her favorite color crayons. I still have that box! I love this time of year!
Tis the season to be jolly!
Posts: 3729 | From: Seattle | Registered: Sep 1999
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We have an angel on top and then the highest branches are reserved for the glass ornaments that my father made for me. Every year when I was growing up, he lettered one with my name and the year on it.
For those of you starting to hand-letter, this is the proof that you have to practice, practice, practice. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone but the early ones weren't that good!! LOL. Yes, even the late, great Al Zanetti wasn't that great in the beginning. The later ones are pretty damn good though.
Then we have the ornaments that I made when I was little, the ones my daughter has made and lots of other cool ones.
My mother-in-law used to travel all over the world in her job and every year she gave my husband a cool ornament that she picked up in some exotic far away place.
Needless to say, we have a huge tree.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3723 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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Amy, I know what you mean. I thought hell would freeze SOLID before I ever bought a fake tree but living here where it is 75º in December, you don't have much choice. You spend $75 on a tree and the needles fall off in 3 days. It gets really dangerous then too - people have christmas tree fires all the time. A tree that dry will go up in a flash.
I got an AWESOME prelit tree at Costco last year - the thing is so nice, my landscaper was here the other day and thought it was real until he touched it. I really need to find a pine scented candle or something though. I miss the smell.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3723 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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Kimberly, Renuzit (of all things) has a pine scented candle that smells so much like the real thing. Check it out for yourself, you can find it at the grocery store.
Our tree has big and medium distressed-look wooden stars on it. Some aged wooden red hearts. Some smaller wooden white stars. Red wooden beads and wooden buttons laced in for trim. Little white lights. Carved wooden birds and bird houses. Cardboard bird houses. Some clear glass ornaments, birds & snowflakes. Silver and red glass balls. I have some metal dogs, wooden dogs, and ceramic dogs. I have a special signpainter ornament given from a fellow sign person. Gold foil metal leaves. Various cat ornaments. Some little wreath like things that look like little bird nests. Varied ornaments I've gotten as gifts from family and friends. One Smokey mountain ornament gotten a couple months ago on our trip. And two Fender Stratacaster (sp?) ornaments (for Dave) We also have a Fender Strat topper, but the tree is too tall for it. (hits the ceiling kind of abruptly)
The tree isn't too crowded with stuff, I have this thing about all the ornaments being able to dangle instead of laying on the branches. Weird, I know.
I strung dalmation and fire hydrant lights with silver star garland in the kitchen window. I hung clear pearl beads with glass snowflakes in the dining room window.
I have a mini rosemary herb christmas tree on my desk on my side of the studio, and a funky metal snowman on Dave's computer.
I have a small stuffed (and very happy) snowman standing next to a little artzy cardboard box christmas tree in my showroom.
It's looking kinda cheery around here!
I'm sure Donna will get in on this topic! We're both on the same decorating kick right now!
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Nettie, Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out.
Here's a picture of a few of the ornaments I was talking about. Unfortunately, so many of them have discolored with age but these are some of the good ones.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3723 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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Kimberly, you may be able to salvage some of the older discolored ornaments. Some older ornaments had the color on the inside. A few years ago, I cleaned some to make them clear by putting "Greased Lightning" inside them and some raw rice. Shake and voila! Clean as a whistle. But be careful not to get any G.L. on the outside, it will remove the 1-Shot or whatever paint he used.
Hope this works for you.
-------------------- Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist. Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Yeah those are cool Kimberly! I forgot to mention our adorable little angel on top of our tree singing. We also have big purple and gold plaid ribbon winding in a freestyle intertwined with white lacey ribbon. Nettie I love distressed wood. Our livingroom wood has that look.
Posts: 3729 | From: Seattle | Registered: Sep 1999
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I usually put off putting stuff up ... my wife doesn't. I get home Monday and all the boxes of stuff are out from under the stairs (it IS dec 2 ya know) All the boxes, including the old 3' tree we had in our first tiny appartment ... so we have two up this year (both fake) ... right next to each other ... enough lights that you shouldn't stare directly at the tree(s) LOL. Seventy five percent of the ornaments are glued popsicle sticks, cardboard cutouts and other Christmas projects my kids have made over the years at school, scouts and home.
Got a couple major size real ones in my yard I do up some years if I feel like it ... the feeling hasn't hit me yet this year.
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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What's on my tree? oh about 4" of snow I guess, but hey I'll be cutting it down this Saturday.
Growing up we had nothing but a fake tree. So my son will have real trees as long as I can still afford them and cut them down. Hell they come already scented. lol
Not to mention, when christmas is over, it gives the vaccum a good workout when we pull that sucker out the door. FooooooomP Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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With my allergies getting more severe every year, I absolutely refuse to put up a real tree anymore. Tuesday night I put up the little 3 foot artificial tree. I unpacked all the decorations. Then I repacked them and left out just the old ornaments my grandma had given me and carefully hung them. Wednesday night, me & a friend went to a christmas store to buy her a little white tree and I fell in love with a 6' artifical with snow that actually looks real. Then I saw the price tag, $458. They've gotta be smoking crack. Thursday night I carefully arranged the lights and ornaments til they were just perfect. Then I started putting up my christmas village that I'm just starting this year and decided I definatley need a bigger tree. This morning, I decided the village is lacking MANY MANY things, so I will be shopping tonight or in the morning for lots more stuff for my village and a bigger tree. I will be tearing down my tree this weekend and starting over. Who knows what I will decorate it with.
I was never like this before.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Well Chris, I'm in the same catagory as you. I look at what I've put up and go hmmm... I'm not proud this year, Nettie. LOL! I think it may have something to do with me moving some furniture around a month ago, and things don't look settled and where they should be yet. Then I started a large painting project I'm in the middle of upstairs, so I'm knee deep in decorating projects!
I suppose it also doesn't help when a certain 3 yr old thinks it's cool to pull a fully decorated tree down onto the floor and hear it go TINKLE! Actually, only once so far this year, so this year has been a good one!
As for decorations...
The main theme is gold and red. Red ribbon with shiny gold stars, mini foil star garland, wooden distressed hearts, wooden distressed stars, little red velvet bows and shiny gold bows, gold glass balls with darker gold stars on them (my favorites which Cody is very attracted to and has broken his fair share this year ) , gold colored felt teddy bears, and misc doodads from years back, little ceramic mice I made, and Cody's growing ornament collection - I get him one every year with a place for his picture. One day he will get them all for his tree.
I found these cool folk art type tall wooden trees at Winners and there is one in each of our tall windows, as well as two fake ivys in the design of a circle in which I placed a tiny red velvet ribbon on each to make them look like wreaths.
We also have a 2nd tree in our dining room/kitchen. Fake red apples, cinnamon sticks tied on with rafia, white mini lights, and the theme for this tree is Cody's growing collection of his Holiday Frendship Chain. I'm on another bb where 13 of us moms are having our kids make links out of paper decorated by the kids, then sent to each one. It's cool, nearly each day he gets his own mail and gets to hang it on his tree and add it to his chain.
Outdoors we have red and white lights on the house, but my wish one day is to litter it with iclcle lights, but the very uneven variety. There's one house out here that looks like heaven, and I finally figured out why. I'll have to stop in there and ask them where they found theirs.
I hope to hang a wreath on our front gate soon and maybe something festive off the mailbox.
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No tree here, just a nice beautiful cactus. LOL!
Nah, I'm kidding.. there's no cactus.. they don't even grow wild here, it's too hot for them (not kidding about that!). I have a christmas palm tree. LOL!
I'm not putting up a tree or any decorations this year. I won't be in town to enjoy them and since I will be out of the country I don't want to risk setting my place on fire.
When I *do* put up a tree, it's filled with home made ornaments and anything else that strikes a memory and will fit on the tree, like the very first jetski prop from my first jetski, all knarled up from an incident with a gravel bar... and the license plate from my very first car.
OK... so my tree looks like a junkyard but it's SENTIMENTAL!
If I ever get married, that poor gal is gonna have quite a shock when I put this ol' tree up.
[ December 10, 2002, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Mike Pipes ]
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Weird, I know.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
snowman standing next to a little artzy cardboard box christmas tree in my showroom. 
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
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) , gold colored felt teddy bears, and misc doodads from years back, little ceramic mice I made, and Cody's growing ornament collection - I get him one every year with a place for his picture. One day he will get them all for his tree. 
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