Real or Fake? That is the question.

When I was a child, we had a fake tree. I remember pulling the pieces of the tree out of the cardboard box and organizing them by size. As soon as the stand was put together, we would start putting the branches in and fluffing them out. After mom strung the lights, we would all start decorating. It seemed to take forever to decorate the tree by the time we reminisced about Christmas' past and the stories behind special ornaments.

When I met my husband 9 years ago, I was introduced to the tradition of Christmas tree hunting and having a real tree. From the first time I went to the tree farm with my husband and his family, I have been a "real" tree person.



It is so much fun to walk around looking at all of the different trees in search of the perfect one. This tradition has become even more fun since we started our own family. Here are the kids looking for our tree:





This year we decided on a fir. After picking the perfect one, we took a photo opp before cutting her down.


The kids got right in there to watch as daddy cut down the tree.



After carrying it out and loading it into my in-laws truck, we had time for a little snack.


The next night we set the tree up, and after stringing the lights, the kids set to work decorating it with our collection of ornaments.


We have lots of Hallmark type ornaments related to major events in our lives over the past 10 years (marriage, first home, expecting, and children's first Christmas'), we have a few handmade ornaments featuring the kids handprints, and several from our own childhoods. The kids were so excited to help out, I resisted the urge to move ornaments up the tree from the bottome two branches until after the kids went to bed. They also loved looking at all of the different ornaments. I explained the stories behind some of the ornaments to the kids and also told them stories about their first Christmas'. It was the best part of the Holidays this year! And here is our finished tree:


So what kind of tree do you prefer?

I am linking to Kim at Newlywoodwards DIY Blog Party all about traditions.

Christmas Card Display

So did you figure out what baby item I used to display the Christmas cards my family receives? Come on take a guess...



It is the rail to a baby crib. My mother had a whole crib in her garage when we cleaned it out about 4 years ago. As I was expecting, I decided to take it home and use it for our little one. When I went to put it together, we realized that there were a few pins and screws missing. Though we could have gotten replacement parts, we decided against using the crib in the end as it could have been recalled or even contained lead paint. Though the crib was unusable for it's intended purpose, I could not bear to throw it out, so I put it in the basement to store until I could find a use for it.

That year for Christmas I moved the crib out of the way to get to all of my boxes of decor. After getting everything out and decorating the house I placed the empty boxes and bins back in the basement and noticed the crib again. This time I thought, why not use the crib railing to display all of my Christmas cards from friends and family. I love receiving these cards in the mail and keep them on display until well after the holidays, but had never had a great way to display them besides setting them up on matels and table tops or taping them to the wall. I picked the crib rail up and took it straight upstairs. I set it on top of my buffet cabinet and knew that it was perfect. I immediately ran out to buy some clothes pins to attach the cards and voila, a perfect display for all of the beautiful cards and pictures we receive during the Holidays!




As simple as it is, this is one of my absolute favorite pieces of Holiday decor. I have actually thought about leaving it up throughout the year to display any cards, letters and pictures that we receive.

What is your favorite piece of decor, Holiday or otherwise? Is there an item in your home that you repurposed to give new life? I would love to hear about it!

I am linking to Kim at Newlywoodwards DIY Blog Party all about traditions