While visiting Mr. Handsome’s family for Thanksgiving, everyone met at a Christmas tree farm (which also had live reindeer–see my November 28th post) so those who live in the area could pick out Christmas trees. The tree selection wasn’t great, so we ended up stopping at a tree lot. Mr. Handsome and I were poking fun at them because it took so long for everyone to choose trees. And it wasn’t that they were walking around the lot looking at a bunch of different trees…
Within the few minutes, Mr. Handsome’s youngest brother and his wife were sure that they wanted a 10-foot tree for $125. After about 25 minutes of discussion about size and type, the other couples decided to save money and go with the $25 Scotch pine trees. Then for another 15 minutes, Mr. Handsome’s parents (and two youngest sisters) and his second oldest sister and her husband went back and forth between three Scotch pine trees before each household came to a consensus.
By that point, the couple that had selected the expensive tree decided to join the bandwagon and choose a $25 tree instead. While they were picking theirs, the others changed their minds a few times, as well. In the end, we left with three nearly identical Scotch pine trees in my in-laws’ trailer, plus a fourth one that my oldest sister-in-law and her husband had purchased at the reindeer farm. When we returned to my in-laws’ house, everyone realized that it would be difficult to tell the three trees apart, so there’s a good chance that they didn’t all end up with the one they selected.
I will say that they trees looked great in each of their living rooms. Especially the tree that my youngest brother-in-law took home. He and his wife were in a tiny apartment last year, so his wife had the fun task of purchasing ornaments this year during Hobby Lobby’s Black Friday sale. She chose white lights with silver balls, and her finished tree was absolutely beautiful. I don’t have a photo, but if you picture a tree that you would see in the window of a fancy department store, that’s about how it looked.
A few days later, Mr. Handsome and I went to The Home Depot in Nashville and spent exactly three minutes selecting our Christmas tree. It was cold, Mr. Handsome didn’t have a coat, and I was hungry. Rather than spend $50 or more, we decided to go with a six-foot tree for $35. We hung white lights with mostly gold and sliver ornaments (see below).
In the midst of all this Christmas tree chaos, what surprised me the most was how great my single brother-in-law’s tree turned out. He lives with three male roommates, and they bought a 10-foot tree at a charity event. Now I will say that my brother-in-law’s girlfriend had a big part in choosing ornaments and decorating, but it still makes me laugh that four single men have a magazine worthy Christmas tree sitting in their living room (see the top photo).
These men may have a collection of ice-covered, expired foods at the bottom of their freezer. And they may have 75 eggs in their fridge–because they always forget to make a list when they go to the grocery store, so why not just buy a carton of eggs and come back another day? But at least their Christmas decor is on point. They even went so far as to hang stockings over the fireplace.
And my brother-in-law’s girlfriend purchased this adorable stuffed alpaca to sit under the Christmas tree. The guys think it’s cheesy. How long did it take to choose your Christmas tree, and how did you decorate it?
This made me laugh so hard. The not making a list and just picking up _another_ carton of eggs is my younger brother and his roommates to a T. 😂
LOL!
I just picked up a tiny “table tree” today for my baby since it’s her first Christmas. I’ll just put colored lights and her First Christmas ornament on it this year.
That’s very sweet! Where did you purchase your First Christmas ornament? I was looking for one, but nothing I saw was very nice.
Ellie
You might try looking on Amazon for something you like?
My mom actually got it for her. I think it’s a Hallmark ornament. It’s cute, but not something I would pick. I’m going to purchase her “official” ornament from Etsy later (I’m hoping for an after Christmas sale).
I also thought about making an ornament that has her tiny handprint on it, maybe in clay or salt dough or something.
Thanks for the info. An ornament with a handprint would be very sweet!
Ellie
wow! i wish our home depot was that cheap! we got ours there too but for $15 extra bucks! and they were the cheapest around. they had just come in the day before so they were all wrapped up still. my son had the guy cut open one tree and said ‘we’ll take it!’ bet that was the easiest sale he made that day lol. christmas trees are my favorite tree
I normally put up 3 trees (none are real) and have quite a few decorations around my house (I’m so lucky my college-age daughter loves to decorate for Christmas as much as me). The biggest tree has all the family homemade and gift ornaments. My little tree (which was my mother-in-law’s tree and is a bit Charlie Brown like) only holds small and lighweight ornaments. The middle tree, which was a gift from my cousin for our November wedding (BTW, that was a great idea for a gift) holds dough ornaments. I get a new personalized one every year and I love how we now have 24 different ones…ranging from a Bride and Groom to our family of five.
Sounds like you must have a beautifully decorated house! Do you have a specific place where you buy your dough ornaments, or just anywhere you can find them?
Ellie
I try to buy from locals at craft fairs. Sometimes they don’t have something different than the ones I have, so I often order from either Personal Creations or my favorite- Bronner’s…..which is the biggest Christmas shop in the country…in Michigan, You can get lost there for hours.
I can totally relate to being hungry while pregnant lol. It’s hard to keep track of all your in-laws…could you explain that in another post. I know you may have already but sounds like there have been weddings and births since then…just an idea!
Sure, I’ll add that to my list of post ideas. Might not get to it until after the baby though. 🙂 Just to briefly explain, Mr. Handsome is the oldest of 7. He has 4 sisters and 2 brothers. Two of the sisters are married (the others are still young) and have 4 children between them. One of the brothers is married, and the single brother lives near us in Nashville.
Ellie
Last year my youngest daughter made me an ornament with my newest grandson’s footprint on one side and handprint on the other side, with the year and his name. They used a piece of wood sliced from the trunk of the Christmas tree. I love it and will always have it on my tree with ornaments from my other grandchildren and all the other lovely ornaments.
Ellie, I know you will be having your baby soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Wishing you and Mr. Handsome a Merry Christmas. ~C
Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! That sounds like a lovely keepsake ornament.
Ellie
We purchase an 8 foot live tree. it almost reaches the ceiling. We buy our tree local and have it delivered. We do not have a car. Ellie, enjoy your tree. This post is a riot. Wishing you and yours a Blessed Christmas and a Happy,Healthy and Peaceful 2019.
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
Thank you for the well wishes, ladies. An 8-foot tree sounds beautiful! What colored lights do you use to decorate it?
Ellie
Merry Christmas to everyone. The trees are lovely. Wish I could have real trees, but 3 of us in my family are allergic to them. I bet they smell really nice.
We have an artificial tree as I’m allergic to real trees. We use cranberry-looking beads as garland and ornaments ranging from ones when I was a small child to this year’s new ones. Every year we all get new ornaments. The kids will take theirs when they grow up to begin their collection as I did. The new ornaments represent interests or events of the past year. There are many memories and stories that come mind when we look at our tree. I love that
I have an artificial tree for allergy, financial, and simplicity reasons. I bought it 10 years ago after using the same $20 tree that I bought my first year on my own for eight years. That first tree was very simplistic–white lights, red bows, and silver beaded dollar store garland. The following year I got my ornament collection from my mom, and now my tree is so jammed with ornaments for all four of us that I think I need to find a spot to revive my old tree and do a separate themed one each year–sports, Peanuts gang, angels, homemade, etc. We’ll see if I can make it work. My grandma used to give me a Hallmark ornament each year, and my mom gives me an angel. Starting last year, I am now giving each of my kids an ornament to represent their interests, so they can have their own collection as adults. All of my ornaments have a memory–no plain glass balls here!–and I cherish them all.
Hi Amy,
My husband’s family had the tradition of giving their kids an ornament each year as well (I believe they were given by their grandparents). And a separate, themed tree sounds like a lot of fun.
Ellie
I don’t put a tree up my cat would not it down.
I don’t mind because I don’t have to take it down when christmas ends.