Rustic Christmas

Looking back at photos of my childhood, our Christmas trees were a lovely green and full of handmade ornaments, plus bucket loads of tinsel! As I got older and the 80s went into full swing, my mom got onto her pastel kick. This lasted well into the early 90s. Gone were the days of a natural Christmas tree, we were in a new era - the flocked tree!

I remember we would pick out the tallest, most beautiful tree and then pay the extra money to have the guy on the lot spray it with fake white fluff. Barf! We did finally switch to plastic trees and even had a green one in recent years.

But over the past few years, I've been using her hand-me-down fake white feather tree with glass, candy-colored ornaments. Don't get me wrong, the feather tree was fun and pretty! But this year I decided I wanted to get back to my roots. I ditched the fake tree and bought a cute, real-life, GREEN tree and made my own ornaments. It's not the grandest tree, but it's sweet and it's simple and it's just what I've been wanting.

I didn't go all out and I already have ideas about what I want to add to it next year (white plastic animals with gold highlights!). The materials are all natural: burlap, twine, wood and even antlers!

It's a far cry from the blue and white Christmas trees of my past!

With my busy schedule, my dreams of completing my gift shopping a week before the holiday did not pan out. And even though I spent a lot of time making the ornaments, I never quite found the time to make our stockings! *womp womp* But I've still got plenty of burlap, so I'll try to finish them up before next year!

Here are some photos of my cute little tree and it's rustic dressing. Enjoy!

And Happy Holidays to you!