Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I think my favorite part of my house in December is the Christmas tree.  And no, artificial trees just aren’t the same to me. We’re firmly Team Real when it comes to our arboreal decor.

It’s a tree full of memories and love and it makes me happy to look at. If I could keep the thing alive all year, I’d maybe consider leaving it up all the time based on how happy it makes me to look at it. It’s the first light I turn on when I come into the living room in the morning and the last one I turn off before I go to bed.

This past weekend when I was Internet-less, I took pictures of our tree and some of my favorite ornaments. So now I’m going to accost you with those pictures. And there are a lot of them. I’m both sorry and not sorry.

So, there’s no topper. I have a bow and I’ve forgotten to put it on two years running. It somehow doesn’t make the tree feel any less finished to me.

Hi. We’re Southern. In case you didn’t know.

And I’m also a blogger. You know. In case you didn’t know that either.

I found these on clearance at Michael’s last season and bought them as gifts for all of our friends. I didn’t think there was a W in the mix but I dug and dug and then! Christmas miracle. A monogram for us.

Dan’s family tree is a mish-mash of ornaments and after we got together, I decided I liked the fun and whimsy of the “junk” tree more than I liked the design of my fashion tree. So, there are ornaments like this scuba diving turtle scattered all throughout. Because scuba diving turtles are funny.

Yep. That’s a pickle. There are a whole host of stories about why you should hang a pickle ornament from your tree and the origination of doing so. But basically, it’s a pickle and it makes me laugh.

I had to dump in a ton of fill light to lighten this photo so Emma’s head is fuzzy. But there are a ton of shatterproof ornaments hanging on the low branches and she loves reaching up to them. Joshua calls them jingle bells.

Love is all you need, people.

And then here are some of our decorations.

I’m not a collector of nutcrackers, but I can’t say no to this one.

Merry Christmas, y’all.