Move Over Furniture....

Here comes the tree!

Putting a tree up in our tiny living room is always a major project. Depending on the size of the tree, it can be a little major...or major major.

This year was somewhere in between because we have a new furniture arrangement.

That meant having to map out our living room in order to figure out where everything will go so that 1) People can still see each other and talk to each other when sitting on the couch or in the chairs, 2) People can still see the TV from all seating positions, 3) People's arms and legs are not being stabbed by a long branch of an evergreen while they are sitting on the couch or in a chair, and 4) We don't have to remove much loved pieces of furniture or decor to make room for the tree.

See the challenge?

Well, we had our plan in our head ever since we redid the living room, and guess what? When we put the tree in the stand on Saturday and rearranged things the way we "thought" it would work, it looked like crap! We both looked at each other and went, "Uh oh....now what?"

So, we tried to visualize some different arrangements and then we were "on the move". Put the couch here, the tree here, the chairs here, the little fake fireplace here and the record player here. Hmmmmmm. Nope, let's try the tree here and the chairs here. Nope, how about the couch here, the little fake fireplace here and the tree here. Nope......tension building.....blood pressures rising. Okay, let's put the couch here and the chairs there.....tape measure out....nope, that won't work.

"I'm going out to have a cigarette," said Irv. "I'll go in my workshop for a while," said Kathy.

About 10 minutes later, we came back and I said....how about the record player here and the tree here, the couch there, and the TV there and the chairs here?" "What about the little fireplace?" asked Irv. "How about we just squeeze it in right there." answered Kathy.

Hmmmmmmmm.....not bad. It definitely isn't something out of House Beautiful.....but it will work!

Irv put one string of lights on the tree and quit. He was whining and crying the whole time because he just didn't feel like doing it. I also realized that I never bought the ribbon I wanted to hang the ornaments with this year. "But you have a huge box of ribbon," Irv said oh so sweetly. "I know, but it isn't the right size or color," was my oh so sweet reply.

On Sunday we went grocery shopping, stopped for the ribbon, came home and worked on the tree. Irv didn't whine at all while putting on the lights....well maybe a little...but he did it. Then I tied all of the ornaments on with ribbon. I really needed a tiny little ribbon so when I tied it I could leave long ends hanging down. They didn't have enough, so I bought this kind instead. It isn't the look I was going for, and what a big pain in the butt that was! I've never been stabbed so many times in my life. It looks cute, but UGH!!! I will rethink that one next year.

Here is the finished project! Need to find a new tree skirt, but otherwise we are ready for Santa!

Have an awesome day everyone!

Oh Christmas Tree.....

We went to cut down our tree this morning. We decided to take Wrigley and Maggie with us. This isn't Sparky's kind of activity, so we didn't feel bad leaving her behind. She was snuggled under her afghan on the couch when we left.

We have been cutting our tree at the same place since our kids were little. I love that they don't use insecticides on the trees and that it is a small family owned and run operation. We enjoy supporting them every year. They also donate a portion of the proceeds to the Environmental Defenders group.

They have hay wagons that take you out to the fields, and I wasn't sure how Wrigley would react. She's doesn't really like new things. I picked her up and put her on the wagon. I held her tight, not sure what she would do when we got going. Irv also had to lift Maggie up because she had no clue what we were doing. The tractor got going and the dogs seemed as happy as can be!

Here we are on the way out to find the "perfect" tree....

This tree farm suffered a huge loss during the drought years in the early 2000s and then the owner had a couple of knee replacements done and they weren't able to replant right away. Slowly they are getting new trees in and before you know it their fields will be full. I'm sure a lot of people have gone to other tree farms, but we are sticking it out and supporting them during these lean tree years.

We like short needled trees. I don't mind a Charlie Brown tree either. I just like the look and smell of a real tree. I don't want one that was cut back in October and sprayed to make it look more green. I am happy with what Mother Nature has created.

We found a great little tree.....and I can't wait to bring it in. They always look little out in the field and then we can barely get them through the front door! We'll probably set it up in a week or two.

Do you have a real tree or an artificial tree? Do you buy your tree on a lot or do you cut your own? When do you put your tree up? When do you take your tree down?

I'll post some pictures when we get ours up and decorated. I saw a cute tree in the window of a store and they tied all of their ornaments on with thin ribbon......it looked so darn cute that I'm going to give that a try!