It’s here! The final party in our Holiday Home series is finally upon us. :)
I hope you’ve enjoyed the parties as much as we have!
Year after year, my hubby and I waffle back and forth on whether or not we should get a fake tree. EVERY. year. The conversation usually starts about January 2nd, when we’re hauling a massive, shedding tree out the front door, and trying to get it back on the car to take it to the recycling. With a needle trail following us the whole way…
It basically comes up when we are over. it. :)
This year, we decided to finally take the plunge and go faux – and we headed to Lowe’s to get the BIG honkin’ tree we had been eyeing for weeks. It was gone, so we called two other locations -- gone. Called one more, and they had the display available -- “Come and get it!” Lowe’s guy said.
We drove ten minutes to the store and walked in to see someone else wheeling it out. GAH. It was nuts! Did I mention it was still November?
Sooo…we decided to go for a real tree again, and hubby insisted we go BIG. (So THERE!) ;)
And big we did. She’s tall and fat and chunky, just how we like ‘em. Twelve feet tall to be exact. It’s go big or go home around here!
The theme of our main tree is always traditional, always gold and red, and always has lots of sparkle!
I used the ornaments we’ve had for years:
Those cheap glitter ball ornaments are so great – they look fantastic and the price can’t be beat!
Because we usually purchase a nine to ten foot tree, we didn’t have quite enough ornaments to fill it. Well, we did…but I like lots and LOTS of ornaments in there. :)
I got a few more at Big Lots for a STEAL:
I love sparkle!!
I picked up a new one from the Rockettes show over Thanksgiving:
I like to get one new ornament a year to signify something special, and this one is perfect. :)
I stick all kinds of stuff in the tree every year, like the twirly sticks and some gauzy stuff from Hob Lob that positively GLOWS:
I love my poinsettias placed here and there:
All that filler stuff is great for hiding empty spots, cords, whatever.
The Bub helped me this year and the bottom of the tree is dripping with ornaments:
I let him put them wherever he wanted, and I didn’t move one afterwards. :)
Every few minutes, an ornament he had just put on the tree would plop on the floor, and I’d hear a little voice yell, “It’s otay Mama!!”
I heard that many, many times that day. ;) Ugh, I could squish him!!
The other night, I walked into the living room and found hubs sitting in there, staring at the tree. We LOVE it. And we do love our real trees – maybe next time we’ll plan ahead and go faux. But for now, that smell is pretty amazing.
And of course, it’s best with the lights low:
I can’t wait to see your beautiful trees!
You are welcome to use this cutie little button in your post to link back:
Have fun – I’ll leave the linky open for a week for those of you who need a bit more time. :)
P.S. I have to send a hollaaa out to Wendy G. and Alexis C. – thanks for the love on Facebook!! ;)
Thank you to my sponsor!:



























I remember as a kid going to a "Forest of Trees" for the local museum and I always wanted to host a party like yours! So thrilled to be a part of it. Thanks for hosting. Your tree is gorgeous! Love the the night time shots.
ReplyDeleteSherry
I love your ginormous tree. And red and gold is the bomb!
ReplyDeleteI love your HUGE tree. It's beautiful in red and gold...
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of cheap glitter ball ornaments!! Your tree is beautiful!! Can't wait to check out everyones!
ReplyDeleteYou know, your tree really does take my breath away each year. It's magic - even through the computer. You do such a great job!! And thanks for hosting!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting! :-) Beautiful tree.
ReplyDeleteJackie @ mamabearshideaway.blogspot.com
Whoa! What a tree! I can't even imagine handling one that big. It's beautiful, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this fab party. I'm having one today, too, if you want to come over and link up! :)
Wow your tree is gorgeous! And you take amazing photos, I wish my tree photos looked that pretty.
ReplyDeleteI love how bright your tree is, I can't believe how HUGE that tree is. I bet it is a blast to have the little guy finally be able to really get involved in the festivities :)
ReplyDeleteYour tree is amazing, what a beauty. We usually get a ginormous tree too. this year we didn't and I hope I won't be too sad :-) I think we are ok with it though.
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful! I love traditional. I love sparkly. I love glittery. :) Thanks for hosting! I linked up.
ReplyDeleteOh. My. GOSH. Now that's a tree! Stunning and crazy awesomely big! I knew you'd blow us away, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun linkup! Off to look at some others. :)
Donna
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
I love the red and gold - so classically elegant! Thanks so much for hosting the linky - I love see everyone's trees!
ReplyDeleteSarah! Gorgeous huge tree, love it. I miss the smell of real too & just might go back to that eventually.
ReplyDeleteI looked for something special to signify this year too, but Hallmark didn't carry any "Gained 10 pounds" ornaments. Hmmmm.... maybe Big Lots??
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting.
Your tree is beautiful! I wish we could have a real tree. I so miss the look and smell of it. We gave up on having a real tree two years ago after it fell over 4 plus times. Thanks for hosting such a fun party!
ReplyDeleteHoly Cannoli! I just now saw the post pop up and there are already so many entries! :-) Your tree is absolutely gorgeous and we have come down to having one faux tree and one real tree. So basically I now have twice as much work to do! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this fun party!
Vanessa
Beautiful! I would try to shop for an artificial tree the day after Christmas. You'll get a discount that way!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is gorgeous!! I love the idea of getting a 12 foot tree. My husband is 6'9" it would be nice to have a tree that actually towered over him, lol!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting such a great link up! There are so many pretty trees in all of the thumbnail links that I don't know where to even begin! I can't wait to get some ideas from others when jumping from blog to blog!
ReplyDeleteYour tree looks fabulous! I must admit I have to rearrange a few of my boy's ornaments only because he puts about 10 on the same branch and it gets so droopy. I mostly leave his the same! Thanks for hosting. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful tree!!! You did a fantastic job decorating it. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteTeresa
I thought the one my husband brought home was huge...but you've got us beat. It's gorgeous I love the colors and the slender tall shape. That is so sweet that your little one helped decorate it, I put our artificial one downstairs in the (football cave) lol and the kids had a tree trimming party w/ their friends. Thanks for hosting the best party of the year! Happy Holidays to you and yours. Gonna go tree stalking now. lol
ReplyDeleteYour tree looks beautiful, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI really like my fake tree convenience-wise, but one of these years I think I'm going to try real if for no other reason than the great pine smell. :-) Thanks so much for hosting the party. Merry Christmas!
Wnat a BIG beautiful tree. I gave up on real trees several years ago, the price kept going up, and the quality down, and to and insult...no pine smell.
ReplyDeleteAfter 10years with my first faux tree, I decided on a new one last year. I had a similar experience as yours, except I was the one rolling out the very last store diplay tree. LOL
Merry Christmas
~Z
It really is the most wonderful time of the year! I love looking at those trees. Such a beautiful Christmas tree you got there.
ReplyDeleteBuy WoW Account
It's gorgeous! Those are memories to cherish right there, your son decorating the tree and him telling you "it's otay"!
ReplyDeleteGreat party! Your tree and photos are beautiful! Now I am motivated to get some photos and post up!!
ReplyDeleteheather
Love your tree!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting such a lovely party. I stayed up late looking at trees.
Btw, I realized this morning that I forgot to link back to the party in my post! I totally fixed that.
I'm just going to have to blame it on the wine I had while attempting to make a yule log last night.
So Sorry! and thanks again.
Oh it's so beautiful & glowy Sarah! Love it! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love your very tall, lovely scented gorgeous tree. And I love this Christmas tree party! What a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas coming. My husband's father did what I thought was a wonderful thing, something we've been doing as well. On every ornament bought for the tree, he wrote the date. We have boxes going back many years and it adds a layer of meaning to the season when we decorate. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI have total tree envy right now! That is GORGEOUS!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is so gorgeous and big! Wow....thanks for hosting. Love all the beautiful trees.
ReplyDeleteCindy
xo
That is a seriously gorgeous Christmas tree....a perfect centerpiece for all your decor!!! You are going to have a Merry Christmas sitting around that tree Christmas morning!!! So jealous of your real tree, I bet it smells amazing!
ReplyDeleteTotally gorgeous. We were just talking about real vs. fake...after the debacle we went through this week. I think next year we'll go fake, with the pre-lit branches...but get some real garlands to bring that beautiful smell indoors.
ReplyDeletePS: Didn't want to post this in the link party, because I didn't get to the decorating, but here's a link to my tree saga. Hint: it involves using a hair dryer.
ReplyDeleteI so miss a real tree!! It's beautiful and we know all about the abundance of ornaments on the bottom :) love ya~
ReplyDeleteOh, Sarah, it's just beautiful. Stunning. Glorious. What is it about a Christmas tree that's just magical?
ReplyDeleteAs I told you before, I'm so glad you still like red at Christmastime. I showed one of my sons a photo of a "sophisticated, simple" Christmas scene the other day, and you know what he said? He said, "That's nice, but it doesn't look like Christmas." Now, YOUR house looks like Christmas!! Love you, girl!
Your Christmas tree decorations are beautiful. Have you seen RoomEnvy's craft ideas? Take a look! http://roomenvy.wordpress.com/category/christmas-craft-ideas-2/
ReplyDeleteOh your tree is so beautiful! You saved that best pic for last. Love it! I have some of the same ornaments. I love cute and cheap! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting...hope my link is ok, if not, you can take it off. I got so mixed up with this...totally my fault.
Thanks for hosting,
Nancy
Your tree is just fabulous. So huge and decorated so beautifully. Hugs, Marty
ReplyDeleteSarah, your real tree is gorgeous and so huge! I do love the smell of a real tree and understand your great debate over real vs faux. Maybe you can find your dream faux tree on sale after Christmas. There are so many great websites for faux's. Thanks for hosting the tree party, wow, so many great trees to look at!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful! I linked up to your party but my computer blinked out and when it came back on it had linked me twice feel free to delete one of them:)Haven't even checked yet to see if it worked crazy computer won't see things my way lol
ReplyDeleteHave a great day
julie
Check Lowe's after the holidays and see if they have your faux tree on sale, surely they'll get a shipment. Your tree looks fabulous!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative. :)
Can I just come and sit on the floor under your tree and stare all day at it? Would you mind?
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Sarah! Your tree is BEAUTIUFUL!! Thanks for hosting the party and for everyone sharing their amazing trees and holiday ideas!!
ReplyDelete:D Lynda
Your tree is just GORGEOUS!!! It looks alot like mine..LOLOL!!!! Seriously we do have similiar decorations!!! I just linked mine up so please come on over to see! Merry Christmas!! OH, and having been a floral designer, I can tell you to go EARLY to get a faux tree, before Thanksgiving, really right after Halloween if you can. Luckily we ahve several great places near here that carry the faux trees. XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteYour tree is gorgeous!! I have several of the same reindeer ornaments! I love them! I've really enjoyed looking at all the gorgeous trees. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI am new to your blog and I really enjoyed this post! I decorate with red and gold every year. I've tried to switch to other colors...but, I just love red and gold on a green tree.
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with the reindeer and took myself to BigLots and bought some and now they're sparkling on my tree - yay!
Merry Christmas!
Your tree is gorgeous! I would stare at it too for hours if I were there. It is so grand!...Christine
ReplyDeleteYour tree is amazing, very pretty! We usually have real trees too. You're right, the smell is heavenly. Thanks for hosting such a fun party!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for hosting this! It's so fun to get to do a virtual visit in everyone's homes!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous and TALL! I love the gold and red. I started with that when we were first married but then it just morphed into an eclectic tree and I'm okay with that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this! :)
That is an amazing tree, so big!!!! I would be exhausted doing that big of a tree. I am a red and gold girl as well and love poinsettias on my tree but my kids give me a hard time so I don't put them on. Enjoy it now while the bub has no opinion!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://ms-smartie-pants.blogspot.com/
OH Sarah!!! It's GORGEOUS!!! I love the colors and I saw those awesome ornaments at Big Lots too....aren't they great! After being in Az for our very first Christmas last year we decided NO MORE LIVE TREES. Our tree was dead in about a week. It was terrible! Just too dry out here!
ReplyDeleteI love your huge beautiful tree and the pictures are great! Guess bigger is better :)
ReplyDeleteWas so excited about your tree, I forgot to say thanks your for being a gracious hostess. What a Party!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun party-Just posted my 3rd tree! Still have the big one to go-sooo fun-Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteI am linking to this post and showing your tree at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Great resource for looking at beautiful trees!
ReplyDeleteI looove your tree. It's so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI helped a friend of mine recently who is a decorator decorate a huge home, and she asked me to hand her the "ting ting". Puzzled, I asked her what it was...and it was the twirly sticks. Wow! I had no idea it had a name! I used to just call it the glittery twirly thingy. ha ha. Now, I know to refer as "ting ting". Just thought I would share it =).
How lovely! I would love a gigantic tree like that! We did a fake tree this year too. we have a sick dog who can't eat anything so no worries about pine needles! I use Balsalm and Cedar candles from YC. Smells like the real thing so I'm not missing out :)
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas tree is just beautiful. Not even kidding, my eyes watered up!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is just beautiful. I love that your little one was so involved in decorating, & that you didn't get upset when he decided it needed some "tweaking." We always had floor trees when our children were little (never put a small one on top of something so the kiddoes couldn't reach it) & there was never any major problem. And, our ornaments were all glass, not the multitude of shatter-proof that's available today. Wow, did I just date myself or what?
ReplyDeleteCAS
What a huge gorgeous Christmas tree! I don't think that I have ever even seen a 12 foot tree!! Thanks for hosting - I have had the best time looking at all the entries!
ReplyDeleteThat Rockettes ornament is scrumptious and fun! It is so much fun to add a special ornament each year, isn't it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I was thinking about it this year and realized that I truly adore red and gold for Christmas....which is interesting because green is my favorite color. And, I do like green, but I LOVE a red and gold tree. We got ours about 2 years ago. It was Christmas Eve, and we stopped at Target (right before they closed) on our way home from the Nutcracker ballet. My husband ran in, and came back out with a HUGE, beautiful tree. They had just marked down all of their trees in anticipation of the after Christmas sales. We snagged a $250 tree for $25! And, while I'm drawn to elegant, themed trees, my favorites are family trees...with all of the special family ornaments. The ones your kids make, the ones my husband and I have from when we were kids, all of that. There's just something whimsical about a family tree.
ReplyDeleteHello, I am new to your blog & I love it!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tree, and by the way, nice Rockettes ornament! (:
Have a great weekend!
Excited to keep reading along...
Hi there! I have no idea if you have time to do something like this, but I'm wondering if you could help me link to your Tree Party? The linky wasn't working for me today after two attempts. Totally understand if you don't have time. For Pete's sake, it's December! :)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog! Thanks for hosting such a beautiful party!
Blessings,
Holly
Would love to call my entry...Ornaments from Yesteryear and use the Cabbage Patch Ornament for the picture.
http://hallelujahsbyholly.blogspot.com/2010/12/trimming-tree-and-diy-ornament.html
Love your TALL and beautiful tree! Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'm getting my camera ready now!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful!
Looks like the linky finally worked for me! (Or maybe you found a moment to help!) Anyhow, thanks again for hosting such a beautiful party. Your tree is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMany blessings on your day!
Holly
http://hallelujahsbyholly.blogspot.com
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting a Christmas Tree party. You tree is absolutely beautiful...it glows!
I linked to your blog. I'm a new follower, please come by and visit me at my blog, I'd love to have you.
Blessings,
Susan
Love your beautiful blog! Thanks so much for hosting such a pretty party. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Leslie
Thanks for being the "hostess with the mostess"
ReplyDeleteI have joined in from N Ireland, off to visit some more blogs :)
Gorgeous tree! I lvoe how well lit it is, just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWooooo Hooooo! This is a TEXAS SIZED Party! How many entries??? Wowzers! Your tree is FAB!!! Love the colors and the SIZE! Good Lawdy! Did you have a tuff time gettin that sucker in the door or WHAT! Thanks for hosting this Party!
ReplyDeletexoxokara
Love, Love, Love!! What great inspirations!
ReplyDelete~Jaymee
http://craftyheartswarmhome.blogspot.com/
Your tree just glows! It looks lovely. Thanks so much for hosting. I'm just amazed at all the inspiring photos. I've only made it to a few links and I'm blown away.
ReplyDeleteNew to your blog and just linked to the most fun Christmas Party. What a joy seeing your beautiful tree and then visiting so many other participants! Very Festive!
ReplyDeleteWow, very fun to link up and see so many beautiful trees! Thanks for having this party!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this party! It's my first one (I'm new to blogging) and fun to see how many people there are out there just like me. Your tree is beautiful! The red and gold is so cheerful.
ReplyDeleteI love your tree! Thanks for hosting this party (and for leaving the party open for the perpetually late like me). So many great trees to look at!
ReplyDeleteLove your tree! Your home is gorgeous! Have a happy holiday!
ReplyDelete