oh, christmas tree

I bought a fake tree last year and it just wasn't the same. This year my goal was to get a real tree that wasn't cut down. There's a wonderful company in LA that delivers living Christmas trees and then they pick them up when you're done with them. As much as I loved that idea, it was a bit too pricey. So while searching high and low, we found this little guy at a lovely plant store. He was a Dwarf tree and was the only one left and he was lopsided. Nobody wanted him. When I looked at him, I knew he was the perfect fit for this little family. Since he's little (like an elf). I automatically had to name him "Hermey". After one of my favorite elves in one of our family's favorite Christmas movie (Rudolph). Remember Hermey wanted to be a dentist and didn't want to make toys? ("Hermey doesn't like to make toys!")  

The only problem with a "dwarf" tree is that your ornaments are WAY too big. Charlie wanted a piece of the action so I caved and let him play with the unbreakable ornaments from last year.

I found the tiny garland at Target. I couldn't find little ornaments that I liked so one of my good friends told me to check out the .99 store. I couldn't find anything either (i'm horribly picky) except these little bells and I wasn't sure if I would even use them but they were .99. I'm sure I could've turned them into some sort of craft if I didn't use them. Come to find out they were the perfect fit Hermey! Oh, and those little bells were also being sold at Target and they were charging $4-$5 for them. So I'm glad I only paid .99 for them. Thanks for the suggestion, Linds!! Instead of a tree skirt, I decided to put the L & M (the letters of our last names) letters at the bottom of it. The tree topper was a no brainer once we brought him home. A few years ago a certain favorite gramma bought me my favorite ornament. It's a NY Giants Santa. I like to think our NY Giants Santa watches over us to make sure we're being good boys and girls (kinda like that elf on the shelf) :) Hermey now resides on our side table that was rearranged so a certain "hands on" one-year-old can't reach it. I'm hoping I can keep Hermey alive so he can grow with us and maybe be Charlie's own personal little tree next year. I figure if I give something a name I have a better chance of keeping it alive :)

holiday decor (on a budget)

I am so sick right now (tis the season!). I swear since I got pregnant, it has killed my immune system. There's no sick days when you're a full-time mama. As much as I want to lay on the couch and nap (constantly), I can't because I have to finish up a huge batch of "thank you" cards I was hired to create. Oh, and decorate. Don't ask me why I feel I HAVE to decorate when I'm feeling this crappy. 

Enough of that unimportant stuff... I've found that it is possible to decorate on a budget and have it look nice. It may not look exactly like that $20.00 item you want in the store but you can come really close. Before I decorate for any holiday, I look around my place and see what I already own and elaborate on that. I already owned a vase or two but then I inherited all those vases from all those floral arrangements. That was like striking gold. Vases are expensive (kinda redic). Last year I was really into the "blues" (maybe because I was feeling really blue?) and this year I'm over it. This whole gold and glitter look started rubbing off on me (i have no idea why either). If you know me, you know I loathe glitter. Remember when it was cool to wear glitter as make-up or have glitter lotion? I opted out of that trend. Getting back on track... I decided to buy some new ornaments this year for a tree I may or may not have (more on that later). Michaels has some great sales and check the website for coupons because they have some great ones. Due to a lovely 30% off your purchase coupon from Michaels I saw, I opted to go there. My entire trip cost me under $20.00 and that included all the items I got side tracked with (typical. always happens in that store). So here's some inexpensive holiday decor ideas :)