Every year I say we’ll keep it simple, and every year we end up with a tree in almost every room. So I went back through the blog and pulled all of our Christmas trees since 2011. Some were real Fraser firs from the North Carolina mountains, some were pink tinsel, and a few were tiny trees the kids decorated themselves. If you need Christmas tree ideas this year, I hope a few of these help.
2011: A Fraser fir in the dining room
We picked up our Fraser fir at Lowe’s this year and put it in the dining room corner so three little kids couldn’t pull it over. We used only non-breakable ornaments, mostly vintage handmade ones from my Mom, plus about 30 silver snowflakes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that Joe’s Aunt Pam gave him as a kid. Read the post here.
2012: My Mom’s tree in California
We spent Christmas in California this year, so here is my Mom’s tree. It’s filled with vintage ornaments that she and her mother made, finished with red wooden bead garland. You can see it here.
2013: Our first trip to Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm
This was the year we picked out our tree as a family at Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm. The fragile ornaments went at the top and the kids decorated the bottom with fabric and wood ones. Most were red and gold, a lot of them handmade by my Mom in the 80’s, and the topper was my Grandmother’s. The full tour is here.
2014: Grandmother’s vintage ornaments
We went vintage this year and decked the tree in my Grandmother’s ornaments, with pearl garland and lots of colored lights. More from that year here.
2016: A 9 foot Fraser fir and pink pom poms
Our first Christmas in the new house. We found a 9 foot Fraser fir from the NC mountains, and the multi-colored mini lights gave it a vintage feel.
I also used a birthday gift card from Morgan Imports for a pre-lit white light tree and wrapped it in pink pom pom garland I knitted, then added a smaller navy pom pom garland. See the whole tour here.
2017: More trees for more rooms
Our second year in the house meant room for more trees. Along with the living room tree, we added a white tree in the loft, a sparkly gold tree in the craft room and a silver tree in our bedroom. The tour is here.
2018: The living room tree
Our living room tree in 2018, trimmed in red and white. You can see every room from that year here.
2019: Decorating with my Mom
My Mom was in town for Thanksgiving and came along on our annual trip to the tree farm. Her hands helped hang the ornaments on this one, which makes it extra special to me. This was the year we had a new puppy too, which is why we put the tree on a table.
And yes, there was a hot pink tinsel tree too. The full tour is here.
2020: A tree in every room
We had a lot of time at home this year, so we went a little extra. There was a North Carolina Fraser fir in the dining room, a Balsam Hill fir in the living room, a Norfolk spruce in the kitchen dining area, a glittery spruce in the kitchen, a pink bubble tree in the guest bath, a tinsel tree in our bedroom, a mini white tree in the loft and a tree in each of the kids’ rooms.
Count them all here.
2021: Toning it down
This year we said goodbye to the hot pink tinsel trees and went with more natural elements and jewel tones, though a silver tree still made it upstairs. The tour is here.
2022: Dried orange garland and white lights
I dried orange slices and made garland for the tree this year. Up in the loft, I pulled the colored lights off a prewired tree and replaced them with white LED lights. That was a long task! My daughter got a pink flocked tree for her room. See more here.
2023: A 9 footer and a Zelda topper
Every year we say we’ll just put up the faux tree, and every year we realize it’s not the same as a real one. We splurged on a 9 footer from Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm, which means the star is sitting flat against the ceiling.
In the loft, the silver tree got pink ornaments and a light up Zelda tree topper.
The kitchen island tree got 1980’s hand painted wooden ornaments I found thrifting. The full tour is here.
2024: The living room tree
I added more natural elements all over the house in 2024, with amaryllis, paperwhites and poinsettias around the tree. The guest room got a white flocked tree too. See every room here.
2025: Burgundy and pink
Our real Fraser fir came from the NC mountains by way of Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm. We bundle up, bring hot cocoa and hunt for the perfect tree. At home Joe cuts the bottom off and we decorate it together while watching A Christmas Story. I added burgundy flowers to the tree this year.
Our bedroom tree gets new ornaments every year. This time I turned vintage scarves into bows and added lots of mauve ornaments.
One of my crafts was a pomander tabletop tree on a foam cone, with holly leaves and red camellias from the garden. Hot glue works, but toothpicks helped too. The full tour is here.
A few things I’ve learned about Christmas trees
- Buy from a family farm if you can. The trip is half the fun.
- Fragile heirloom ornaments go at the top, or in the china hutch where little hands can’t reach.
- Let the kids decorate the bottom half with fabric and wood ornaments.
- A small tree in a bedroom or on the kitchen island makes the whole house feel like Christmas.
- If you don’t love the lights on a prewired tree, you can swap them. It just takes a while.
Which tree is your favorite? Leave me a comment and tell me what your tree looks like this year.
xo Cathleen
