Our Christmas Tree Creation

When we first got married we got excited for decorating for Christmas. We bought an artificial tree and hung my MANY collectible Hallmark ornaments on the tree yearly. We didn't have too many problems given Viking was the only pet. Although we did have an episode where an ornament hook was missing and I freaked out. Thankfully, I found the hook after searching. Year after year we'd put our tree up....in addition, our family grew. The dogs tend to leave the tree alone. The cats, well that's another story. They don't want to climb the tree, they don't like to chew the cords, but they do like to chew on the branches, especially Natchez. We've never had any huge problems with her chewing on the tree, other than it making the tree have frayed edges.

When we moved back to our hometown we kicked up our decorating another notch. It was the first time we could really decorate outside, and we took advantage of it. We had big plans on adding more lights, etc. on a yearly basis. Unfortunately, or fortunately, our enthusiasm quickly burned out. Not wanting to hang lights in the frigid weather, trying to time them correctly, trying to find places to store everything, and just the idea of trying to simplify encouraged us to take a step back. Not only have we taken a step back with our decorating outside, but also inside.

We have continued to put up a tree, but decided to put up our pre-lit tree every year. No ornaments, no garland. We did the same this year, but Natchez decided to chew nonstop on the tree. Not only was she chewing, but also giving us many presents of vomit randomly around the house. Not cool. So the tree was evicted to our enclosed porch. But that left us without a tree and the grand idea of creating our own.

One thing David and I do, we have these excellent ideas in our head, that don't translate well in real life. This situation was no different. We purchased our supplies and dug in. Our idea was a tee pee type design. However, as I stated, if didn't work out very well. David was quoted saying, "Man, I give those Native Americans credit. I would've said, 'Screw this!'"After hours of hassle, we tabled the design last night. We woke up bright and early this morning and headed to the hardware store. We brainstormed a bit and ultimately ended up with the same type of design with minor tweaks and stronger materials. Thankfully, it worked! This is our result....

I know it may not be to everyone's taste, but we really like it. It's bright, it's different, it's what we wanted, it's Us.