November 30, 2017

O Christmas Tree

My sweet husband brought all the Christmas boxes upstairs for me AND put the tree together before he had to head out on a business trip, so I was able to get the tree decorated and set up the Christmas village, etc. Now the house is mostly done inside.

Last year we went to Sam’s before Thanksgiving and took a little detour down the Christmas decor aisle…just to see what they had. I found some LED lights that (wait for it)—change from warm white to multi-colored!!! Of course we had to snatch some up to put on the tree!

I personally like warm white lights on a tree. The men who live here all prefer colored lights though, so a few years back we got some colored LEDs. Because I love my family. I was never really in love with these lights—anybody else get a weird “Ahhh, my eyes, my eyes, those blue lights!” thing from LEDs? Maybe it’s just me. Anyway, finding these lights that SWITCH BACK AND FORTH and also have a twinkle setting for each colorway, and don’t blind me with the blue bulbs…was like. Christmas. in. October. I can have my simple white lights, they can have the festive colored lights. Win-Win!

My clever younger son decided on a system of even/odd with white on even days and colors on odd days. He got up every morning and switched them over. Not happening this year, he is a real live teenager now that he’s sixteen, and he prefers to sleep in.

Our tree is old. Many years old. But it gets the job done and I think when it starts looking super tatty I might try a DIY flocking thing on it to get a few more years out of it. As I gaze at it from my spot at the dining room table, I notice that it is listing ever so slightly to port. Let’s assume that makes it more realistic.

I don’t know if these particular lights are available anymore. I looked at Sam’s Club online and did not find them. I haven’t been to stores, but with all the places selling Christmas lights, there’s a good chance something similar can be found if you like the option of switching back and forth.

When installing these lights, I go from the bottom up and drape the string in and out on each branch. More or less. I try to keep all the little control boxes in a similar general area so they can be found easily for switching back and forth. There are six strings on the tree, so six little boxes are all in a cluster on the back left side of the tree. Five are always easy to find, the sixth is a struggle.

The topper is a big paper snowflake that I made because I haven’t found what I really want to top the tree yet. Last year was a big old shiny gold bow with long streamers, but I just wasn’t feeling it this year. The search is on for the perfect tree topper. I might have to make one…