Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Dear Old Christmas Tree/The Saga

This is a bit of a long story, so grab a cup of coffee and follow along.
We bought a new Christmas tree a few years ago. It lasted exactly four seasons.
 It was a very pretty tree featuring pine cones and two different types of branches. 
We went shopping for it shortly after my brother died. 
I was grieving and not at all in the mood for the holidays.
The new tree was part of a plan to lift my spirits.
Our previous two trees were hand me downs so we were thrilled to head to an actual Christmas store to pick one out.
I want to say that we spent around $400.00 on it.


When we went to the Christmas store, I really, really wanted a flocked tree.  Our sales associate talked me out of it. Flocked trees had been all the rage for a year or two already. She said that this tree would last at least 10 years and I'd be sick of a flocked tree by then. 
She suggested that I add flocked boughs and picks to the tree to give it a flocked look.
What?
Since the tree was so expensive, I didn't do that the first year.  I decorated the tree with white and burlap ribbon.
The ornaments were a collection of vintage and woodland. It was a more glam version of woodland which was all the rage for a while.

The second year, I added some spray painted pine picks, the burlap ribbon but this time I added black and white checked ribbon. 


It looks odd with the flocked branches. This was not good advice.


I loved the pops of red but it wasn't the flocked tree that I wanted. 


The next year, I wanted pink.
I went all over town looking for pink ornaments. They were hard to find. This year they are everywhere!  Not that I'm bitter about it.


 I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some frosted garlands that I cut up and stuck in the tree. 
It was cheaper than buying floral picks. 
We didn't use the pine picks from the previous year.
With the silver ribbon it was really pretty but it didn't appear snowy enough. 



When I took this tree apart after Christmas, there was a section that wasn't lit.
I was so over the clutter that we stuck the tree in the attic. We'd deal with it the next year. 
Last September, we pulled the tree down and took it into the Christmas store. 
They fixed part of it but one section still would not light up. 
They sold us a gun thingy and more lights. 
During a Hallmark movie marathon, every light bulb was removed and replaced from the broken section. 
It took a lifetime!
(I prefer Hallmark channel to Lifetime. What about you?)
I plugged it in. It didn't work. Argh!
A couple of new strands of lights replaced the broken section of lights. 


I decorated the tree with green herringbone ribbon, lovely hydrangea picks, frosted green berry picks and the frosted garland pieces from Hobby Lobby. 
My Lenox ornaments were beautiful with the hydrangeas.  


This year when we pulled the tree down from the attic, we were prepared with two new light strings.
I fully anticipated replacing the lights in a couple of sections. 
We set it up and I plugged it in. 


80% of the tree was out. The bottom section came on only after I shook it a little.
This was very disappointing. 
The initial plan involved taking off all of the lights and spray painting the tree white to get the flocked look I originally wanted. 
Starting with the top section was a mistake because the lights came off pretty easily. 
After working on the bottom section, defeat washed over me. 
It was too many lights. My hands and arms were already scratched. 
I yelled out, "That's it." 
Bill calmly came out his office. "Would you like to go get a new tree?" 
"Yes! I petulantly cried." I didn't want to admit that I was beaten but I was. 
Instead of the expensive Christmas store, (that no longer sells this brand of tree. Hmmm???) we went to Hobby Lobby. 
If these trees are disposable, then I didn't want to invest a lot of money on it. 
We found a lovely flocked tree. 
I was finally getting the flocking that I wanted four years before. 
It was on sale. (Isn't everything at Hobby Lobby on sale?) 


It has big, fat snowy pine cones. 
It has two types of big, thick frosty boughs. 
It's also LED.



Our collection of Lenox ornaments looks amazing on this tree.




I decorated it with my hydrangea blooms and frosty green berry picks. 
I also used the frosted sections of Hobby Lobby garland. 


It has a blue/green shimmery glow at night.


The lesson in all of this?
I should have listened to my heart and gotten a flocked tree four years ago.


FYI - Flocked trees cannot go in the attic. They will turn brown.


I was also told that you should not un-decorate the tree if it has been lit recently. Let it cool down before you take the ornaments off. 
I applaud you if you were able to stick this post out until the end!
Thanks for stopping by.
Katie 

Here is where I party:

4 comments :

  1. Oh Katie, it was so worth the wait! And yes, I did stick with it. And yes, I loved every single tree. But this one is so elegant and special. (And on sale! Best of all!). Your home looks lovely and your tree(s) just make it extra warm and welcoming.

    Merriest to you!

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  2. I'm glad that you finally have the tree of your dreams! Your ornaments look enchanting on it.

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  3. Katie,
    Beautiful new flocked tree! I hope to post about trying DIY to get a white tree this year. No so successful...

    Merry Christmas,

    Judith

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  4. Katie, I bought a higher-priced, lighted flocked tree back in 2011. I was dying for a flocked tree and got my heart's desire that year. It shed flocking like crazy, so there were more years than not that we didn't put up the tree. Last summer we put it out in it's nice box with a big free sign on it at the curb. We both agreed to never buy a flocked tree again. Hope yours ends better for you.

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