Our Handmade / Old-Fashioned DIY Christmas Tree

The last few years, we've been going to the same tree farm -- well, I don't even know that you can call it that -- just down the road from our house.

Think very rural Ma & Pop Shop -- except it's not a shop at all, it's literally their yard.  They stick a sign up at the end of their long, winding driveway and open up their property during Christmas time for you to come cut down your own tree.

We cut our tree down the Friday of deer hunting... can you tell? :)

Now, if you want a well-manicured, perfectly symmetrical tree -- this is not the place for you.

But if you love to "shop local", chit-chat with a sweet old lady who gives your kid candy, and you don't mind a "rustic" tree, then this IS the place for you!

Ellis spotted the blue-hued trees right away and insisted we get one... a blue spruce.
Ellis is on a real blue kick right now... every single piece of art he creates, is blue.  He requests to take a certain route to daycare, because of the blue tractor we *might* see parked outside on the way.  And when he sees blue Christmas lights on someone's house, he goes bonkers.

So, a blue spruce it was.  Picky as heck, but what the boy wants, the boy gets (kidding, of course).

In keeping with the "rustic" theme this year, I thought it would be fun to hand make most of the tree decor & do an Old-Fashioned themed Christmas tree.

Zac cut oranges & apples into thin slices, and we then dried them in the oven @ 200 degrees for 4 hours, flipping them every 30 minutes.  I love how these turned out!

We bought this bag of cinnamon sticks on Amazon, and then bundled them together with twine.

With the help of my niece Elena, nephew Kane, & Ellis, we went in the woods & gathered pine cones -- I dried them out in the oven, then hung them with twine.

We mixed equal parts applesauce & cinnamon together to form a dough, rolled it out & used a cookie cutter to make gingerbread men.  They baked for about 2.5 hours @ 200 degrees.  And, our house still smells like cinnamon -- these little cuties are potent!  

The topper is a stick Kane found, that made the perfect "star".

Lastly, I tied some red ribbon to a few branches to give the tree just a little pop of color.

All in all, the tree was a little extra work this year, but it was fun to do something different!  Plus, I love how it became a family affair... we each did a little bit to make it all come together.
 

 

Merry Christmas friends, it''ll be here soon!!

Previous Christmas Tree hunt posts:
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018

Getting the Christmas Tree

Welp, we waited for the yuckiest day in December (so far -- it's only the first week) and for Ellis to have a fever to get our tree this year.  Because we are stellar parents...

You see, last Saturday night we were at an ugly sweater party - adults only - when I got call from my mom at 7:30 pm... "Did you pack any Tylenol?  Ellis has a 103º fever."

FOR. THE. LOVE.

Zac and I had even packed an overnight bag & planned on getting a hotel room because the weather was turning bad, but we wanted needed a night out, and so we were going to *live it up* because neither of us could remember the last time we went out together.

But instead, we left the party, headed to the nearest Walgreens for Infant Ibuprofen and Tylenol and picked up Ellis from my mom & dad's.

Side note: almost two years into this parenting gig, and I should know by now to not have any expectations but that's a hard habit to break. 


By Sunday morning, the falling snow had turned to sleet and rain, but the good news was that Ellis's fever went down a bit, though he still wasn't quite himself.  However, we knew if we didn't get our tree that day, we might not end up with one because free weekends the rest of December are hard to come by.

So we bundled up the hot tot and went anyways.  Ellis is like his father, and would live outside if we let him, so he was actually really happy to get some fresh air, despite not feeling the greatest.
(And by fresh air, I mean wind, rain, and sleet.)

We went to the same Ma & Pop cut-your-own-tree place as last year; just a hop, skip & jump down the road from our house, but we reallllly had to hunt to find a decent tree this time around.

But alas, we found... the ONE!

And see, if you just looked at these pretty pictures, you would think we have it all together.
We don't......   (cue the cheesy tag line).... But together we have it all.

May your kids stay healthy throughout this holiday season, and Happy Decembering!


Previous Christmas Tree hunts, for your viewing pleasure:
2015 | 2016 | 2017

The Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree

I feel like the holidays are just more special when you have kids.  I have this desire to make everything as magical and as special as can be for Ellis, because I want him to have fond memories of the holidays that he will have for a lifetime.   Our parents always made the holidays special for us, so we want to do the same for Ellis.

Also with the holidays comes traditions.  We're a heavy "traditions" family (see previous posts about traditions here, here and here ), and I'm so glad that Ellis gets to be apart of them going forward.

Like searching for the perfect Christmas Tree.

Zac wanted sooo badly to cut down a perfectly, un-perfect tree on his family's land where he hunts, but our little house can't quite accommodate a Clark Griswold tree, so we did the next best thing.  We found a homemade sign reading "cut your own tree" just a few miles up the road from our house & turned in.  About a quarter mile down a winding trail, we came upon a little old man, and a little old woman, staying warm in a little shack.  They handed us a saw, and told us to drive up the hill to park.  From there, we could take a left & walk down the trail or go down to the right, and cut down any tree we wanted.  We were to come back once we found one for some candy.  (They were so sweet!)

Once we got to the top of the hill, we actually spotted their house.  They were selling trees from their own yard!  There wasn't a lot to choose from, and they were definitely "rustic", but I guarantee you that we made their day.  After searching for about a half hour, we found a winner!

Least you think the day was perfect....  Ellis is OVER IT right about now.

I know Ellis is too young to remember all of his "firsts" but that's why we take photos, right?  To remember, to savor, to cherish... even the times we don't recall.  We can relive them through photographs.  And Lord knows, I will take a million. :)

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Remember The Year of the Baby Tree?
And the year it took us 4 minutes to find our tree?
Ahhhh, good memories indeed :)

Best Christmas Movies

Winter is the perfect season to cozy up and watch movies.

Picture this: The glow of the Christmas tree lights... a yummy bowl of popcorn... homemade hot cocoa with *just* the right amount of marshmallows... and your favorite cozy blanket.

The only thing that would make this scene better is a crackling fire place!

With the help of Luma, a WiFi system that surrounds your home with fast & secure internet, I've rounded up my favorite Christmas movies to put you in the holiday spirit!

Slip into your favorite pajamas, and stay in to binge watch your night away!

Tell me, what are your favorite Christmas movies?!

The Year of the Baby Christmas Tree

The first weekend in December drew upon on us, and that meant going on the hunt for our Christmas tree... something I look forward to every year.

We're fortunate to have a tree farm literally 4 miles down the road from our house -- perks of living in the country!

I told Zac I wanted a "smaller" tree this year... smaller, as in skinnier.  Maybe a little Charlie Brownish, too.  Something different.  I just didn't want it to take up a lot of space in our small living room, and I didn't want to move out any furniture this year.

Last year, it took us 4 minutes to find our tree .  This year it took maybe 10 minutes?  We don't mess around.
We found a skinny one, Zac cut it down, I yelled "timber!" and we we're on our way home.

When Zac carried the tree in the living room, my jaw dropped... uhh, why was it only appearing approximately 3 feet tall?
How could this be?  We both swear it was much taller when we cut it down...

But, it was too late now.  An 8 mile round trip and $40 later...  we propped the tree up on a crate for some added, much need height & loved it anyways.

If Christmas of 2015 was the year that it took us 4 minutes to find, agree on, & cut down a tree, let the Christmas of 2016 be the year of baby tree!

 In hindsight, it does look pretttttty little in this pic ;)

Happy Holidays, friends... only 20 more days till Christmas!