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

Sweet sweet summertime... and also a lesson on FOMO.

You guys, it's happening.

The Back-to-School ads are buzzing, the daylight is getting shorter, and the nights are getting cooler.  Whether we want it to or not, the slow decrescendo of Summer is in full force.

Did/do you suffer from Summer FOMO (fear of missing out)?

I do.  I'm constantly feeling like we're not doing enough, but then also struggle with feelings that we're gone all the time and doing too much.  Sometimes I just long to be home.  And then when we're home, I'm longing to be doing something.

I was visiting with my grandma a few weeks ago, and she had asked me if we had a summer vacation planned?  I hung my head, and said "No..."

I've been thinking about that conversation ever since...  Are we the only family that hasn't taken a vacation this summer?  According to my friend's feeds on social media, yep.  Yes we are.

And then I spin myself into the rabbit hole of WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING ALL THE TIME THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE ALWAYS BUSY, BUT THEN I CAN'T THINK OF A SINGLE FUN THING THAT WE DID ALL SUMMER.

Do you feel me?

Ultimately, I know that feeling is a big fat lie.

And I can even prove it, from the camera roll on my phone.

Seriously, pick up your phone, and scroll through your camera role.  Suddenly, you will see that you've had plentyyyy of fun this summer, even if you didn't go on the 7-day road-trip beach vacation that you are pretty sure all your others friends went on.

Here's a peek at how we Summered this season:

We ate ice cream at least 3 times a week.

We played in the water.

We did a little baking.

We saw lots of animals.

We did some fishing.

We discovered lots of parks.

We went on lots of rides.

We joined the Growing Kewaunee Reader's program & logged over 100 books!

We had a couple "Firsts"...

First concert.

First time going poop on the potty(!!!!!)

First time eating at P.C. Junction.

We collected rocks & then painted them.

We saw Thomas the Train with cousins. 

We went on lots of walks, and sometimes with friends!

We collected beach glass. 

 We picked strawberries.

 We went to the parade.

We helped daddy fix stuff, wash his truck & get in shape for elk hunting out west.

We went to the fair.

We went to the butterfly exhibit at Green Bay Botanical Gardens.

We went to Soar on the Shore.

We watched movies in the Big Bed.

We explored our nearby neighborhoods. 

We ate lots of delicious summer-time food.

And, most importantly, we spent lots of time together as a family. <3 

Our summer may not have included an epic summer vacation, but looking back... it was pretty darn good.

Let's soak up this last week of summer good... (and eat ice cream every night!)

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