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First tree is up and decorated! Â We cleared our schedules, put on Christmas pj’s, blasted our Christmas music and got to work! Â I look forward to our annual tree decorating party every year. :) Â A few years ago my kids got upset because my perfectionism got the best of me and I “tweaked” our tree the day after we all decorated it. Â (Guilty as charged.) Â So last year we decorated the tree together and the day (and weeks) after I didn’t touch a thing. Â Our reindeer Christmas tree stayed perfectly intact exactly how they decorated it.
This year was a different story!
{My striped joggers (so cozy and back in stock!), UGG slippers, Kole’s beloved robe}
We decided to try something new this year and create a mostly neutral tree.  Half way through our tree decorating we were all just laughing.  It looked AWFUL!  We kept adding things after Kenny snapped these pictures and it was like the more stuff we put on it.. the worse it looked.  Finally after over an hour of tree decorating my kids were all saying “mom.. can you just fix this tree tomorrow?  Do something else with it?  Can you make it better?” I told them the tree could be saved!  We just had to keep working at it!  Never give up!  El said “good luck mom.. I need to go shower.”  Ad said “Love you mom, but this tree is sad.. I’m going upstairs to finish my homework.” And Kole said “Can I turn on Goosebumps or do I have to go to bed?  If it’s bedtime I’ll keep decorating the tree.”
Oh how times have changed. ;) Â We all called it a night and the next day (with my kids’ blessing!) I spent some time re-working our tree and came up with this..
I call it our “cozy neutral snowflake tree” and when the kids came home from school the next day and saw it they were so impressed. Â Not that the decor is that amazing, but if you would have seen the “before” when we finished you’d know that this is definitely an improvement! Â Ha. Â To be honest, I really like our tree this year but I don’t LOVE it. Â I miss the red! Â I know it will feel better when I get the shelves and the rest of this room decorated, but this completely neutral Christmas tree is totally out of my comfort zone and I’m still adjusting!
Change is good right? Â Maybe? :)
I absolutely love everything I put on the tree. Â These are all favorite ornaments! Â I just keep feeling like I need a pop of red in there somewhere. :) Â A few ornaments are new, but a lot of them are ornaments I’ve had and used on other past trees. Â If you’ve been with me for a while you probably recognize some of them! Â This year I added the fun wood bead garland, this beautiful jeweled snowflake tree topper (I also ordered 5 of the jeweled snowflake ornaments that match and will add those as soon as they get here) and I added the adorable snowy house ornaments!
The house ornaments are my favorite because they have a round hole cut out in the bottom so you can set them on one of your tree lights and it lights up the little house. Â Could they be any more charming!? Â I love them. :)
My chunky knit tree skirt is also new this year and works so perfectly with my “cozy knit snowflake” theme.
Of course Christmas trees look the most amazing at night! Â This creme, white and silver tree has such a calm feeling to it.. I’ve loved having it on in the evenings.
*For those of you asking questions about our family room rug I wrote more details about it HERE}
So pretty! Â Like I said.. it’s very neutral and I’m still adjusting to a tree with no red! Â But overall it’s a fun change and I know some greenery and decor on my shelves will help pull it together for me.
It’s definitely working well with the fireplace decor I’ve got going so far! Â (Details on how I attached this garland and mantel sources are in this post if you missed it!) Â I’m still debating adding a few pops of red with other pillows/accessories. Â We’ll see! Â I keep getting distracted with other spaces and need to just finish this one.
I’ve included as many sources as I could find for this tree at the end of my post! Â A few of them are similar items that would give you the same look if something I have is sold out.
Just for fun here is a look back at past years that I’ve decorated this same tree with my kids. Â Such a fun tradition. Â Do you decorate a tree with your kids every year?
Ad dropped and broke an ornament right when this picture was taken and it’s one of my favorites because of the look on her face!
You can see our completed (and un tweaked by mom!) reindeer tree in this post. Â That post includes a picture of the candy cane tree finished too. :)
My babies are growing up.
A few nights ago I came across this pic of my oldest daughter in our previous house hanging the stockings.
No matter how old they get they still love Christmas. :)
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Oooooh… it’s a beautifull Christmas tree! I’m trying too to “escape” from red-everywhere…
This year I’m trying a blue and gold tree in our family room. But I keep a red one in the dining room!
Pictures with the kids are so cute. We have a family picture tradition each year since our kids are born: The four of us with Christmas tree. Amazing like the tree is getting smaller and smaller each year… Oh wait a minute! It’s not about the tree… Kids are growing up so faaaast. ;D
Good job with that tree rescue, it fitting well with the mantel, and I’m impatient to see all the finished room.
I’ll see what to do myself with those blue garlands and blue stars and blue everything…
Oh my! What a beautiful transformation! So glad you had your kids’ blessing to work your magic on the tree. Wow! It’s gorgeous, Erin. I adore all the knit elements! Makes me wish I had all the time to knit that amazing tree skirt and the covers for the knitted ornaments and the lovely garland(oh and the red afghan on your guest room bed)! Since I don’t have that time, I’ll give a happy sigh and gaze lovingly at your tree. :) Looking forward to the view when you add the decoration to the rest of the room. Thank you so much for sharing. And I have to say a sweet and grateful thank you to Shmyla for sharing her sweet comment. I’m tickled you like the comments I leave. :) Have a happy day!
Jeanne no doubt you could work some major magic if you had time to knit all of your tree ornaments/garlands! I adore the knitted look.. wish I knew how and had the time too! You are so talented that way. And I know.. wasn’t that a sweet comment she left! Sounds like I’m not the only one whose day is brightened by the sweet messages you leave. :) xo
very pretty — but you know it is not even Thanksgiving, right? haha
Ha! I’m aware! But if I waited until after Thanksgiving to decorate my tree I wouldn’t get pictures taken and posted until the first weekend in December. That isn’t much help sharing tree decorating ideas with all of you. ;) Plus I just want the lights up as LONG as possible! Pure magic. :)
Hi Erin,
I was so happy finding a new e-mail with another Christmas decoration posts from you! The cozy neutral snowflake tree looks great and it goes perfectly with your fireplace decor. I cannot wait to see the entire room finished. :-) Thanks for being such a great source for inspiration! The only thing that brings me down – but just slightly – is the fact that I am not able to purchase most of your sources here in Sweden. Similar things are difficult to find here and Scandinavian minimalism is just not my style.
Hi Susanne! Your sweet comment made my day! I’m so happy you enjoy getting my e-mails and that you like the tree. Thank you!! I’m so sorry you can’t get most of the items. Such a bummer! On a positive note though.. I’m pretty excited about having a friend in Sweden. I’ve always wanted to visit someday! xo
Love your tree Erin! It looks beautiful! I was interested in getting the red pompom garland that you have on last year’s tree. Where can I get that?
XOXO
Thank you so much Ursula! I’m so happy you like it! That red pompom garland was from Michaels. :)
haha, so funny! had a naked tree up for a few days and last night i finally had time to decorate. i used your exact same colors for the first time in years! past years were more colorful, but this year i decided to change it! it seems very neutral to me as well but i used my same skirt which is deep red apple with snow white flakes and it seems to brighten it up. like you said, it looks so pretty at night with the lights on and i am liking it a lot. where is the picture of the awful tree?? : ) It looks wonderful to me. Onto my next tree tonite.
So much fun Lilly! Love that we are tree twins! I don’t think I took a pic of the tree at its worst.. ha. I should have! It was slightly tragic and I probably wanted to block it from my memory. ;) Happy decorating! xo
I love the neutrals. I’m actually opposite and I started with a neutral tree using white, cream, silvers for a number of years. It is very calming and with it lit up at night or early in the morning I will just sit in our living room with a cup of coffee and meditate. Last year I changed up the decor and added red buffalo check ribbon and the rest of the ornaments stayed the same. It was so fun! Not sure when I’ll start decorating, but seeing everyone starting already makes me want to do it before Thanksgiving. Do I dare?
I say do it! Thanksgiving falls so late in November this year that if you wait you’ll only be able to enjoy your tree before Christmas for 3 weeks! Not long enough in my book. ;) Both of your tree designs sound so beautiful! xo
Being uncomfortable is so good!! It’s where personal growth happens! So lovely Erin!
Too true Margo! And such a good reminder. :) Thank you so much! Makes me happy you like it! xo
I love your matching family pajamas in the 1st throwback photo. Are they from Pottery Barn?! Are you going to do a gift guide this year? I did see your favorite things post. Would love to see one for the kids as well. Thanks so much!! :-)
Hi Sarah! Yes! Gift Guides are coming to the blog this week and I’ll definitely have ideas for kids! Do you mean the Santa pjs? Those were from The Company Store! So much fun. :) Thank you! xo
I am obsessed with your large candy cane ornaments! Where did you get them?! I have been looking all over the internet for large ones like yours and I can’t find them!
Hi Monique! I got them from Adams and Co! :)
Where did you get that ivory chunky knit sweater garland from?
Hi Patty! Crate & Barrel a few years back! :)