Our 2017 Christmas Tree – Christmas Trees on Parade

Hello everyone! I’m joining the Christmas Trees on Parade linkup to share our Christmas tree this year, but FIRST, I have to wish my middle babe a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! My little Adri turns 6 on Pearl Harbor Day.

And now back to my regularly scheduled posting.

My favorite part of decorating for Christmas is getting the tree up! Usually, we save the tree trimming for the day after Thanksgiving, but with us traveling during the holiday and John heading to Afghanistan the day after we got back, the tree went up a little early this year.

This is my first year EVER putting up a fake tree. We got it in Hawaii last year for 75% off after Christmas! It was New Year’s Eve, and with most of our friends having already moved from the island, we celebrated with a trip to Walmart and an 11pm bedtime. Shout out to Comcast for playing repeats of the New York ball drop every hour!

Anyway, I just have to say this about fake tree I. AM. IN. LOVE. The tree was so easy to set up, and after a little fine-tuning, you can hardly tell it’s fake! Oh, and not having to string lights?! Yes, please! I thought I would miss the smell and experience of choosing the perfect tree, but I can’t really say that I do.

Pro tip: When fluffing out an artificial tree, alternate each sprig on the branch in an opposite direction (left, right, left, right). Then vary the height of each sprig to help the tree look as full as possible!

Before I had a chance to lay our ornaments and decide my “theme” for the year, the girls were pulling out boxes and putting balls up! This year, we ended up with red and gold. I ain’t mad! Good choice, girls!

Along with the generic colored ornaments, we also always add the personal ornaments to the tree for some flair. This year, I picked up a red door ornament with the year on it to symbolize our new home in Kentucky. Our house has a red door, although I want to paint it a less-purple-more-deep-red color (like this ornament). I’m thinking it’ll be a perfect dad/daughter project while the family is here for Christmas.

My mom always adds a couple new ornaments to our tree. This year, I asked her to order from SantasPen.com so that we’d have a little bit of Hawaii with us on the mainland. They’re a local company that sells some of the cutest Hawaiian themed ornaments. AND unlike the other personalized ornaments that we have from years past, the ones from Santa’s Pen have a little arm on the back, so you can display them.

Finally, I wanted to share my #milspouse ornament. I didn’t start this ornament until after our third PCS (permanent change of station), but even then, I was able to find enough moving stickers on random items around the house. Thanks to our move to Kentucky earlier this year, I was able to complete a little rainbow. Well, kinda. Do they make purple stickers?

I thought it was so neat that between our four moves (with five shipments) the colors never repeated!

So, there you have it! Our Christmas tree for 2017! Thanks to Terri of Christmas Tree Lane for hosting Christmas Trees on Parade once again! Be sure to take a look at some of the other gorgeous trees shared by bloggers below!