Anyone Know How to Do It Right?

Take a picture of a Christmas tree, that is! (You thought I meant something else?)

So I finally got around to putting up the second tree last night. Got kind of tired of hearing Nate's sarcastic "Nice tree" every time he walked by the living room. Tuesday night I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up eight boxes of twinkly white lights (among several other things!). At the last minute I got worried that eight wouldn't be enough, so I snagged two more for a total of ten boxes (1,000 lights or 300 feet!).

As some of you may recall, I got this new tree on one of my favorite websites, Freecycle a few months ago, so when I finally opened the box, I had no idea what to expect.

Let me tell you, I was shocked. This is seriously the weirdest Christmas tree I have ever seen. And having worked at a Christmas shop in high school, I have seen more than my share of trees! First, this six foot tree has like fifteen layers of branches. The layers are all really close together but they only have a few branches per layer, like this:


There are only six scrawny branches on the bottom layer. That's weird, right?

So not only are there a bazillion layers, but they are lettered funny too. You know how most tree layers are labeled A, B, C, D, E and so forth? This one is lettered too: F, G, G, H, H, I, K, L, M, M, etc. WTH? Anywhere there is a letter shown twice, one will be one color (like orange tab with white letter) and the second will be the same colors except opposite (like white tab with orange letter). Um, why not just use a different letter? There are, after all, twenty six of them.

Anyway, I digress. Once I got past the randomness that is this Christmas tree, it actually turned out really great. It's not as full as our regular tree, but this one has it's own charm. And with so many layers it used up every single box of lights, and the top is a little scantier than I would like it to be. At 9pm last night I was thankful to my worry-wart self for buying those extra two boxes!

Sara's Tips for the Perfect Christmas Tree:

1. Light it up as you go. For maximum twinkliness (twinklage?), add your lights as you add the layers. I run my lights up one side of the branch and down the other (see above picture). It takes more lights this way, but makes the tree glow from the inside out.


2. Add ribbon running around or up/down the tree for added visual interest. Make sure to use wired ribbon so that it won't lose its shape.


3. Hang 'filler' ornaments first. You know, those plain ones that you get 20 for $5 at Wal-mart? Hang these inside the tree, close to the pole to make the tree look full and give it some dimension. Plus, nosy guests who 'inspect' the tree up close will be surprised to find ornaments that deep inside the tree.

These are the filler ornaments for the new tree. Some are just plain jane, others are sparkly but still not as pretty as the 'good' stuff.


I scratched the mess out of my arms putting these way back there, but it was worth the pain because it turned out fantastic!


4. Hang especially sparkly ornaments in little alcoves. I make little alcove spaces in the branches for the sparkliest stuff so that they get maximum exposure to the twinkle lights. This makes them shine beautifully!


5. Hang your favorite ornaments first. Once you've got the filler done, make sure you put your favorite ornaments front and center so you see those most often!

I really love everything on this tree, but here are a few of my favorites.





6. Hang the rest of the ornaments. Don't forget that the back and sides of the tree are important too! Step back every few minutes to see where things are looking a little bare. You don't want to get the whole thing done and realize all the red ornaments are on just one side of the tree!


Voila! A beautiful Christmas tree!! Mine took about four hours from start to finish, but I also had to unbox and untag everything since it was brand new. Next year it will probably go much faster!

Here is the finished product. While I am very pleased with the tree (I want to sit only in that empty room now!), I am bummed by the pictures. They don't do it justice at all. Which leads me to the title of this post - anyone know how to take a good picture of a Christmas tree? The tree is all glowy and sparkly and the picture is just so blah. Guess you'll just have to come see it for yourself!

Confession

I want to go to the Britney Spears concert in the worst way. There I said it. Don't judge; you know you want to go too.

That's Disgusting... (Or How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Evening)

Scene: A perfectly cozy night at home. Me, reading a book on the couch. Nate, playing video game.

Suddenly, Nate looks up from video game -

Nate (excitedly): Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you this when I got home!

Me (curiously, expecting an engagement or baby announcement; possibly a promotion/raise or other news which would account for his level of excitement): What?

Nate: Today on the way home from work, this fox came flying out of the woods and smashed into the car in front of me! It got totally obliterated!

Me: Stunned silence *crickets chirping*

Nate (noticing that maybe I don't think this is a good story): Well, I'm sure he died on impact.

________________________________________________

WTH?! Since when in our nine year history have you known me to enjoy stories of furry woodland creature deaths? Um, that would be never. I practically tear up at the sight of roadkill.

Thank you, darling husband, for ruining our perfectly cozy evening with your vivid story of death and obliteration.

Crafters Paradise

Dear Hobby Lobby,

You are the best craft store ever. I could spend hours wandering your bountiful aisles. Your Christmas ornaments are unbelievable. Your whimsical wrapping paper selection is unmatched. Your scrapbooking sales are unequaled. Your generous markdowns ensure that I never leave your registers feeling guilty, no matter how many bags of stuff I don't need full of treasures I haul away.

Your faithful shopper,
Sara

Girls Night, anyone?

Just saw a commercial for this movie and it looks too funny. Plus it's got Kate Hudson, one of my favorites! Anyone for a Girls Night January 9?

What Could Be Better....

...than a warm puppy in your chair on a cold, rainy December day?


(This is how Lola likes to spend her mornings. In case you can't tell, that is my *um, cough* derriere in my chair and my adorable furbaby cuddled up behind me.)

Heaven

There's nothing better than a Chick-fil-A Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshake to sooth a sore throat.

Today just got a little bit better.

For the Record....(Or How I'm Going to be the Next Julia Child)

Ladies and gentlemen, mark this day in your calendars. Today, Katie actually called me for cooking advice. Quick! Someone look out the window - I think pigs might be flying.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly cooking advice.

And maybe we already happened to be on the phone when the question came up, so she didn't exactly call me for advice.

The point is, that I know where cocktail wienies are at the grocery store while Katie did not, and without my sage advice, her small group Christmas party would be missing out on some awesome cocktail wienies.

O Christmas Tree

After nearly 6 hours and just as many rest breaks, the Christmas tree finally made it up. I must admit that I didn't particularly feel like doing it at all but I knew I would regret it in a few days. I just can't seem to get in the Christmas spirit. I don't know if it's just my yucky cold sapping my energy or something else, but I'm just not feeling it yet. Maybe the Christmas tree will help.

I started to put up the new tree today but quickly realized that the six boxes of what I thought were white lights are actually just more colored lights. Boo. Guess a trip to Hobby Lobby is in my near future. If that doesn't snap me out of this funk, I'm a lost cause!

MISWALLOWINGERY

MISWALLOWINGERY

Get it? That's me, wallowing in misery this morning. I am miserably sick. I haven't breathed out of my nose in three days. I cannot get warm enough or cool enough. My head is pounding. My ears are so stuffed I can't hear well. And there are a thousand tiny men with a thousand tiny swords stabbing me in the throat. Oh, wait, maybe not, but I swear that is what it feels like.

Someone please come shoot me and put me out of my misery.

Bring it on

My dearest baby sister Emily,

Please consider this your not-so-engraved-but-at-least-public invitation to come to school in Indianapolis and live with us. We cannot wait for you to come. The sink is full of dishes, the dogs need a bath and I'm pretty sure the laundry hasn't been done in two weeks.

When can you get here?

love,
Sara

I heart Knoxville

What's the best part about a business trip to Knoxville? Seeing my girlfriends and dinner at Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse. Man, I miss these girls. And shrimp sauce.

A close second? Cherry limeade from Sonic. I hit Sonic before I even checked into the hotel!

Advil is a gift; let's unwrap it!

Best.stuff.ever.

This is the good stuff they keep behind the counter. You have to show your license, give fingerprints and sign over your first born child to get it, but it's totally worth it. I'm like an addict at the pharmacy counter - How many boxes can I get at once? How soon I can come back for more? Can I send Nate back for another box or two later or do they track that by address?

Off to pop another one and (hopefully) get a good night's rest.

Don't lie - you know you watched it too!

Did watching this make anyone else sad?

And just like that....

My car is fixed. Go figure. It hasn't run for a week so we finally had the tow truck come today to take it to the shop. In order to get it onto the tow truck, they asked me to put it in neutral and roll it out of the garage a little bit. And don't you know, as soon as I turn the key, the darn thing started up! Boy was I embarrassed! I turned it off and on a couple of times and it fired right up every single time. I apologized over and over to the poor tow truck guy, who had come out in the snow and sleet on a super busy morning.

I drove it to the shop anyway, just to have them look it over and they pronounced it completely fine. Said that possibly the engine was flooded and that sometimes that happens when it's really cold.

Cost us $50 to find out nothing is wrong; but I guess that's better than what it could have been, right?