O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree - Special Christmas How To

One of my most favorite things about Christmas time (other than all of the lovely music!) are Christmas trees! Well, REAL Christmas trees. I don't do fake trees! As a kid, I loved going and picking one out... trying to figure out which one is the biggest and fullest and straightest.... going home and watching my mom and dad figure out where the hole is so it can go against the wall.... laughing while my dad struggles with the tangled lights because he just threw them in the box the year before... fighting over who gets to put which ornament on with my sisters... I love it all. And they smell so good!!! There is nothing better than walking into your house and smelling a good old evergreen in your living room.

Unfortunately, our little condo does not have room for a Christmas tree. Even less so now that we have an 18 month old running around. Last year, my husband surprised me on Christmas Eve with a little four foot Charlie Brown tree and we squeezed it in for a week or so.

I have to admit, my first year without a Christmas tree was really hard! I had all of these special ornaments from our first year of marriage and I wanted to hang them. So I went out and bought some huge glittery ribbon and made a ribbon tree on the wall behind our couch. Turned out pretty well! I did that for a couple years until I got sick of vacuuming up glitter in JULY! It's been a few years and I still find glitter in my couch.... So last year I tried something new. Turned out to be much easier to hang than my glitter tree AND it doesn't create a glitter disaster. I just used a strand of Christmas lights.

Here's what you will need:

1) 1 strand of Christmas lights

2) some push pins

3) ornaments (preferably ones that are semi-flat and not too heavy)

4) a topper (I usually use a large, wired Christmas ribbon but you could get some sort of flat star. I think I might make an angel this year)

How to hang your tree:

1) Make sure your lights work

I had a little helper this year

2) Find a wall space that has easy access to an outlet

3) Put one push pin where you would like the top of your tree to be

4) Using the end of the lights that does NOT plug into the wall, put the first light around the push pin

5) Go down about 4-5 inches and out 4-5 inches to the right - you can eyeball it - and put your second push pin

6) String your lights over to the second pin

7) Go down 4-5 inches from the SECOND pin and 4-5 to the LEFT of the TOP - place your pin - string your lights

8) Continue down until you've reached about a foot from the floor - you can use a second string of lights if you run out but you shouldn't need to

9) Decorate!

You could do this with white, colored, little, or big lights. I use little white ones because that's all I have. I think I'm also going to do a wall tree made of picture frames! I'll post pictures when that one is up.

I'd love to see pictures if anyone tries this one!

Merry Christmas!