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Christmas Tree for Special Ornament Collection?

last year

last modified: last year

We aren't going to put up a Christmas tree in our house this year. (Well, my husband will put up his sorry fake tree in his tv-watching room decorated with his sports ornaments, but that is it.) But I have a collection of felt animals and birds I'd like to display so would like to find a 4'-6' decorative tree that isn't necessarily Christmas tree shaped. In general, I kind of like a sparse Charlie Brown-style. We typically do some sort of fir, usually Frasier or Concolor. I've been looking at lit birch and twig trees, however, based on reviews, quality is all over the board.. I would likely not leave this tree up year round, but maybe much of the winter. Does anyone have one they like for this purpose? If so, please share! Thanks!

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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

last year

last modified: last year

Forgot to mention before that I also like to place green Christmas tree branches in large containers/vases and hang ornaments on them. Places that sell trees have lots of trimmed branches and often just give them away. I get a big armful every year from the bin at the nearby Home Depot, and use them to make sprays and wreaths too.

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Comments (15)

sushipup2
last year
I seem to recall that someone spray painted a garden tomato cage, and trimmed the vertical wires on the bottom. White or gold?
Bluebell66 thanked sushipup2
Bluebell66
Original Author
last year
Thanks, Sushi! Glad you are back and feeling better! I seem to recall a mention of that, too. I'll check it out.
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Christmas tree Bulb/ornament storage question
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Comments (11)
Having collected Xmas ornaments for 43 years (and not admitting I already have more than I need), you may imagine that storage is a huge problem for me! Firstly, because for 23 years, we had a live 12-foot tree that looked silly with just single ornaments, so I bought them in dozens, literally. Secondly, I still manage to find and buy new stuff every year. And I agree that storing them in their original boxes, if there are such, is bulky, even when multiple boxes are gathered into a large plastic bin. Not a terribly efficient use of space! What to do? I found that for me, using intermediate-sized outer boxes works well. I have bought over the years many sets of the very pretty Bob's Boxes or Lang stackable boxes which are very sturdy, have lovely graphics so they become part of my holiday decor, and stack quite nicely in my three Xmas closets. In fact, I don't even put them back in the closets after I decorate -- just stack them around the room as part of the festive display. Easy to then take everything down without hunting out and lugging the boxes a second time. You can find these on eBay and in some shops, tho I see that Lang is no longer opffering as many styles as they used to, sadly. You will have to wrap your individual ornaments in tissue to protect them inside the box, but that isn't too big a deal, I think. I then label the boxes with a sticky-note as to what is inside (if I remember to do it) which helps enormously. After all these years, and at my age, I have trouble remembering what is where! Anyway, this is a long-winded coming-out of lurkdom! I just found this site a few weeks ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed everyone's gorgeous photos and ideas. If I ever figure out how to post photos here, I'll share. We have moved to an artificial 8-foot tree as I no longer enjoy teetering on a 14-foot ladder, so not everything gets used in any given year, but I do have between 3 and 6 trees I decorate besides the main one. It's fun doing "theme" trees now! I'm of the philosophy that Xmas can never be over-decorated, and if it doesn't move, hang a festive frippery on it, LOL!!
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Xmas ornament collections for children?
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Comments (23)
Speaking as wife of someone whose mother did this for all five of her children, I welcomed the ornaments when the box was given to us. As a newly married couple, we had very few ornaments so it really helped. MIL had marked them with his name and year...hard to believe the tiny labels have not fallen off after all these years. When we first pulled them all out, it was great fun looking at the variety...some from his family travels around the world, some childhood characters (snoopy,etc), or a sports idol. I liked the idea so much, I do the same for our four children. Each year I get them an ornament and they also pick out one of their choosing. They even enjoy looking at the ones from dh's childhood. In fact, one of their favorite holiday activities is decorating the tree with their own ornaments (they are 9, 11, 13 and 15). While I appreciate a beautifully decorated tree with all matching ornaments, red bows, white lights, etc, our family tree is so meaningful and sentimental. In fact when people stop by during the holidays, they seem to really enjoy checking out the variety of ornaments and asking about their origin. I will give each of my kids their box of ornaments when they move out on their own but will not feel badly if they choose not to use them or their spouse has no interest. If not, I will keep them for our own tree and they can get rid of them when I'm gone if they wish. My parents never did this for my siblings and me but I wish they had. I think it's a wonderful tradition but agree that I'd only do it if you don't mind if your children/spouse may not be interested in the future. But at that point, I'm sure they'd make some other family happy if you donated them!
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Downsizing ornaments collection???
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Never got into collecting any special ornaments. I only put up a small artificial, lighted tree now. On my buffet I have a brass ornament holder. The only ones I put on that are the ones I've kept from the first tree my DH and I had. That would have been in 1946, when we got our own apartment. Ornaments then were very delicate glass, in beautiful colors. I will never give those up. The others that go on the holder are the ones my DD gave us each year when she was older and married and buying very special (with meaning) ornaments for our tree each Christmas. All the odds and ends went to a yard sale sometime ago. Sue
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Comments (21)
Fun2BHere that's a gorgeous christmas tree and ornaments! And I can't believe the reasonable price (especially with free shipping). I'd been having trouble finding anything nice and reasonable like that on Amazon, but something similar to that would be perfect. Church bazaars are a good idea. I'll have to see if I can find any that aren't too artsy (very expensive) or to commercialized (lots of "corporate" vendors selling Epicure, etc). No Hobby Lobby up this way. I think Michaels is our only similar store, and the stock can be quite different between the two countries. And of course the prices are quite different.
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texanjana
last year
If you do a search for wire ornament tree, many retailers sell them in different sizes. I don‘t have one, but I like the way they look.
Bluebell66 thanked texanjana
terezosa / terriks
last year
A simple wooden dowel Christmas tree would look nice with felt ornaments.

You can buy them or there are lots of instructions online to make them.
Bluebell66 thanked terezosa / terriks
olychick
last year
this is for sale on Etsy but would be really easy and fun to replicate:

I also love a large container filled with bare branches with ornaments displayed. I haven't been able to find a great example.
Bluebell66 thanked olychick
Bluebell66
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the great suggestions so far! I like them all but could easily recreate the one made from sticks - I have been collecting driftwood for a while now so I'll have to see what I have on hand.

Oly, I also love the look of a bowl with ornaments and greens. I always have a bowl or two of vintage, colorful ornaments on display.
maddielee
last year
How’s your dead branch supply? For years, I did one similiar to this. (Picture from the internet )
Bluebell66 thanked maddielee
eld6161
last year
Oly beat me to it. I saved these too.
Bluebell66 thanked eld6161
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
last year
last modified: last year
Thinking similar to maddielee - simple bare branches in a large vase or decorative bucket filled with sand or gravel or floral foam - and you can spray paint them white, silver, or gold to make it prettier...

I like to make ribbon curls to use like icicles too.
Bluebell66 thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
ratherbesewing
last year
Costco has this one.

https://www.costco.com/7'-multicolor-led-birch-tree.product.100735025.html
Bluebell66 thanked ratherbesewing
hhireno
last year
^that birch tree triggered a memory: An English friend and her 4 yo son were visiting. When he saw the birch tree in my backyard, he asked ”how do you get your tree so white?” 😄
Bluebell66 thanked hhireno
arcy_gw
last year
Galand is a great solution. My kids have always had 'their' ornaments gifted from relatives and to keep it all straight they all had their own boxes and would hang theirs around their bedroom window on garland each Christmas. Using garland began when they were toddlers and I had ornaments I didn't want broken so I would hang them high on garland.
Bluebell66 thanked arcy_gw
pricklypearcactus
last year
I would look for a decorative tabletop tree to hang ornaments. I have one that I've used before to enjoy the ornaments in a compact space.

This one isn't shown with ornaments but I think it would be perfect.

https://www.potterybarn.com/products/faceted-mirror-tree-decorative-object/

https://www.countrydoor.com/p/led-ornament-tree-769797.html

https://www.wayfair.com/holiday-decor/pdp/greyleigh-festive-ornament-accessory-w004609557.html?piid=1589877452

https://www.wayfair.com/holiday-decor/pdp/the-holiday-aisle-chrismas-star-ornament-accessory-w007851967.html
Bluebell66 thanked pricklypearcactus
Bluebell66
Original Author
last year
Thanks, everyone, for the fantastic ideas! Our stick supply is decent, so I think I'm going to look for a tiny bare tree with some good branches, however, I will file all these ideas away for future reference!

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