The fancy tree

When we lived in Beverly Hills at the beginning of this year…

(yes, I lived in Beverly Hills, CA. No, I’m not rich. {I wish!} Ben’s company paid for us to live there for 6 months while Ben worked on a project in Marina Del Ray and Culver City)…

Okay, where was I?

Oh, right. Beverly Hills.

When we lived in Beverly Hills someone dumped this brand new tree at the garbage with a FREE sign on it.

I may or may not have done a happy dance when I found said tree.

{You can read the full version of the free tree story here}

Lucky me because now I get to have a 2nd tree all to myself. This free tree is now officially “Allison’s/mom’s fancy tree” and is off-limits to the monkeys aka Travis and Kinsey.

So how did I end up decorating my free tree?

Well, I’m pretty cheap and didn’t really want to spend tons of dough on fancy-smanchy ornaments and ribbon, so I just purchased a jumbo box of ornaments from IKEA for $12 and some ribbon ornament holders instead of hooks (the ribbon holders were $3 a package at IKEA).

This jumbo ornament package came with a variety of sizes in three different textures. I chose to stick with just silver.

The glitter ones are always my fav. I’m a huge sucker for glitter – especially around the Holidays.

Then there’s the ol’ frosted muted silver ones. Kinda boring, but mixed with the other types of ornaments brings a calm to to the look.

And then of course are the shiny ones which are fun to check your reflection in but not as much fun trying to photograph.

If you can’t get a decent picture of a reflective ball, might as well make it fun! Peace, love, and happiness my friends!

Another thing I lurve about my tree is these little pinecones all over.

Aren’t they just ca-ute?

And now for the full body shot.

I love that this tree is so narrow, and soft, and already has the lights on it, and has cashmere, and pinecones, and THAT IT WAS FREE!

I have the exact opposite problem with this tree as I do my family tree. Instead of needing a skirt, this one needs a topper.

But at least it has a skirt, right?

I love this tree skirt! Partly because I made it myself about 10 years ago and partly because it’s velvet and silk.

It just crossed my mind this.very.second. that the skirt is red and GOLD. And my tree is SILVER. Faux pas!

O-well. Honestly I don’t even care because until this very second I never even noticed, so I’m sure no one else will either, except that I’ve now pointed it out to everyone so everyone will for sure notice. But the moral of the story is that honestly I really just don’t care.

I love my tree, and I love my skirt, so why can’t I put them together?

{Isn’t there a Christmas song about Silver and Gold?}

So here’s a shot of the whole room. I have to preface that I really should dedicate an entire post to this shot and this room.

Let’s just get all the negatives out of the way, m-kay?

1. I need shades on the lamps.

2. The chair is NOT staying in this room.

3. Yes, I agree that the top of the piano is way to cluttery.

4. I’ve decided to go black for the piano. It will match the bench eventually.

5. I need to hang the mirror back up, but I’m going to tweak it first.

6. Bare walls. ‘Nuf said. I’m working on it!

7. The blinds in the 2nd window need to be rehung, but I’ve got an issue with them that needs to be fixed first.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, I LOVE the way this tree looks in my newly painted and moulded room!

This room was the room I hated the most in my house, and now it’s honestly my favorite room. I go in here and just stand, stare, and smile. I love it!

From this:

To this!

Merry Christmas, Allison! I’ve got my new room AND my very own tree! Love it. Gotta love FREE.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season! I’d LOVE to see your trees. You should link them up to Thrifty Decor Chick’s tree party this Thursday. I’ll be there!

Oh, and don’t forget my party this Thursday too!

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