A Kid-Safe Christmas Tree Alongside Paint Chips & Ribbons

That she blows! Or perhaps I should I say “thar she glows!” Either way, we got ‘er up.

And this year the theme was:

1. free stuff we already had (no getting in the car to go fetch anything, since we feared that would cost us another week to get things up)
2. nothing pointy/hard/breakable (for bean safety reasons)
3. color, color, color (simply like our tabletop tree in the living room)

So yes, we gave our full-sized tree a whole new look (see what it looked like in 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 here) using stuff that we already had in the house, like a bunch of leftover paint chips from my bin.

Yes, I save old paint chips to reuse them for things like this art project…

… and this temporary postcard ledge arrangement (from our first house’s office)…

… and this year’s tree project:

First I cut them into strips (so I got 2-3 ornaments out of each leftover Benjamin Moore paint chip) and then used a hole puncher to make a hole…

… which I then used to loop twine and string from my craft bin to hang them. I enjoy that they are like modern little colorful icicles that cover the tree. And of course the fact that they were all f-r-e-e did not hurt either.

The other main element of decoration on the tree is a few spools of ribbon from the gift wrapping closet (snagged on clearance from Michael’s last Christmas). We simply unrolled them, found the center point and folded it over the top of the tree, so the same amount of ribbon dangled down each side of the tree in an upside-down V shape. Oh and the “tree skirt” is simply three faux sheep skins from Ikea (they are sort of a holiday tradition at this point).

I even had some leftover ribbon to make a little bow at the top. Aw, shucks. Our tree is certainly a gal this year.

Oh and you will likely notice two things from this picture…

1. We had yet to “catch up” with our advent calendar when we took these pics (the second we got the tree up we excitedly snapped these photos) – but Clara and I have since hung 12 advent ornaments on the tree – so we are back to one a day from here on out.
2. We did some swift mantel decorating in the kitchen, let us take a closer look:

I brought in some old feather trees on the floor (from Target, a few years back) along with two ceramic birds up on the mantel (like two white Christmas doves) from an estate sale a few years ago. I also brought in in the little thrift store rocking horse that I painted for Clara (more on that here). And of course I hung our stockings from Target a few years ago (backwards this year – simply to spice it up)…

It might look like those three stockings mean that Burger did not get one… but of course he did! John and I in fact share one (labeled “Mom and Dad”) and then there is Clara’s stocking and Burger’s stocking:

I also stuck a basket full of gifts in the fireplace (in fact they are fakers, see how I made those here).

One of the most lively things about the new doorway between the kitchen and the dining room is that we can enjoy the tree from the kitchen too. See it peeking around the corner of the opening?

Never would have gotten to enjoy that view if the wall did not come down a little while ago. Yay, demo!

It is so pleasant to see something festive in the dining room (the big tree), the kitchen (the holiday mantel), and the living room (our tabletop tree). Aw, Christmastime, how do I enjoy thee. Let me count the trees, er, ways.

So that is the inside of the house all decorated for ya. Well most of it (I still have a holiday frame gallery project to shoot and share with you folks). Oh yeah, and for the first time ever we decorated the outside of our house too! We are talking lights and stars and even a homemade wreath and some bright red ceramic-looking reindeer. That is right, we went all out. Pics to come as soon as we can snap them and write something up!

Psst- We will be back with a kitchen update tomorrow for ya! Plenty of the stuff that we are working on is extremely detail oriented (ex: cutting down an old cabinet to make a smaller one that “matches” the rest of the kitchen and houses a built-in microwave), but we are moving simply as fast as we can!

Update: You can check out all of our go-to holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!