Trees & Baubles: My First Faux Christmas
For a few years now, I've muttered about getting a faux Christmas tree, whilst begrudgingly sweeping up dropped needles from the supposedly drop-free, wilted, real Christmas tree, yet I've never quite taken the plunge. I've had real trees all my life, for every single Christmas, for as long as I remember. I love the smell of real trees too, and I think I'd developed a case of real tree vs faux tree snobbery.
Last year I was offered a faux tree, but turned it down as it was too close to the big day and we'd already dragged a real one home, but this year when Balsam Hill asked if I'd like to take part in a Christmas Blog Hop, I jumped at the chance.
If nothing else, I'd get some serious mum-points from my children, who always wish we'd get a tree much earlier than we normally do. And I was right. The looks on their faces when I told them that the four massive boxes in the hallway contained a Christmas tree and a load of decorations, and that we were going to put the tree up AND decorate it last weekend, were priceless.
I chose one of the bigger trees. Of course. It's a seven and half foot Vermont White Spruce with Candlelight LED's. It's massive. When I first took it out of it's two huge boxes, I admit I had a bit of a strop (at myself, for not finding out how wide the bottom of the tree would be in advance). Then I got over it, because it's absolutely beautiful. It's everything I always wanted a real tree to be, and they never were. So much to love...
1. It's pre-lit! The lights are evenly and perfectly placed all over the tree. Something I could never quite manage with tangled strings of fairy lights on a real tree.
2. It assembles so quickly it's ridiculous, and you don't even have to connect any wiring together from the different parts. It does it automatically like MAGIC.
3. It's on a stable stand. No more Christmas tree on the lean (or completely falling over, which has happened to us on more than one occasion!),
4. It's so convincingly real, that I actually keep forgetting that it's not. It's not going to wilt, it's not going to drop pines, it's going to stay looking just the way I want it to.
5. It's a pleasure to decorate because you can so easily manipulate it. There are even gloves included in the kit to stop it spiking your hands (which I discovered AFTER I'd done quite a lot of cursing under my breath whilst shaping it).
To decorate the tree I chose the Silver and Gold Glass Bauble Set. I actually needed two sets of 35 for this large tree. This is a bit of a departure for me, because I've done kitsch for the last few years, but you know I like a change. This year I have stuck with the Silver and Gold (which happily, are more gold than silver!), and been very restrained and only added some pink organza, a gold star topper, and some last minute faux peonies that I already had.
So yes, you'd be right in thinking that this year my theme is half Christmas Tree, half Wedding Cake, and I love it! If you're a regular reader, you may have noticed that I've been banging on recently about needing more calm in my life, which is another reason I've stuck with a more pared back look than usual with the limited colour palette. Still a load of sparkle though, as this is about as pared back as I'm likely to get! Even though it's huge, it doesn't feel completely overwhelming or too busy in the room, and I might not even complain about my husband and kids insisting the tree stays up until New Years Day.
I've also got the sixty inch Lodge Faux Fur Tree Skirt (in Stone) to cover the base, awaiting presents. It's unbelievably soft, and the kids can't believe that such a thing even exists. Ha!
The only downside of a faux tree, is that we don't have that wonderful Christmas tree scent. And no, I'm not into the idea of an artificial tree scent, but I think once I've got a bucket load of eucalyptus throughout the house and my favourite scented candles burning, I'll soon forget about that. Besides, what it lacks in scent, it more than makes up for in looks.
So there you have it: my first faux Christmas is off to a flying start, and I'm a total convert! I'm off to start decorating other bits of the house now that the countdown to the big day is well and truly on.
Please do go and hop over to the lovely Melanie Lissack Interiors in the morning to see what tree she's chosen and how she's decorated this year. The hop goes through to the 7th, with all these blogs below...
This post is in collaboration with Balsam Hill.
Last year I was offered a faux tree, but turned it down as it was too close to the big day and we'd already dragged a real one home, but this year when Balsam Hill asked if I'd like to take part in a Christmas Blog Hop, I jumped at the chance.
If nothing else, I'd get some serious mum-points from my children, who always wish we'd get a tree much earlier than we normally do. And I was right. The looks on their faces when I told them that the four massive boxes in the hallway contained a Christmas tree and a load of decorations, and that we were going to put the tree up AND decorate it last weekend, were priceless.
I chose one of the bigger trees. Of course. It's a seven and half foot Vermont White Spruce with Candlelight LED's. It's massive. When I first took it out of it's two huge boxes, I admit I had a bit of a strop (at myself, for not finding out how wide the bottom of the tree would be in advance). Then I got over it, because it's absolutely beautiful. It's everything I always wanted a real tree to be, and they never were. So much to love...
1. It's pre-lit! The lights are evenly and perfectly placed all over the tree. Something I could never quite manage with tangled strings of fairy lights on a real tree.
2. It assembles so quickly it's ridiculous, and you don't even have to connect any wiring together from the different parts. It does it automatically like MAGIC.
3. It's on a stable stand. No more Christmas tree on the lean (or completely falling over, which has happened to us on more than one occasion!),
4. It's so convincingly real, that I actually keep forgetting that it's not. It's not going to wilt, it's not going to drop pines, it's going to stay looking just the way I want it to.
5. It's a pleasure to decorate because you can so easily manipulate it. There are even gloves included in the kit to stop it spiking your hands (which I discovered AFTER I'd done quite a lot of cursing under my breath whilst shaping it).
I've also got the sixty inch Lodge Faux Fur Tree Skirt (in Stone) to cover the base, awaiting presents. It's unbelievably soft, and the kids can't believe that such a thing even exists. Ha!
The only downside of a faux tree, is that we don't have that wonderful Christmas tree scent. And no, I'm not into the idea of an artificial tree scent, but I think once I've got a bucket load of eucalyptus throughout the house and my favourite scented candles burning, I'll soon forget about that. Besides, what it lacks in scent, it more than makes up for in looks.
So there you have it: my first faux Christmas is off to a flying start, and I'm a total convert! I'm off to start decorating other bits of the house now that the countdown to the big day is well and truly on.
Please do go and hop over to the lovely Melanie Lissack Interiors in the morning to see what tree she's chosen and how she's decorated this year. The hop goes through to the 7th, with all these blogs below...
This post is in collaboration with Balsam Hill.