Tree Trimming

Another title for this blog post could have been, "My mom and I are sentimental saps." That is really what this post is about. 

Over Thanksgiving I got my belly full of turkey, and sat back and let the tryptophan lead me into a food coma. While many people gear up to go Black Friday shopping,* Mom and I prepare ourselves for a day full of memories. Our Christmas tree is one big, pine scented scrapbook of our lives. We don't know how to decorate our tree without crying.

Walking down the wooded path.

Getting a tree has been the same every year that I can remember. We call the Christmas Tree farmer, and let him know that we are on our way. Dad, Adam, Kurt, and I, and for the last two years Jack, load into our truck and head over. When we get there we walk down a long wooded path. It opens up into a field full of trees just waiting to be selected to be taken home and covered with lights and cheer. When we were little we would play hide and seek among all of the trees.

We always argue over how tall the tree should be. I am on the taller side of the argument, and contrary to popular belief, I don't always win. The tree farmer cuts down our tree. We bring it home and Mom declares that is the best tree we've ever had, even if it is a bit small this year. After making sure the tree is secure, straight, and watered, the boys depart to do something manly like watch football or repair a toilet (they really did that this year), while mom and I are left to decorate the tree, because "you two love that sentimental girlie stuff." Kurt did put the lights on for us this year, which was a huge help, thanks Kurt!

Looking for just the right one.

Tree Picked

Adam adding water.

Mom and I then start to pull the ornaments out of boxes and place them on our tree. They remind us of places we've been and people we love. We tear up over the ones that remind us of people who are no longer with us.

When my mom was little some of her relatives didn't have enough money to buy presents for everyone. Instead they collected nuts from their yard and painted them making these ornaments.

This is one of the ornaments that used to be on my Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Don's tree. It was one of my favorites when I was little. Now it gets to be on our tree.

Every year my Aunt Lori gets us ornaments. Last year I asked for a lion to represent Aslan.

My Dad's Aunt Emma made this beaded bell, we have a few of them on our tree.

Three pairs of baby shoes for the three of us kids.

Mom brought this home from her family trip to Hawaii, it was the last trip they took before we lost Grandma.

Grandpa's loved to play monopoly especially with his grandkids. We got him this money clip one year for Christmas. I don't think he ever used it, but Boardwalk with a Hotel was his favorite way to take us down, and it reminds us of him. If we landed on Boardwalk, he would sit back in his chair like a king, half smoked cigarette in hand, and gleefully exclaim "Oh yes, my most expensive one." The butterfly was on his flowers at his funeral. 

This year we lost a big beautiful tree that stood in the middle of our yard. This tree provided our house with shade and privacy. It provided a home for countless squirrels, which provided us with countless hours of entertainment. You know how much we love squirrels, and they seriously yelled at us for taking down their home. All this adds up to us being pretty devistated about losing our tree so i decided to make us an ornament from the saw shavings.

Our tree in the center, on a summer day.

The top of the tree on Easter when we released sky lanterns.

As the squirrels call it; The Massacre

Drying out the wood and filling the ornament.

A new memory added to our Christmas tree.

What memories are on your tree?

*Black Friday was named thusly because it is the day that the stores ledgers go from being in the red to being in the black, therefore it was meant to be a positive name, instead of the negative one that it has become. I prefer the postivie meaning.

Keys

Just a super quick post to show you my latest Pinterest inspired project. I now have a key to my home in Denver that looks identical to my key for my home in Ohio. There is no way I'm taking my Ohio key off my key ring, so I wanted to find a solution to differentiate between them quickly. I at first thought to pick up those cheesy key covers, but Pinterest offered a much cheaper and more attractive solution:

Nail Polish!

Coral for Denver, Teal for my Ohio barn, and brown sparkles for my Ohio home. The technical name of the brown sparkles is Warm and Fozzie, and it is currently on my fingers and toes as well. 

Oh and the carabiner is a moose obtain many years ago from a Caribou Coffee... so I guess is actually a caribou. The point is no, it is not an octopus, they are cute and all in their cartoon/plush versions, but the very real octopuses totally creep me out. Who decided to make them cute and cuddly?

Before and After: Desk

A couple things that I have been needing for my room is a desk and chair. Though I do love Ikea, none of the desk options that they had were what I was looking for. I decided to try and find a desk a thrift store that I could gussy up and make my own. Thanks to Yelp I found an awesome store in Lower Downtown (LoDo) called Cash from Clutter. When I walked in the door I was offered a beer, and the woman who owned the place was so helpful and accommodating. I found just the kind of desk I was looking for and an amazing wooden chair on casters. My total for the two pieces was only $45, which was way under what I had budgeted.

I loved the chair as it was, but I really wanted to do something special with the desk. after a little research on Pinterest I had my game plan. Here is the desk before.

I started to sand the desk by hand, and God bless him, my neighbor, Mike, saw what I was doing and offered me the use of his electric sander. I don't think I would have made it through the project without that electric sander. I spent the entire first day sanding, and even part of day two.

Next I stained the top and the front of the drawers. I had originally planed to paint the drawers gray, but I was loving the stain so much I couldn't stop. I also painted the drawer pulls a brass color. Some day they might be replaced, but I like the effect for now.

Last I primed and painted the body of the desk.The whole project took a total of four days, and three trips to Lowes. (Thanks to Mom and Dad for decided to return that huge Christmas tree and for the resulting Lowes credit you bequeathed me.) Here is the final result.

Before and After

 

I love it!!! It looks great in my room and will look even better when the room is painted.