A Tree Fit for Charlie Brown

Nothing quite adds to a festive atmosphere than the scent of balsam wafting through the house. I’ve been enjoying this cheerful aroma for the last couple of days. On Sunday our family ventured on our annual "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Hunt". Since the majority of our sixteen-acre property is forested, we forego the tree lots each year and head into the woods to select our special Christmas tree.

Chi-Chi was simply thrilled with the day’s adventure! Waddling around in his puffy snowsuit, he examined our options carefully and was tickled pink when we finally settled on an adorable 3 foot spruce tree. Neighbour friends joined in on the fun and went home with a 15 foot beauty, a perfect fit for their cathedral ceiling family room. This homegrown selection represented the deal of the week for this family. Our local tree lot was offering 12 foot varieties for a whopping $125 plus tax!
Due to the Muffy’s “active tendencies”, we were forced to find an out-of -reach spot for our little tree. It is nestled on top of our sideboard in the dining room and I must admit, it looks rather ridiculous. I’m currently watching Muffy as he eyes the tree. The wheels are churning inside that little head. No doubt he’ll devise a strategy to tear it down before the holidays are threw!

I’ve always been partial to homemade decorations, thanks to my mother. Growing up, our tree was adorned in adorable handmade ornaments. Over the last few years, I’ve been working on compiling a set of homemade tree garnishes. Since we live next to the Atlantic Ocean, I thought it would be fun to decorate our tree in a coastal theme. I stole a few items from my shell collection and in no time created a set of seashell ornaments. After drilling holes in a few muscle shells, periwinkles and sand dollars, I simply strung them with bits of yarn and ribbon. Chi-Chi proudly contributed a basket of pine cones he collected a few weeks ago to our set of ornaments. Appropriately, a large starfish sits atop our tree. Not only are these decorations cute, they were free and are 100% biodegradable. You can’t beat that!

Thanks to our sweet little tree, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!