DIY Christmas Tree

I've never been a big Christmas decorator type person.  I think the last time we went full out on decorations was in 2001.  Since then we have placed a few decorations out for the season that were easy to pick up and put away.  The period between Thanksgiving and New Years really isn't my favorite or most wonderful time of the year.  The holiday season used to be harder for me to get through and some years it was the opposite of the Advent calendar's meaning.  I was merely checking off the days until January when schedules and stores get back to normal.  When we moved into our new home, we decided we would out source the lights for the outside of the house and we would do minimal decorations inside.   Then...my mom passed away in November.  With the delay of her service until the Friday after Thanksgiving and with my attention directed elsewhere, I never did get around to getting someone to hang up Christmas lights.  My mom loved Christmas.  She loved having her tree up before Thanksgiving and she would leave the lights on almost all the time.  She could sit in front of her Christmas tree for hours and be at peace.  She had Christmas decorations everywhere.  When we moved to Houston my parents bought a house without a fireplace.  So while I was at school and Doug was taking a nap, she made a fireplace out of construction paper and she built it in our den, complete with construction paper fire.  She hung our stockings on the construction paper mantel she had crafted and we absolutely loved it.  We completed the construction paper theme with construction paper chains that we made and then hanged or hung the chains throughout the kitchen and den.  That year my my mom made the cutest little elves from felt, pipe cleaners and little Styrofoam balls. 

In the midst of saying an earthly goodbye to my mom, Christmas decorations became a main theme of my thoughts.  Roy pulled down from the attic all the boxes of Christmas things we have collected throughout the years.  Over a week or so I began putting little things here and there.  One thing I knew, I couldn't put up a tree.  Almost everyone of our Christmas tree decorations were either made by my mom or a treasure she would pick out for us on vacations.  Meanwhile, I bought an antique French pot rack from Bill Bain's antique mall in old Katy, K T Antiques.  He had shown me the pot racks when he and Peggy opened up the store for Dena and I after business hours.  A couple of days later I went back to see if they still had one.  He had two and the other one had already sold.  He had to disassemble the rack from the store window where he had different dishes on display.  The shape of the rack is somewhat like a tree and I decided this would be our tree this year.  I mainly had all the decorations already but added the O Holy Night blocks and the melamine plates.  I really should add lights but that gives me something to aspire to next year.



Top part of tree.  The big stocking that is hanging from it is one my mom made for me.  She made it out of dresses she had worn as a child.  I love that stocking and until we got Buddy, I kept it out all year long.  Buddy is too tempted by it.

 This is a closeup of the bottom half of the "tree." 

Here is the side view that is a little fuzzy.  Taken with the camera on my phone

 Here is a full view of our skinny little tree.  It was in the corner by our dinning room table but decided to bring it out by the fireplace where it is displayed a little better.