The Crazy Christmas Tree Lady

Hello Barbie dolls! I just checked my countdown app on my phone, and it's only 62 days until Christmas and ONLY 9 DAYS until my Christmas trees get to come out of storage!!! In case you're new to the blog, my biggest obsession in life is without a doubt Christmas. I have 26 Christmas trees, almost all of which are 6 or 7 ft and above, each with their own themes and color schemes. It's a little crazy. My friends have called me a Christmas tree hoarder and my dad thinks I need professional counseling because I love the holiday so much.

 

Our dessert/candy themed tree

Our first Christmas tree

Our Christmas photo from 2011 in front of the Dessert Tree

Here's a list of the themed trees we have: 

• A very wide 7ft green tree from my childhood with all red and gold ornaments, red and gold ribbon and mesh,
• 14 foot tall tree (also from my childhood) with solid red giant ornaments
• Peppermint Christmas tree (all ornaments are peppermint themed)
• Dessert tree 7ft (very colorful, features candy, ice cream, cupcake and lollipop ornaments)(this tree is flocked, which gives the look of being covered in frosting)
• Solid black 7ft tree with all white glittery ornaments (lovingly referred to as "Black Beauty")
• Solid white 7ft tree with all white glittery ornaments
• Frozen 7ft looking tree - solid white tree with all silver and light blue ornaments
• Spode tree - a small white tree with all blue and white china ornaments (matches our china)
• 5 pink trees - all with all pink ornaments (lipstick, shoes, purses, etc.)
• Peacock Christmas tree -green 6ft tree with all blue, green and purple ornaments
• Sentimental tree - 6 ft traditional green tree with ornaments from both of our childhoods
• Solid red 7ft tree with all lime green and polka dot ornaments
• Cardinal tree ("red bird tree") - solid green tree with cardinal ornaments (my late grandfather's favorite thing)
• Solid white 7 ft tree with all iridescent pink, green, purple and silver ornaments and several 8 inch collectible ceramic fairies and fabric butterflies
• University of Texas tree - 4 ft tall orange and white tree with UT ornaments for Ross's garage
• 6 ft green tree with nothing but glittery brown ornaments and brown bow
• 3 identical 6 ft green trees with nothing but gold glittery reindeer ornaments
• Mardi gras tree - 5 ft tree with mardi gras beads and masks and purple, green, gold ornaments
• New 11 ft very full green tree we got on sale last year. Not quite sure what to do with it yet. Thinking maybe brown or brown and gold.
• New 7 ft white tree, pre-lit with rainbow lights. Not sure what to do with it yet but I know it will be crazy!
• I don't include in the 26 our 2 matching 5 ft tall porch trees since I don't decorate them other than with bows and because they stay outdoor.

HOW THE PROBLEM GOT STARTED:
When hubby and I moved in together in late 2008, we had one Christmas tree. It was a gift from my parents - my childhood tree that they were no longer using. So special. I decorated it with only red and gold ornaments (with matching stockings, nearby wreath, tree skirt and wrapping paper - also all red and gold) and was pretty pleased with myself. The next year on Black Friday (my second favorite holiday because it has so many ties to Christmas... and it's the one day a year when shopping becomes a sport, thereby making me good at sports for that one day only) I bought a pink tree, found a tree in the attic of our rental home a couple days later and bought an all white tree some time in December, making 4 Christmas trees in 2009. The next year we had 8 Christmas trees and it kind of spiraled out of control from there. After you become known as the crazy Christmas tree lady, the trees really start coming to you.

The most insane part about all of it was that our rental house in Texas - our home for Christmas 2008 through Christmas 2011 - was 2,100 square feet. In other words, by the time we left, we had more than one Christmas tree per every 100 square feet! I don't know why my husband allows me to indulge my Christmas obsession, overcrowding our house with meticulously decorated fake plants, but he does and I'll forever be grateful to him for it. In fact, its one of my favorite things about him is that he just lets me be me, despite how crowded/ridiculous it makes things.

I always begin putting up my Christmas trees on November 1, simply because it takes so much time to get them all up (and of course I want to spend as much time with them as possible). We kinda skip Thanksgiving aside from having a meal with family on the day of, which makes me no less thankful for my many blessings... we just don't really decorate for it.

 

This is "Black Beauty," my solid black tree with all white ornaments jammed into our little apartment last year

 

 

WHY THIS YEAR IS SO SPECIAL:
This year's countdown to Christmas is SO SO SO much more special than in any other year, because last year we were very disappointed and surprised to realize that our house (which was supposed to be ready for move in by Thanksgiving) was not going to be ready in time for Christmas due to builder delays. I cried, cried, criiiiiied and cried some more. So we spent last Christmas in our 700 square foot apartment, where I was unable to put up the majority of my trees (I think I got 10 up between my office and apartment). It was so sad. But this year, not only will it be the first time I've seen many of my trees in two years, its also our first Christmas in our brand new dream house! On top of that, we FINALLY actually kinda/almost have enough space to justify 26 Christmas trees. We won't have them crammed in awkward spaces and on staircases - they'll all have their own perfect corners! I mean, look at some of the awful places we had to cram them last year:

My peacock tree next to our bed! lol

 

My peppermint tree crammed behind the kitchen table 

My red and lime polka dot tree in my office at work!

So this year it will be such a relief to have enough room for all of them, or at least more room for all of them (I'm not sure you can ever really have enough room for 26 Christmas trees). Out of my sheer excitement, I've already begun to develop a map of where I plan on putting them all using our floor plan (yes, I'm that crazy!). Of course, I made this map of the first floor tree plan (several trees will have to be on the second floor) in September and I've already come across a few aspects of it that won't work, especially now that we've redone our sunroom. As you can see, I'm toying with the idea of doing a crazy 5 tree cluster in the turret of the formal living room, although it might be too much.

I also need to restock on wrapping paper, which I insist on coordinating with each tree. Do you know how hard it is to find peacock wrapping paper?

Then, sometime in late November, we'll pose for our 2013 Christmas card photo, which is so much fun for me, especially since all of the trees are involved, but hubby absolutely hates. See?

Last year, our Christmas card photo was relegated to this, so I'm THRILLED to have a proper venue for photos this year.

So there's your little peak into my craziness. It's a little nuts, but so much fun! Stay tuned for pictures and updates after November 1st!