Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christmas Tree 2012

I thought I would take a few minutes to wish all of you a "Blessed Christmas".  So many of you have shared your Christmas decorations, memories, families and blessings that I thought it was time for me to do the same.

We have a new "Slim" Christmas Tree this year and my hubby didn't want to overly decorate it this season.  It is a rather simple tree but it still makes us happy when we turn it on and watch it slowly turn on its rotating stand.  This year the tree was so tall that we did not have room to adorn it with the Santa Tree Topper so I decided to try out full ribbons tied to the top, then (having much more ribbon left) I began randomly placing ribbons on the tree.  Followed by our collection of Native American Butterfly Dancers and glass icicles.

Over the years I have made beaded ornament covers for our children and grandchildren and I had a few left over to also hang on this tree.  My hubby really likes these ornaments and was a bit sad that we only had a few plus some that my dearest friend had made for us.  So, for his 2012 Christmas Gift I made 13 beaded ornaments just for him ... they are now all hanging on the tree as well.

Here is a picture of our tree with the lights off and then with the lights on ...


Next are some of the ornaments festooning our tree.....


The following is a special ACEO from Stacy aka Magic Love Crow

This miniature Santa is a cherished gift from Maddy Rose

The string ornament in the following picture was made by my dear niece, Emily June, the ornament along side is one of the one's made this year...
and next is a close up of one of Emily June's ornaments...


Next is one of the Native American Butterfly Dancer ornaments I have collected over a period of time.....

Next is a Kilted Santa with Bag Pipes that is one of my hubby's favs!  And a MaddyRose ornament attached to a fireplace adornment....

And lastly is a beaded ornament cover I made for my hubby many years ago in 
Irish colors .....

God bless us all,
Karen Anne


14 comments:

  1. Everything is so lovely and Holiday wonderment.....thanks for sharing the photos with us of the love that surrounds you and yours....Oma Linda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome, Oma Linda ... I'm glad you like it ... 8)

      Delete
  2. Beautiful tree and so lovingly decorated. Your ornament covers are gorgeous, I can appreciate that your husband really likes these, they are very special. I see Stacy's aceo and it goes well with your Native American theme, too.

    Karen Anne, have a wonderful holiday, Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year!

    I'll be thinking of your appt and praying everything is perfectly done. ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your well wishes Gloria! My surgery went quite well, although my left eye is still quite dilated so I won't realize until tomorrow or the next day, just how successful!

      Christmas blessing to you and yours, Gloria! 8)

      Delete
  3. Your tree looks beautiful with the cascading ribbons! I love all the ornaments you showed--the beaded ones especially. I've made a few of them for us in the past, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gee, how did I know that you'd like the beaded ornament covers Debbie? LOL! Over a 5 year period I made different patterns each year for the kids and grands (and others) ... the 5th year I created my own pattern using what I had learned from the first 4. The one that looks like "Snowball and Ice" is that pattern (the 5th ornament from the top).

      The cascading ribbons was a fluke! I needed a tree topper quick quick and had seen in the stores where 2 full ribbons had been placed on the tree top back to back ... so I did that and thought it might be fun to see how more ribbons would look! I found that large spool of ribbon last year at GoodWill for $2.99 --- what a great fate investment! LOL!

      I'd love to see some of the ones you have made ... they really are fun ... but I do strain my back when doing them. I am thinking of making each of the kids and grands one for Xmas 2013 and surprising them ... I haven't made any for them for the past 2 Christmases and I think they were disappointed.

      Wishing you and yours a very blessed Christmas Debbie...

      Delete
  4. Lovely tree! I especially like the beaded ornaments!

    Wishing you a wondferful Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lise! It is always so nice when you stop by for a visit! I am glad you like the beaded ornaments ... I know my hubby does for sure!

      Wishing you and yours a blessed and happy Christmas Lise ....

      Delete
  5. Karen Anne, everything looks amazing!! Wow! Your tree is beautiful! I love the beaded ornaments! Your hands were busy!! The string ornament is so special! And, I love the Native American ornaments! I love everything! All so special! Merry Christmas! Many blessings! I hope everything went well today ;o) Big Hugs ;o)I forgot to say, I love Maddy Rose's Santa ;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh ... my dear friend, Stacy, thank You! The string ornaments are a lot of fun to make (I have made them in the past too) ... you blow up a balloon to the size you want. Put a dab of craft glue on one end of the balloon and start wrapping string (or crochet thread) around the balloon in different directions, when you have done as much as you want, cut the string, secure it with glue. Then you apply slightly watered down craft glue over the entire area, sprinkle with glitter (if wanted), then hang from a string line with a clothes pin until it dries. Once dry, pop the balloon with a pin, pull out the balloon remnants and voila! Darling ornament, which you can leave plain or decorate with small embellishments!

      I know, I am in love with Maddy Rose's Mini Santa too! He is the "Guardian of the Christmas Tree"! And yes, everything appears to have gone quite well today - YaHooooo!

      Wishing a blessed Christmas to you and your Mom, Stacy!

      Big hugs!

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the directions on the string ornament! So much fun ;o) I am so happy everything went well ;o) Big Hugs ;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is a Martha Stewart link that provides better directions ... just copy and paste it into the address bar ...

      http://www.marthastewart.com/266201/snowy-balloon-ornaments

      It is a lot of fun! To dry them faster, I hung mine from a rack in my food dehydrator and set the temperature for around 175 degrees ... that really speeded up the drying process!

      Delete
  7. Hi Karen Anne,
    I'm sorry for not coming to visit earlier but have been having problems with blogger again and many of the blogs I follow are not appearing on my blog reader.
    All of your Christmas decorations are absolutely beautiful! The lovely beaded ornaments that you make would make any tree special and once you've added the ones made by your niece and the American butterfly dancers your tree is one of the prettiest I've seen. I just wish I'd been here to comment sooner. I will always treasure the ornament you made for me and I would love to learn how to make them. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, one that is as special as you are.
    Hugs,
    Maddy Rose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Maddy Rose! It is always so nice when you visit! I'm glad you like this year's tree, it was a lot easier to decorate than most years .... only used about 1/4 of the ornaments this time! Ergo, it will be easier to un-decorate! We did have a wonderful "spread" out Christmas ... we weren't able to all get together on Christmas Eve this year, so each family showed up on different days resulting in several mini Christmas gift exchanges! It was fun and relaxing ... no one got stressed out and everyone was happy! Can't ask for more than that!
      Hugs back atcha!
      Karen Anne

      Delete

Thank you for visiting, if you'd care to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!