The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer

Is singing loud for all to hear. Or to chop down your own tree and do a little DIYing around the house – which is what I did. I’m not much of a singer. I do love Elf though – probably goes down as one of my favorite holiday movies.

My husband Andrew and I had a little getaway in Monterey the weekend after Thanksgiving thanks to a great b-day Groupon gift given to me by my sis (thanks Crystal!). It was  full of relaxation, beautiful weather,  delicious food, and of course some wonderful window shopping. On our way home, we  fulfilled one of my life long dreams, and not only got our first Christmas tree since getting married, but also go to pick it out and chop it down ourselves. So. Much. Fun!

The tree farm had a little wooden shack where they served hot cider & cocoa and sold fresh fruits from their farm. Yummmm.

I kinda wanted to take all the trees, but that might make our apartment  a little weird, so we had to narrow it down, which was much tricker than I thought. They were all so pretty and smelled amazing. Nothing beats the smell of a real Christmas tree. After about 30 minutes of walking around the farm, we chose this guy. Isn’t he great?

I wanted to make sure I decorated our home for the holidays this year.  I got so busy last year and didn’t get around to it  which I vow to never do again. Decorating of course involved a few fun DIY projects that I think turned out pretty good and were fun to do.  I made a DIY tree skirt following this tutorial on Design Sponge and changed things up a bit by choosing non traditional colors and adding a felt pom pom trim.

I’m a big fan of round cafe string lights, so I made sure to get those for our tree. I added some fun and special ornaments and have already gotten some gift wrapping done. Spoiler alert – someone is getting something from Anthropologie! They really make things easy with their cute packaging.

These are my favorite ornaments on the tree this year. The one on the left is made by an artist named Wendy Addison and the one on the right is an ornament I made with our wedding invitation! Check out this tutorial to make your own.

And last but not least, here is a fresh wreath I made in flower class using 4 different kinds of fresh greens and mini pinecones. It smells SO good and makes me happy every time I walk by! So rustic and festive.

Stay tuned for a post on Christie’s holiday decor. Hope you’ve been enjoying the holiday season and are inspired to make some DIY decor of your own!

{PJ}