Silver Christmas.

I'm not ashamed to tell you that I put up my Christmas tree on November 14th. I was trying to wait until halfway through the month, but I ended up being off from my babysitting job that day and couldn't resist. :) I also started listening to Christmas music that day (though this year I haven't been as obsessive about listening exclusively to holiday tunes).

{Pictures of my room always look awful. I know I have bad lighting. But I don't know if my room is genuinely this tacky and cramped and I'm just used to it, or if it's really not this bad.}

My tree is a 60s silver aluminum version. I had to move it to a new spot this year because ever since I got the huge record player, there wasn't room for it in that corner anymore. Even though it looks less crowded in the new spot, it still sort of looks like it's growing and my room is shrinking. Someday I hope to really have enough space for my lovely tree.

I'm generally not drawn to sparkly, shiny, bright things. But everything changes at Christmas. The more sparkly, the better. {The only thing I can't handle are those big, inflatable yard things. Completely obnoxious. And I totally just typed "yarn things." Can you guess where my mind is?}

And when you have a silver metal tree, you've moved way beyond the tacky stage so it can be anything-goes for ornaments.

I adore my tree. It belonged to my great-aunt and great-uncle, and my mom bought it for $5 at the yard sale/estate sale after they had passed away. All of the branches were in their original paper sleeves, and it also came with a color wheel in its original box. Every year it loses more and more tinsel when I set it up and take it down. Trees like this are really expensive now, and I know I'll never be able to afford another one (not that I would pay $200 for a tree, anyway!). So even though I want to use it every year, I try to be gentle with it. Which can be hard when you've got a cat who's obsessed with it. :)

The colors Target uses for their ornaments just happen to look lovely with a silver tree. So over the past couple of years I have stocked up after Christmas and got boxes of ornaments for just a few dollars. I also use my handmade ornaments, and some of my favorite Elvis/Lucy/Disney ones.

Earlier this year, the sister of my mom's friend was going to sell her a collection of Hallmark Wizard of Oz ornaments. Then she ended up just giving them to her. Mom was going to wait and give them to me for Christmas, but she couldn't do it. So I was blessed with lots of adorable new Oz ornaments!

I didn't use them all, but here are some of my favorites: the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda, and Dorothy...

The Wizard of Oz...

And part of the gang from Munchkinland: the mayor, coroner, and the Lullaby League.

Also, over the summer while browsing eBay for Singin' in the Rain memorabilia, I found out that in the 90s Hallmark released ornaments for my favorite musical and Casablanca! I kept an eye out until I found a bundle with both sets for a cheap price.

They're tiny and the Gene Kelly figure looks more like Peter Lorre, but hey! I have ornaments for two of my very favorite classic movies. :)

Which way do your Christmas decorating tendencies lean? Classy or tacky?

Until next time,