Our Family (Christmas) Tree

I am really amazed at the energy that so many bloggers have. It seems that some went straight from elaborate Thanksgiving décor to homes that are completely decked out for Christmas, with no mess in between. Rest assured, not everyone is that motivated or organized. I am living in the midst of chaos right now. I have laundry up to my ears (literally) and Christmas decorations littering every floor in my house. I did manage to get a few decorations in place, and today I want to share one of my favorites with you.

A few years back I picked up an artificial tree in an urn for next to nothing at a Target after Christmas sale.  Then, months and months later when I was at Hobby Lobby, I spotted some little gold frames on clearance for between 33 and 50 cents each.

I knew immediately that I had to somehow merge my two bargain finds to make a "family tree."

It was really quite easy. I just pulled the stands off the backs of the frames and then hot glued a loop of ribbon onto the backs. I proceeded to fill the frames with wallet sized photos. Most of mine were from school and sport picture packages, although I pulled a few out of the archives.

I hung them all on the tree, along with some small coordinating bulbs.

I added some ting ting for whimsy.

My "family tree" (or Flashback Friday tree, as my teenager refers to it) is one of my favorite things to pull out year after year. Seeing how the kids have grown over the years is a bit bittersweet, but the sweet part usually wins out over the bitter.

I bought extra frames so we can continue to add to it as the kids continue to grow.

So, now you've seen one of the very few things I've done for Christmas so far this year. I hope you'll keep checking back, because there's lots more to come.

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