The Migratory Patterns of Indoor Pine Trees and Other Holiday Hub-bub

We know birds fly south for the winter. And some butterflies, too.

But there is an important migratory trend that scholars have not yet touched upon: the indoor self-relocation patterns of the standard Christmas pine tree. Today, I would like to examine--

Er... what's that?...

You think I've cracked under the strain of holiday preparations?

Well... okay, possibly.

But that also doesn't mean I'm wrong.

See, every year, my tree comes home from the farm...

My housemate helps me to somehow get this tree into the tree stand (crying and uttering oaths being tradition during this process, as we are but Wee Gals and the tree, it is Mighty)...

But eventually, all is secured and the pine looks lovely. And straight. And it's the guest of honor.

Yet gradually, over a period of a day... two days... three days... more... just enough to make me question whether I'm seeing things or not...

...I find this Fine Pine is now leaning far, far left from where it began, peering out the bay window into the neighbor's backyard like some needle-clad Peeping Tom. Or a feeble remake of "Day of the Triffids."

So it gets a talking-to. It gets rearranged and tightened back into its stand and...

In another day, it's doing its impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa again.

It does this for about two weeks, until it finally resigns itself to its locale. Like a restless kid who eventually falls asleep in the car seat.

But every night, I find myself wondering whether I'm going to be awakened to a crash, as the tree, drunk on tapwater and curious to see what the neighbor's just taken out of the fridge for a midnight snack, hyperextends the bounds of blue spruce/tree stand interrelations. And over it goes.

Christmas at my house is about a certain amount of tree-induced paranoia.

But Christmas is also about manic decorating. So today, in addition to my tale of pine tree migratory habits, I wanted to share with you some of my latest pics.

I got these excellent ShinyBrite vintage Christmas ornaments at the Salvation Army for just $1.99!


I've put a few on my entryway tree, which is covered in fake candies, cookies and the kinds of ornaments I remember from my childhood...




I think of this little vignette under the Sweetie Tree as my Island of Misfit Toys. (All of these little flocked velvet folks thrifted for $0.99!)


Here are a couple of my chandeliers done up for the holidays... This one is in my livingroom, the second one in my diningroom.



And that about wraps it up for this week. If you haven't seen my second post of today, regarding a thrifty approach to the "BloggersUnite: Act of Kindness" you can see that by clicking here.

And otherwise, I hope to see you next week, when we'll talk about gifting by thrifting. I never thought I'd feel happy that half the people whom I gift don't read my blog. But this means I can safely share these nifty, thrifty gift finds with you all, and still keep the surprise intact!

Now I'm off to see if my Christmas tree has once again packed its bags for a more scenic locale in the livingroom. Wish me luck.