It reminds me of New York City.
And that's the only reason.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree
It's Christmastime, folks, and today's post will discuss the various important aspects of the fine art of Christmas tree decoration. First, the tree:
The type of tree you have can say a lot about you. First off, real or fake? Although there are merits to both, the people here at The Belair Road Blog Project prefer their trees living at the time of selection. On the other hand, the people here at The Belair Road Blog Project also prefer not to have to water the dying tree every day- like I said, merits to both. If you do choose the living guy you have another choice to make: which kind of living tree? This year, we went with a blue spruce, which we have never tried before. I give this tree a 10 for branches -- many strong ones for hanging heavy ornaments -- but a 4 for needles -- the prickly little guys complement my personality, but they stab little Pepper on the nose when she tries to sniff our shrubby friend. Still, the blue spruce is a nice addition to the living room, and as Dad put it, it looks very German. Okay, Dad.
The first thing to don the tree is lights.
Pictured are some classic white lights with green wire. Another option is to use colored lights, but for the past few years this has been a white-light family. (For a few years we had a string of all white lights, except for a few pink, blue, and green bulbs thrown in. Random? Yes. Reason? None that I'm aware of.) From what I've heard, untangling and testing strings of lights can be tedious and time-consuming work, but I wouldn't know (thanks, Dad!!).
Next, ornaments. There are a few basic types of ornaments that are usually seen on most Christmas trees.
First, the homemade or personalized ornament. These can range from ornaments with family members' names, as shown here, to ornaments made during a class Christmas party. Our tree has both types, plus a few others.
Next, the store-bought ornament. Cute and loved by collectors everywhere. The very best place to buy Christmas ornaments has always been Hallmark. They always have quality ornaments and cute series ones too (like the Snow Buddies seen here). This is one of my favorites -- you knew I'd have to sneak an owl in here somehow!
Finally, the simple, always-classy Christmas ball. Christmas ball ornaments are great because they come in a variety of colors and you know they will look nice no matter what. Sometimes you can even get balls with pictures or unique surfaces (for instance, we have a set that comes with faceted ball ornaments). This type of ornament is a must for the classy collector.
The final piece is the tree topper. For our topper, we use the belle of the Christmas tree ball, the angel.
Please excuse our angel, who looks like she is about to take a midnight flight. An angel is a good option if you want your Christmas tree to be guarded at night; however, I have always found angel-toppers a tad creepy. For a more secular Christmas, substitute a star for the tip of your foliage.
No tree is complete without a creepy Santa head!
So, real or fake, blue spruce or frasier fir, white or multi-colored lights, homemade or store-brought ornaments, Christmas trees and their decorations are an integral part of the Christmas season. Tonight, give your tree a big ol' hug for being so gosh darn wonderful. (Or don't. I won't be hugging mine, because that is one big prickly jerk.)
Laying under the tree, a la Grey's Anatomy.
Option 2: Scrap the whole tree thing and decorate a mini one, complete with mini ornaments, mini lights, mini tree skirt, mini train, and mini (but empty) gift boxes underneath.
Faster set-up, more compact, and less clean-up. :)
Merry Christmas!!
The type of tree you have can say a lot about you. First off, real or fake? Although there are merits to both, the people here at The Belair Road Blog Project prefer their trees living at the time of selection. On the other hand, the people here at The Belair Road Blog Project also prefer not to have to water the dying tree every day- like I said, merits to both. If you do choose the living guy you have another choice to make: which kind of living tree? This year, we went with a blue spruce, which we have never tried before. I give this tree a 10 for branches -- many strong ones for hanging heavy ornaments -- but a 4 for needles -- the prickly little guys complement my personality, but they stab little Pepper on the nose when she tries to sniff our shrubby friend. Still, the blue spruce is a nice addition to the living room, and as Dad put it, it looks very German. Okay, Dad.
The first thing to don the tree is lights.
Pictured are some classic white lights with green wire. Another option is to use colored lights, but for the past few years this has been a white-light family. (For a few years we had a string of all white lights, except for a few pink, blue, and green bulbs thrown in. Random? Yes. Reason? None that I'm aware of.) From what I've heard, untangling and testing strings of lights can be tedious and time-consuming work, but I wouldn't know (thanks, Dad!!).
Next, ornaments. There are a few basic types of ornaments that are usually seen on most Christmas trees.
First, the homemade or personalized ornament. These can range from ornaments with family members' names, as shown here, to ornaments made during a class Christmas party. Our tree has both types, plus a few others.
Next, the store-bought ornament. Cute and loved by collectors everywhere. The very best place to buy Christmas ornaments has always been Hallmark. They always have quality ornaments and cute series ones too (like the Snow Buddies seen here). This is one of my favorites -- you knew I'd have to sneak an owl in here somehow!
Finally, the simple, always-classy Christmas ball. Christmas ball ornaments are great because they come in a variety of colors and you know they will look nice no matter what. Sometimes you can even get balls with pictures or unique surfaces (for instance, we have a set that comes with faceted ball ornaments). This type of ornament is a must for the classy collector.The final piece is the tree topper. For our topper, we use the belle of the Christmas tree ball, the angel.
Please excuse our angel, who looks like she is about to take a midnight flight. An angel is a good option if you want your Christmas tree to be guarded at night; however, I have always found angel-toppers a tad creepy. For a more secular Christmas, substitute a star for the tip of your foliage.
No tree is complete without a creepy Santa head!So, real or fake, blue spruce or frasier fir, white or multi-colored lights, homemade or store-brought ornaments, Christmas trees and their decorations are an integral part of the Christmas season. Tonight, give your tree a big ol' hug for being so gosh darn wonderful. (Or don't. I won't be hugging mine, because that is one big prickly jerk.)
Laying under the tree, a la Grey's Anatomy.
Option 2: Scrap the whole tree thing and decorate a mini one, complete with mini ornaments, mini lights, mini tree skirt, mini train, and mini (but empty) gift boxes underneath.
Faster set-up, more compact, and less clean-up. :)
Merry Christmas!!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A new friend for the holidays
"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." -Mary Bly
My roommates and I adopted a kitten named Peanut Butter. We mostly just call her PB because Peanut Butter is too long for a cat so small. I usually call her Kitten. She's very precious except for the fact that she's a cat so she's not super social. She does not like to snuggle most of the time, but right now she is breaking her own rule to sit calmly in my lap. I think she's fascinated by my fingers on the keyboard. Some of her favorite activities include pouncing on feet, scratching and biting fingers, pushing DVDs off the shelf, and throwing herself around in her purple cube toy. I know I'm making her sound like a menace but she's really not. She just has strong hunting instincts and is extremely curious. She also loves walking on laptops and will do that whenever she has the opportunity.
This is PB with me. She is not really into getting her picture taken but she sat still for a long time so it was a good opportunity.
I never really thought I was a cat person...I still probably am not, but I do like having Kitten around. She can be sweet when she's not trying to take my fingers off with her sharp kitten teeth or drinking from my cup of water on the bedside table. One thing that frustrates me about cats in general is that they do not come when called. For all Pepper's aloofness, she responds when she hears her name. PB could not care one button about whether or not I want to see her. If she wants to see me, she will come over and scale my leg with her claws. If she's not in the mood, she won't even sit on the same couch cushion as me. Also, I'm pretty sure she has an attitude problem. Typical cat.
My roommates and I adopted a kitten named Peanut Butter. We mostly just call her PB because Peanut Butter is too long for a cat so small. I usually call her Kitten. She's very precious except for the fact that she's a cat so she's not super social. She does not like to snuggle most of the time, but right now she is breaking her own rule to sit calmly in my lap. I think she's fascinated by my fingers on the keyboard. Some of her favorite activities include pouncing on feet, scratching and biting fingers, pushing DVDs off the shelf, and throwing herself around in her purple cube toy. I know I'm making her sound like a menace but she's really not. She just has strong hunting instincts and is extremely curious. She also loves walking on laptops and will do that whenever she has the opportunity.
This is PB with me. She is not really into getting her picture taken but she sat still for a long time so it was a good opportunity.I never really thought I was a cat person...I still probably am not, but I do like having Kitten around. She can be sweet when she's not trying to take my fingers off with her sharp kitten teeth or drinking from my cup of water on the bedside table. One thing that frustrates me about cats in general is that they do not come when called. For all Pepper's aloofness, she responds when she hears her name. PB could not care one button about whether or not I want to see her. If she wants to see me, she will come over and scale my leg with her claws. If she's not in the mood, she won't even sit on the same couch cushion as me. Also, I'm pretty sure she has an attitude problem. Typical cat.
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