The story of 10 Christmas trees (starting with trees 1 through 3...warning: pic heavy)

Yes, I am insane. So hubs says. He wonders why anyone needs 10 Christmas trees.

I don't know how this all started. I've always loved c-mas ornaments. At some point, one tree just won't do. I had too many ornaments to fit on it.

I'm now at the point where I just don't have anymore room, unless I want to rearrange furniture. Which I don't. I'm one of those people who, if I decorate for the holidays, the decorations must fit into my regular decor. I don't want my house changed just for the sake of hanging up some holiday delights. I like my house to be as normal as possible, but simply highlighted with holiday cheer.

Currently I have:

1. The main tree, which features a hodge-podge of ornaments: those I made as a child, ornies given to me in swaps or as gifts, ornies that were on our tree growing up (which when my mother purged, they all came home with me), ornies from our vacations (every time we go somewhere, I buy an ornament representative of where we went, and when I unpack them each year, I'm reminded of our special vacations). I have a clear glass finial-thing as the topper.

We bought it when we lived in our last house. We had a good spot for it. In this house, there isn't a good spot for it, so it is in one of the dining room corners. The dining room faces the street, so you can see it from outside. Our first year here, I moved the table so that I could put the tree directly in front of the window, but it was too difficult to navigate when vacuuming. Now it sits in the corner.

2. Cardinal tree. This tree is my favorite. I have a giant cardinal as the tree topper. I also have clear glass "icicles," antique chandelier prisms, some red glittery ornament things and some cardinals in nests.

3. Dog tree. As I received dog ornaments over the years, I had too many to fit, and as much as I love animals, a tree dedicated to dogs only made sense. For the topper, I use Booger's stocking (Booger was our dog who passed away in 2004 from cancer). Last year, the dog tree was smaller, but I had too many ornaments and had to use a larger tree.

4. Drum tree. For hubs. All drum and music related ornaments. My mother gave me some vintage foil light surrounds (foil shapes you put around the c-mas tree lights to make the lights brighter), so those are new this year. The drum tree was smaller last year, but it was to capacity, so the ornaments were moved to a larger tree this year. For the topper, I use two felted drums.

5. White bird tree. This tree came with pine cones already attached. It used to house the cardinal ornaments until I got too many of those to fit. Right now, it has white bird ornaments, white poinsettias, white berry sprigs, some white glittery glass ornaments and clear glass "icicles." I have a large white poinsettia as the topper. Hubs says this is his favorite tree. I like it quite a bit, too.

6. Antique ornament tree. This tree is new this year. The actual tree isn't new (it was the former drum tree), but my mother gave me several boxes of vintage Shiny Bright brand ornaments, and I had a few of my own as well. I bought one the other day at an antique store for $1.50!!! It's from West Germany. I use an old vintage tree topper.

7. Kitchen tree. I simply put cinnamon ornaments on it, as well as beaded candy canes that were on our tree when we were kids. I think my mother may have made the candy canes when I was a baby.

8. Guest bathroom tree. I have miniature deer ornaments on it. I bought them a couple of years ago at a sample sale at work.

9. Guest room tree. Very simple, just miniature ornaments. Nothing fancy.

10. Master bedroom tree. Again, very simple with miniature ornaments. I used only silver and green so it would coordinate with our bedroom.

So. On that note, be prepared for an overload of mediocre, blurry pictures. You may notice I don't have any of my tree skirts down yet. But I will. After I vacuum.

And why is it that trees can look so pretty in person, but so crappy in pictures?!

Main tree.



Fish ornament from Port Aransas beach trip.



Glass snowflake.



Glass bat. A friend bought this for me when she was vacationing in Lake Tahoe. It also resides on my halloween tree.



Painted ceramic ball from another Port Aransas beach trip.



Glass ball from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands trip. It was hand-painted by a local artist. It's a beautiful hibiscus.



Another fish from another Port Aransas beach trip. I also have a cute sea horse ornament somewhere on the tree from Port A, too. (Can you tell, we love going to Port A).



Cardinal tree. I wish I could take a pic of each and every cardinal ornaments because they are all so unique and beautiful. But that would take decades to do.





One of my many antique chandelier prisms. Over the years, I've bought a few, and this past thanksgiving, my mother gave me all of hers.







This one is new this year. It was one of my birthday gifts from hubs.











Dog tree.

















Tomorrow I'll post the rest of the trees. Stay tuned! ;)