My Christmas Home Tour Secret…shhhhhh
Welcome to my second Christmas Home Tour! Yes. My second. But there’s a story behind it.
I have a funny story to tell. This year we put up our Christmas tree, but we (I) broke from tradition and put up the flocked tree. We didn’t get a real tree like we’ve been doing for the past 20+ years, and oh man did I feel all the guilt. The kids were good sports and went along with it, but it just didn’t feel right. We went through the motions and decorated the tree while we watched Elf, just like we do every year.
A few days later I could just feel that my kids didn’t love our tree, and that they missed out on picking a tree from the tree lot, then being surprised in the morning to see how our tree unfurled from its frozen state. They were missing having a real tree. Truth be told, I missed it too. But because we’d already decorated, and life got busy, we carried on, I took pictures for my blog Christmas home tour, and we tried to love our decorated fake tree…but we just didn’t.
So days later, I found myself taking down the flocked tree. Yes. Yes, I took down our tree, ornament by ornament. And I decided to pack up the kids that night after dinner, to go pick out a real Christmas tree. Because Christmas is about them. Them. Not my blog home tours. It’s about them and keeping tradition alive for my kids.
This was a big moment for me. I realized that I needed to stop. I needed to change something. With blogging, sometimes my world of my home life, blurs together with the world of my blog. Both worlds do in reality run together, and 99% of the time it’s harmonious. But there are times when I find myself getting caught up in it all…all the blog home tours…and the feeling that I have to recreate something new and exciting every year. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with any of that, if it works for others. But I’m realizing that it’s not working well for me anymore. It’s just too much. And I want to simplify. I want to be more mindful. I want to make sure that I’m sticking to my family traditions, because they are what’s really important.
So even though I posted my home tour with the flocked tree, I wanted to be true to myself, and to you, and show you what our tree actually looks like this year. In all it’s real treeness…I love it. The kids love it. It just feels right.
Have a very merry day!
I love that you did this. So much. If I’m being honest, participating in the home tour stressed me out last year – as much as I loved being a part of it. We do a real tree every year too and so we bought it early last year to have it up for the tour. It was so dead by the time Christmas came around that we weren’t able to keep it up until New Years as we usually do. This year I decided to tour only the bedroom – mostly because we had been away, as I said in my post, but also because I didn’t want to deal with the tree issue again. It’s not easy to juggle this stuff and still make it work for our real family lives. I hear you on that. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I find the house tours stressful too, and I especially felt it this year. I decided that I probably won’t do one next year, or if I do, I will only do one room. This season has been eye opening for me…it’s time for me to slow down, and honestly, I’m really really looking forward to it! Merry Christmas to you and your family too Heather! xoxo
Ladies. I get your logs and I appreciate them. But. I wonder if those of us who read you really want such perfection. I am interested in the things that make your Christmas you and your families. I have a fake tree. Am unsteady on my feet due to back problems. So please do not think you need change your lives just to show perfection which I do not want. I want present making and decorating. I will always read your blog’s.
I agree wholeheartedly…I love real life inspiration, and love to see the real things that people post! I’m really happy I changed my mind on this one…it just feels right! And thank you so much for reading my blog, I appreciate it so much! Merry Christmas!
You can always get into a tradition of having the real tree upstairs and the fake one downstairs…That’s what I do but there are 4 fake ones and no real… almost had a house fire once (like the Griswold’s) with a dried out real tree when the girls were little so we cancelled that tradition…
That is a good idea! I might put the flocked tree back in our office or upstairs next year…I do love it too! Merry Christmas Lorrie!
Looking at both photos, your second tree does “feel” so much better! Kudos to you for keeping it real (both the tree haha and being true to yourself). Blog photos are a pleasure to look at, but real life blog photos also inspire. Keep it real people! Great job. Merry Christmas ?
I agree…real life photos are the best kind of inspiration! I’m really happy I went with my heart!
Hi Jo-Anna, I love your real tree. Because it looks real! We have a real tree every year. This year, ours is crooked at the top and it looks kind of silly, but it makes me laugh, so I guess it’s ok. Merry Christmas!
Hi Angie! I love it too…I’m really happy I went with my heart! I love the quirkiness of real trees…ours has a giant hole at the back! Hahaha!
Love this so so much!!!
Thank you Lori! xo
Some things you just can’t change. We never put up the tree until my birthday & don’t take it down until Ukrainian Christmas.
It’s so true…that’s why traditions are so special!
Hi Jo-Anna. I am an avid blog reader, and yours is one of my favourites. It is fantastic to see you admit to changing something because it didn’t feel right, rather than keep it as a “showcase”. Your home is your home, a place to feel warm and loved. You are brave putting it on display for all to see, but it does not need to be staged just for an audience sake. Keeping it real is what we readers like to see. I love your real tree, especially the decorations, as it looks loved not staged, and I am sure the kids just love it! Keep up the good work and wishing you a wonderful Christmas from Down Under!