What does Christmas look like to you? In years past it has taken on so many forms for me personally. There were buy soma single Christmases where I would go solo to my parents house amongst all 24 of my first cousins to celebrate. There were the childhood Christmases on the farm outside playing, anticipating Santa, and visiting my grandparents house just a stones throw away. As Kyle and I explored what Christmas was going to look like this year, we both agreed we should make it magical for the boys. I mean we all saw how fascinated they were with halloween, right? 

When I remember our Christmas tree at home it was so grand and gorgeous, but I remember that my mom had personal ornaments in there as well. In our home here in Nashville we have always had a show stopping tree, one that a lot of preparation went into. It is one of my favorite things to pick out the ornaments, the decor, and watch it all come together. This year Kyle and I decided that we wanted to marry the two styles of trees together to make something special for our boys. Don’t get me wrong there is a GLAMOROUS tree in our home this year, but we will get to that later!

There is something about ownership, allowing your children to create and watch as something they put time and effort into come to life, that adds to the magic. To start off our children’s tree design we knew we wanted a few elements rustic, photos, DIY ornaments, and ornaments that would resonate with things the boys loved! 

RUSTIC ELEMENTS

When you think of rustic, you may think of big wood logs and red colors. When I thought of rustic I was reminded of our winters in Vail – white and wooded. When we began to shop all over Nashville I found the perfect rustic touches at Kirklands. The garland was a great touch of wood with a lighter finish. The large star buy soma online ornaments gave that pop moment to draw your attention to the tree. The topper is to die for and everything I could have dreamed to tie the whole theme together. When layering your tree you have to start with the big statement pieces like the garland and the stars, and fill in from there. 

DIY ORNAMENTS

Photo Ornaments

If you have been following me for awhile you know I adore my family photo wall that we had installed this year. I didn’t want the tree to be any different. As I shopped around I kept in the back of my mind that I needed a flat ornament that I could adhere the photos onto, I wasn’t sure if they would be round or square. When I came across these $3.99 ornaments at At Home, I knew they would be perfect. Making these ornaments took three simple steps: Buy the ornament, print the pictures, and hot glue them on. It is a really great way to add a personal touch to your tree every year without breaking the bank. When choosing the photos I tried to go with photos of Christmas past, any winter moments, and any times that I wanted to cherish forever. 

Wooden Fingerprints

I think we can all agree there is nothing more precious in this world then a kiddos handprints and footprints. When you see them years down the road you are reminded just how little they were and how time flew by way to fast. I think often people shy away from getting into these crafts because they’re too messy, or they won’t look “good” in your space or on your tree. Thats why I set out to pick out a medium that fit the theme but also had space to feature those precious prints. I found these wooden pieces at Michaels , and paint in the discount section. What we ended up creating were memories and ornaments to last a life time. Also, a pro note, always write the kids names and year they made the ornament on the back!

Jingle Balls

You can’t keep the glam out of the girl, even If it is a kids tree. I ordered these silver jingle bells from amazon, got these Styrofoam balls from Micheals, and a whole lot of hot glue. These jingle balls added a perfect pop of metallic into the intricate parts of our tree! Patience is key when creating these beauties!

Final Touches

Personal Ornaments

In order to make the tree special for us and the boys, we chose to include new and old ornaments. The old ornaments are a assortment of things that we have collected over the years. For the new ornaments I shopped for things that I know the boys would love. We included a doctor, baby sharks, animals, and dinosaurs. The inclusion of new ornaments was inportant to us so when the boys looked at the tree they saw things they loved!

TRAin

Anyone who watches my stories or knows Shepherd, are aware that trains are his best friends. Thats why we could not let this Christmas go by without including the train at the bottom of the tree. You should have seen his face when he saw it the first time!

MERRY CHRISTMAS letters

Lastly, we included these adorable Merry Christmas letters we found at West Elm. It is adds a nice touch that pulls the whole tree together!