The Steen Style

I have a major love/hate relationship with Christmas trees. I love looking at them and no home at Christmas feels complete without one but they are such a pain to decorate and take for-ev-er. The final result is always worth it though, especially at night when the only light in the room comes from the tree in the corner.

Once again, I chose to do two trees – a live and traditionally decorated one in the main living room and a fake, OSU decorated one in our other living room. I used burlap ribbon (found online, thanks to Pinterest), clear lights and silver ornaments that have been collected over the past six years and are from every store that’s ever sold a Christmas ornament.

I like to make sure the mantel blends into the tree and doesn’t get too crazy so I kept it pretty simple and clean. Christmas gets to be so stressful and crazy so I need the decorations at home to be relaxing and calm. Some bling, red plaid and natural texture make me feel very festive!

This year’s wrapping paper came from The Container Store and Hobby Lobby. It was my first time buying paper from both stores and I will definitely do it again! The paper is super thick and easy to cut. I can’t stand flimsy, cheap paper that rolls up on you while you’re trying to wrap the paper and tears while folding. The awesome gift tags were a free printable and I love them!

The icicle ornaments are from Target from several years ago and have popped up around the house each year in different spots but finally were used on the tree this year and I love the way they reflect the lights. Even though glitter is usually terrible, I still love it at Christmas and try to use it at least a little bit. I wish I could take the claim for the monogram ornaments but I cheated and bought them (plus the mercury glass ornaments) at Pottery Barn.

This guy… Max and Carl have no clue what to do when I take pictures of the house and start moving around all crazy like. He finally just stopped and ended up right in the middle of everything – typical! I have to say though, he looks pretty darn cute in front of the tree.

Carl prefers this spot in front of the OSU tree – he loves to watch everyone and everything out of the front window. Some of these ornaments hang a little low and I always worry I will find one (or three) broken and on the floor but I think he’s scared of them and leaves this area alone. He does love to smell the burlap from the DIY tree skirt though!

Our ‘tree topper’ is actually a stuffed Pistol Pete. The limbs at the top of the tree help keep him in place since there isn’t a bottom holder to him.

My newest ornament is the top left and I love it! A friend of mine makes these for schools, states, NBA teams – whatever you want. She is so talented so I had to buy one from her. The candy canes are the cheapest ornament I have. I took three packages of fake candy canes from the Dollar Tree and spray painted them orange. I’ve used them now for three years and they haven’t had one problem!

The trees at night, with no other lights on, are my favorite views and make the decorating hours all worth it. So pretty and so serene!