Halloween consumes so much of my creative attention, but somehow I found a little energy to dip my toe into Christmas. I’ve always liked Christmas but it just never seemed as fun as Halloween… until I got into the home decor portion of it. More specifically, the tree decorating! Over the years, my tree decorating skill has evolved into three holiday trees… Youtube is my friend and Pinterest is the fuel.
I came across this whimsical Elf theme during one of many peruses on Pinterest (and also, this Gingerbread theme). I made a trip to my local Michaels and lucked up on a big Christmas sale in November that basically gave me everything I needed to pull off the look. The holiday haul was real…
It took me two Christmas’ to get the full effect… And once I did, I fell in love with the whimsical look and feel of it. This skinny elf tree fits nicely into a hallway corner and gives the home a fun holiday feel.
I like the full, ornament overload look of Christmas trees… also known as the department store look. Most of the decor is from Michaels and Hobby Lobby, usually at 50-70% off, or Walmart the year prior (remember, the day after holiday sales are where you can get the best bang for your holiday decor bucks). I particularly love that I was able to find Black elves… It can be hard to find Christmas characters of color… Black elves, Black Santas, Black nutcrackers etc. are usually few in quantity. When I see them, I snatch them up so that the holiday faces in my home reflect my kids.
This tree, like my kitchen Gingerbread tree, has gotten better over the last two years… what do I think the secret is for both? Deco mesh! Particularly with this skinny tree… the deco mesh really helped fill gaps and expand the size of the tree. It also gives good structure for the ornaments to sit or tuck into the tree. I fell down a deco mesh rabbit hole last Christmas and I’ll never go back.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be head over heels for the Elf-theme, but until then… I’ll enjoy the cuteness.