Many years ago - OK, like 10 to be exact, I purchased this tree! My friend had found them at a local Christmas Store at their after Christmas sale for $5! Five dollars? Now that I could afford! We have lovingly termed the tree ~ The Chimney Sweep Tree, because without the ornaments and lights, it looks just like one! It is only a tad more than 5 feet tall and tilts a bit to the left, but with a few shims and a tree skirt, you would never know!
OK, so the thing is, I get a TON of compliments on this tree! And of course I can't just say thank you. No, I have to tell everyone it is my $5 tree! But, really, I've done the math, that's only .50 per year so far! I'm so excited about how much money this tree has saved us over the years, that I want to share my excitement!
So, this tree sits in our living room. It has Mama's Touch...basically, only Mama is allowed to touch it!
On this tree I have some very special ornaments:
My very first ornament {from the year I was born}- she's lost her bonnet, but she sleeps under a bough every year!
The billum from missionaries in Papau New Guinea ~ where Ken took his first mission trip!
An angel made by my angel - Tristen!
And of course an Acorn - a gift from Ken embracing my "nuttiness"!
Every year one of my older children mentions us getting a new tree, but I really enjoy the transformation! And I'm also enjoying the process of seeing just how much it's yearly cost decreases! And who can resist the endearment of a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree?"
Don't worry - we have a "kids 'tree'" in the playroom...well, not exactly a tree, but I will blog about that later this week!
The point is - you don't have to have the greatest, most expensive decor to make your home beautiful! A little love goes a long way! I'd love to hear your ideas! Any other $5 trees out there?
Thanks for stopping by! Be Refreshed!
I don't have a $5 tree... but we purchase or make an ornament each year to represent that year. The year Mike and I went to Chile we made one with a clear glass ball - sand from Chile inside, Chile in white paint pen written on the outside and a light blue ribbon to hang it with. When we decorate we tell the story about each one. Some years we have more than one.
ReplyDeleteI love your tree too! Tall and skinny...that's what we need. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt isn't the "tree"...it is all the memories hanging on it. Every year, I get out my box of ornaments that has been growing from the time I was a girl and it is such a treat. My sons' wives are going to love (probably not -- lol) that they will each come with their own set of ornaments that they've collected over the years.
ReplyDeleteNo $5 trees yet! But...I do remember going out to the ucut Christmas tree place in Sultan every year as a child, and sometimes traditions are the meaning! I know that this was an expensive tradition, and unnecessary, yes, and since it hasn't been in practice for awhile, it's meaning would be lost on the littles, but for those who still emphasize the importance of that tradition, there is a Groupon out right now for $20 for $40 worth of tree!
ReplyDeleteNot NEARLY the same as $5, but a step closer!
I love the story of your tree and all the precious memories on it. I raised my son by myself, and there were several years that we barely scraped by. If we had a tree, it was usually on Christmas Eve when they were 1/2 price. One year I worked at a Christmas Tree lot and they gave us all a tree. One year I thought I could take the branches they cut off the bottom of a tree and wire them up to make a tree, but that didn't work. One year a neighbor's son cut us a scraggly little Charlie Brown tree, but we loved it. But one year in particular stands out as a wonderful memory. There was no money for a tree, and no way to get one. I decided we were going to have something. I pulled out the lights and ornaments we had. Many of the ornaments were much the same as yours, plaster ones my son and I hand painted, ones he'd made in school etc. I wrapped the lights around the back of our recliner, hung the ornaments from the wires of the lights, and put the blanket we used as a tree skirt over the seat of the chair. My son got some presents from his dad, but I went into his toy box, and got a few things he hadn't played with in a long time, and wrapped them up. As he opened them, it was like, hey I used to have one of these, then he began to notice they weren't new, and it suddenly dawned on him what I'd done. I was lucky, he loved it!! We still think back on that Christmas very fondly. How much fun it was, and how it just didn't matter if you had money or not, things are more what you make of them, than just what they are. Joy comes from within, not from your circumstances. God's blessings to all this Christmas and New Year!
ReplyDeleteDeb
(sorry for being so long winded), but I hope there's someone that this will minister to).
This brings back good memories from first Christmas in married student housing. We went to Chubby and Tubby for a $5 Christmas tree. Our very first ornament was a free ball ornament of Porgy Pig and his girlfriend riding in a sleigh with Season's Greetings from BP. It is and always will be my favorite ornament because it represents a time in life when things were so simple and uncluttered. Chuck and I had a plastic table in the living room, a bed with a mattress behind it covered with a quilt for a sofa,and small, gold flecked formica table in the kitchen w/ 2 chairs, a hutch borrowed from my mom and dad, an old dark brown king sized waterbed frame with a brand new matress inside purchased with the money from taking back some extra dishes received as wedding presents, and a dresser borrowed from my mom and dad that we still used up until about 5 years ago. And Chuck sewed yellow gingham curtains for our corner windows in the front room. Fast forward to this year. We bought a tree at Fred Meyer for $35 and we will decorate it with the same ornaments as last year and many years before that. only once did I try to do something different with ornaments and realized that every ornament in my ornament box has a memory attached to it and it isn't about the decorations...it's all about the memories. It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas...setting up the tree and decorating it. A cheap and stunning decoration I did this year was buy 7 4" poinsettias at Lowe's to put one on each step going upstairs from the entryway. My friend thought that would look pretty and the blessing is I purchased these poinsettias on Sat. at Lowe's after Thanksgiving on the way back from seeing my favorite Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life" on the big screen at The Everett Historic Theatre w/my friend! Will try to see if I can upload a picture w/ help from Chantal. Merry Christmas!
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