Mine doesn't really have a theme. I use clear lights & ornaments received from family members over the course of many years, the majority handmade.

This is a dangerous subject for me.lol My main tree is victorian. It has tassels, pearls, angles, icecicles (sp?), decopage balls with victorian pictures, gold and rose colored balls, white and rose colored candles, white lights etc... My small tree has red bows, ribbon, balls and wrapped packages with some gold accents and white lights. I'm in the process of planning another tree that will have more of the fun traditional flair with colored lights...I may even put in the flasher bulbs for DH.lol Then there is always the country theme with things like birds nests, berries, plaid ribbons and bows etc...

I seem to have an addiction for decorating Christmas trees too. I need a bigger house.lol

Foxy.

I hear you, Foxy! I've been resisting the urge to set up more, bu there's a great spot for one upstairs...

My theme might be a bit OTT to some people, but hey, what's elegant about putting a tree in your house and hanging stuff on it? 'Tis the season for over the top!!
I have oodles of colored mini-lights (steady on-- no blinking or chasing) and lots and lots of ornaments, a majority of which are silver-lined, mold-blown, eastern European, antique repros. I have just a couple actual antiques, but most are new ones made in antique molds from Czechoslovakia and Poland. The best of them are eggshell-thin and very delicate, but they just glow in the lights from the silver wash. Many of them are in the shapes of old-fashioned children, or toys that were popular way back when: tops, dolls, rocking horses, soldiers, boats, trains and so on. There are also angles, snowmen, Santas, little houses, and just ball or drop types. It's sort of a kid-oriented nostalgic tree, but for a time well before I was born. I put both lights and ornaments not only on the branch tips, but deep into the tree, too, so the more you look, the more you see.
I don't have a specific color theme, but it's certainly heavy on reds and silvers. I like it traditional-- NO purple or turquoise for me!
I certainly don't have a naive degree of nostalgia, and I know that right now is the time I want to be alive, --- but my tree makes me think of unjaded excitement, when Christmas was the only time of year most kids received toys, and it was all the more magical for it :)

lol @ my geometric ornaments. Though there are some angles to some the ornaments, I meant to say there are angels, snowmen, etc. i actually caught that in proofreading, but I guess I went ahead and submitted the uncorrected version.

The first year that I went to after-Christmas sales and picked up all my ornaments hearts were wildly in fashion that year. I picked up multiple boxes of heart shaped ornaments. My favorite where a deep claret color, with a satin type finish that glows. So, since then, I have brought home ornaments that were heart shaped. My tree tends to look victorian mainly from the colors. Red, burgandy, rose and candy pink. My garlands are strung white w/irredescent hearts, in several differnet designs. I think I am going to have to give them up, as I got an 8 foot tree, and only have enough for my old 6 footer. They are impossible to find these days, although my mom did find several strings of the SAME heart garland and a few of hearts strung from 'v' to tip half way across the country. I like white lights, or all red, but have been using multi colored on-all-the-time. I have some bows I tie in, and many gifted ornaments that go on the tree always.

My mom started buying Mistletoe ornaments from Walmart and they are SO cute. All plastic with mice in themed holiday settings. All ornaments on the bottom of the tree are plastic, not breakable by incorrigable cats...

Haven't had to wire my tree into the corner yet, but eventually. I don't put ribbons (loose) or bows on my packages as the Siamese is just so stubborn about leaving them alone. Just pretty paper under the tree.

I did go nuts this year, and get fancy velveteen and brocade stockings and a gorgeous tree skirt. I have been using the same plastic Christmas table cloth with a hole cut in for 20 years. Decided I could afford the outrageous price, and that is my decoration splurge for this year.

I bought DH a tree for work, also. Since he's the boss and all. His tree will be decorated with Servicemen bells that came out last year, including the retired Biker dude with map in one hand and beer in other!

I LIKE Christmas!

I bought a pink tree last year, when my entire living room was pink - couch cover, tv stand, coffee table, chairs, the works... all pink. Since then, I've painted and redecorated, so nothing's pink. But I still have a pink tree. I don't know what kind of theme that is, but it's certainly something that you'll likely want to avoid.

Shelly

A good tip for helping to keep cats away from the tree is cayenne peppers...and lots of it. It doesn't stop them, but it does deter them. :-)

Oh, and I forgot.

My big tree (6') is all done in red and white.

My little tree (3' and sitson the dining room table) is done in all my misc. ornaments w/ white lights.

None of my lights blink or anything. They're just on-all-the-time.

With all the "no blinking light's" statements, I really should make DH read this thread.lol He is into the blinking lights and bubble lights... anything flashy. I swear if that man put up the tree it would end up looking like it belonged in some tacky diner.lol

It is funny I have never done anything to my tree to keep the cats from breaking ornamints or knocking down the whole tree. As a kitten Fox launched himself out of the top of the tree and still caused no damage. I would even bet he is in the darn thing right now. Now that he weighs about 14 lbs he does tend to stick to the lower branches and they do have a bit of a downward slope to them now.

Foxy.

Jen, I have many of those ornaments from Europe - the original ones, from my childhood! And I also tend to buy ornaments in different places we visited over the years. And I also like to go to the store after Christmas to pick the most expencive stuff for half price. So our tree has many different kinds, toys, figurines, Faberge eggs, balls, everything! I like the eclectic look of it and the mix of old and new. The skirt I crosstitched a few years ago, it has an old Christmas village scene on it.

Vera- If you get a chance to post a shot, I would LOVE to see your ornaments! I really love that type; if I had more money to spend on them, I'd collect a whole bunch of the old ones. Quite a few of mine came from Pier 1 during the half-price after-Christmas sales!

I loved reading all the different ways you decorate your trees. Thank you for sharing with me. I'm thinking I'm going to go with red as a base color this year. Maybe some berries, balls, garland and lights(clear!). I do love the dried stuff that's spray painted gold(What IS that called? I know the name and can't think of it!) I like traditional a lot, so I'll probably end up there this year. Well, it certainly will be fun shopping for the decorations this weekend. I cannot believe that I will spend a weekend shopping for something other than plants. LOL

Thanks again everyone,

GH

Jen, I will take a few pictures of those ornaments, when the tree is up (we do it late, around Dec 20, as we celebrate New Year and not Christmas).

Thanks, Vera!

I did a "Red Neck" tree one year to suprise SO. I definatly wouldn't call it pretty at all, but it was definatly a conversation piece. I basically did it to prove a point to SO who's a big hunter and had been stuffing everything he shot and hanging it on the livingroom walls! It was all white lights with strips of cammo and florescent orange ribbon and I found a tree topper at LL Beans that was a hunter-santa. I threw some red accent pieces on it too as santa had on a red plaid hunting vest. I made stockings from florescent orange and cammo material. It was VERY tachy but he got the hint.
C~

Red (color red, not necks) doesn't work that well with my furnishings...My tree for many years has been golds, bronze, a touch of green or orange ...

The theme is pears. I collect pear ornaments, with that occasional sentimental fav still discreetly hung. A Radko eggplant that was a gift from a special friend among the pears, a few partidges or other gold birds, some gold magnolia blossom ornaments that wire onto noble fir branch tips easily - alway a noble fir, no exceptions.

We're going to an open house at friends who decorate to the max next week, last year there were 7 themed Christmas trees. One all santas, one all snowmen, others done in ornaments to match the colors in the rooms in which they'd been placed, i.e. the tree in one guest room was all blue ornaments, blue lights. I might add, she has an entire heated, shelved, dry room for nothing but Christmas decoration storage (and I'm short on storage for things we use weekely!)

I've done a red, white and gold tree. A blue, white and silver tree. A pink, white and silver tree. And a Nova Scotia Tartan (a blue plaid), gold and white tree (I'm from Nova Scotia) with bagpiper ornaments. Gotta love the after Christmas sales on that stuff! They practically give it away. I always use simple, non blinking white lights, coordinating tree skirt and balls and ribbons. Other then that it's decorated with some sentimental (?sp) older ornaments I've gathered throughout the years. I don't like shiny garland and icecycles (?sp again). I keep it simple. I also have a large floor to ceiling euphorbia that I decorate. The first Xmas I decorated it I found out the hard way that I was allergic to it after getting pierced by the spines dozens of times and swelling up like a blowfish! My eyes swelled shut and I had lips like Angelina Jolie!
C~

You all remember Christmas at Candy's House, right? When they moved back from Hawaii, she moved over 22 fake christmas trees. She picked them up at yard sales, and where ever. She also decorated at LEAST three churches and a senior center. She KEPT THEM ALL!!! Their house is attached to an airplane hanger (thank heavens) and she has boxes and boxes and boxes and MORE boxes of Christmas stuff. She uses her full size, seat 12 dinning room table to set up her bi-level Christmas villiage with train, ice skating rink, creche, and every single building from the Manger to the Soda Drive In...

Her main house tree has hard wired lights with snap in attatchments that spin, on a base that spins, I think with music... I bought her 6 blown glass palm trees to go with her themed platform decorations. Oh, I forgot to mention the handmade diaramas affixed to snow covered shirt board with all the McDonald characters from movies (Star Wars, Lilo & Stitch, oddles of ones I have forgotten) interspersed around the base of the tree where there is more 'seeing' room. Yes, Candy is Crazy. But we still love her, and don't let her OVER the CEILING decorations intimidate me one bit. I just don't invite her to my house for Christmas!

Oh, did I mention the Lalique creme and gold porcelain displays, and the total crystal Christmas buffet???

After that, I feel downright conservative in my decorating! Around here, there's narry a palm tree nor a McD's character to be seen.
While I don't personally want to turn my entire house into a museum at Christmastime, I find extreme decorating to be great fun to look at. Is your friend's house on any of those Christmas house tours? I bet people would look forward to seeing it every year!

GH, I forgot to add that I also use silk flowers in my trees. They are great for filling in any gaps in branches.

Chrissy, you reminded me that some people think of tinsel as icecicles (sp?). Mine are actually crystal and glass that have a look of real ice hanging on a tree.

Cena, Candy's house sounds incredible! What decorations does she use on the outside?

Foxy.

I decided to go with the colors of red and gold. Red berries, gold grape clusters, gold kissing balls, red and gold balls of different textures, red velvet ribbon with star patterns and small ornaments chosen by DD. Some of thos ornatments are poodles, cats, santa and reindeer, a red jingle bell, and santa and presents. Here's hoping I can pull all of this together and make it look good.:)

GH

Ya' know Foxy, Candy doesn't decorate the outside of her home! I didn't even realize that until you asked! She will make sure the village and the tree are seen from the front windows, but other than that. She is married to DH's best friend, who is a kinda Ba Humbug kinda fella, just like DH. I will look and see if I can find the link to last years pix...

Sorry, all of a sudden, you will have to cut and paste... The village doesn't like my link, or host, not sure.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNG7JozatGvq