Yes, we’re those people.
I personally get irritated whenever stores skip holidays. For example, if I’m walking around Target and they have Christmas stuff out but it’s not even Thanksgiving. Not ready yet. Let me get through Turkey Day before you push your red & white santas and snowmen on me. But this year we did the unthinkable…
… we set up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. I’m so sorry. Feel free to virtually slap us or break out an “oh no you di’int.”
We’ve already warned our Thanksgiving guests, and thankfully they acted like it was some fun novelty. So we’ll be able to tell you firsthand if turkey and mashed potatoes taste less Thanksgiving-ish when eaten in the same room as a big glowing Christmas tree.
Why the rush? Well, we usually like to decorate our tree the first week of December. Sometimes the second if we’re not especially on the ball. But since we’re moving in mid December we decided that in order to enjoy it for the three-weeks-or-so period that we normally do, especially since it’s Clara’s first Christmas, we had to break that baby out a bit early this year (before we have to pack everything up for the move in a few weeks).
Our color scheme this time around is champagne, metallic green, silver, and pink – all in honor of Clara’s aforementioned first Christmas (check out last year’s citrus theme here, and the year before that’s monchromatic scheme here). Thankfully we already owned a lot of silver and champagne colored ornaments so we got the pink bulbs along with some metallic green ones for $20-ish at Michael’s (where they were having a half-price holiday ornament sale). I was going for something frosted and girly but not too feminine for the guys in the house (I resisted the urge to bring in some over the top pink feathered boas as garland with John and Burger in mind). Speaking of our four-legged son, this festive chihuahua ornament (from John’s Godmother) is too hysterical not to put up- even though it’s not technically pink, silver, green, or champagne.
Ditto for our just married moose ornament (it’s a bride moose and a groom moose, procured during our Alaskan honeymoon). So even though it’s hardly glam and baby-girl-esque, it’s too sentimental to leave out:
And you already may have noticed a few other personalized ornaments that worked their way in- like this silver (yes, it even fits into our color scheme) Empire State Building ornament that reminds us of our early days in NYC.
In the end we love how soft and sweet it looks (John approves, and Burger seems oblivious as always). Definitely baby-girl-ish, but not too overdone and pastel-y to work in a room with a geometric rug and a clean-lined modern sofa. And of course I tossed down our faux sheepskin rugs as a tree skirt (an odd tradition that we’ve kept up for the past 4+ years).
Oh yeah, and for the second year in a row we’ve had a bit of an issue with the pre-lit tree (the bottom strand of lights was out, but the solution was as simple as stringing a strand of lights around the bottom to correct it). I’m sure we could try to find the bulb that’s burned out to fix it for real, but the added-strand-o-lights approach works just as easily for us (since we already had one around).
So that’s our tree this year. What about you guys? Any fun color schemes or themes swimming around in your head for your own tree decorating adventures in a few weeks (edible? jewel toned? Jersey Shore inspired?). Let’s chat. If you’re ready, that is. If not feel free to wait the obligatory week or so to join the conversation.
Psssst- If you’re excited to get into your red footie pajamas and go holiday crazy, check out this section of our Projects page for lots of Christmas-related stuff.
Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!
Ami @ beyondpeasandcarrots says
looks great :) love the video
Ashley @ sunnysideshlee.com says
Oh no you di’nt!
haha that cracks me up! I’m anti-Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. People forget all about the “thankful” time of year. But at least you guys have a legit reason to rush the season in your house and an even bigger reason to be thankful coming mid-December!
keri says
ours just went up this weekend!
for me, christmas ends promptly on december 25 – my birthday is december 26! but usually, i do wait til after thanksgiving to decorate…but with being so busy the past few years around the holidays, by the time we have time to decorate, it’s time to take it down! we had some free time this weekend so out that tree came…
Brittany says
I would normally be one of the many to virtually slap you but this year….well my family has been dropping like flies the past few months so my dad has been feeling holiday pressure (with completely inappropiate comments about how this could always be the last christmas…where is my grandchild…) and went and decorated the ENTIRE house and yard this past weekend. And just as a side note…the new LED house lights do NOT look good with the old christmas lights. It’s sort of like crisp white snow good enough to make snow cream with…and yellow snow.
Janice says
Oh no you di’nt!
I am definitely in the camp that thinks anything before the middle of December is wayyyyyyyyy toooooooo early. I just don’t get it. The week before is plenty early, and it’s the week of the holiday (a couple of days before the 25th and a few days after) when everyone is off work and home that you want the tree up.
Jenny says
Love your color scheme this year! So pretty!
However, I would never even decorate for Christmas this early. I don’t start decorating before December first or the first advent, whichever comes first, and we usually get the tree inside on the 22nd and decorate it on the 23rd. I used to hate that, but now I think that makes it so much more special as opposed to having it around for weeks before Christmas. I think I’d grow sick of it if I had it around for that long and wouldn’t appreciate it anymore. Plus, decorating the tree the night before Christmas Eve has become such a nice family tradition!
Katherine M. says
I guess I deserve a virtual slap and an “oh no you di’int”, too, since my tree went up last Thursday. I was really in the mood the other day and just couldn’t wait. I have refrained from plugging in the tree though.
Cait @ Hernando House says
I’m typically an anti-Christmas before Thanksgiving, but your tree is lovely!
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
I think it’s great! We set our tree up last weekend because we’re headed out of town earlier than usual so I thought we should set it up early so we have the same amount of time to enjoy it. Our theme is silver, white, green and aqua.
http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/
Bailey says
I normally wait til after Thanksgiving as well, and growing up my parents waiting til after my birthday (which is 12/12) so I would feel like my birthday was separate from Christmas. But I LOVE Christmas and this year I put it up early too. In fact, I did it yesterday! Yipee. We already had people over on Saturday for Thanksgiving…so in my house, we are already pass the holiday. It just makes me happy to see my tree in the morning. I could look at it for hours. :) And my 3 year old is just as excited as I am. We have already busted out the Christmas music. So fun! Happy Holidays!
jbhat says
I am glad you guys went ahead and decked the halls. You need to enjoy your tree, which looks very fetching, before you have to pack up and move out of there already! But normally I would want people to wait until TG is over and out before busting out the Xmas decor. But you get a pass this year.
jbhat
Holly says
Growing up we always went to a tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. My husband and I wanted to keep that tradition (he had never had a real tree b/c his mom is allergic) but the past 2 years he has had to work that day. Last year we went the Saturday after Thanksgiving and all the trees were gone! So this year, we went early. Our tree got put up last weekend and I love it!
We don’t do a theme. We use color lights and have a collection of meaningful and cute ornaments. We tend to lean towards country looking ornaments. I love our tree so much. Each year we get out the ornaments and think back to such precious moments.
We have a son who is almost 2. We decided to buy him an ornament each year with something related to that year in his life. When he gets married or moves out we will give those to him.
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
No, you’re only THOSE people if you leave your Christmas tree up until February…yea, THAT’S lame…
Love the scheme! I’m too cheap to re-do my theme every year – how do you manage it?!?!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lindsay,
We have about a $20-a-year rule, so we like switching things up a bit, but also finding deals and using stuff we already have (like the silver bows, ornaments, etc) to create something that looks fresh but doesn’t break the bank.
xo,
s
ceedeedee says
I love that video! We put our tree up early for the baby this year. Grammy could only come before Thanksgiving.
Devon says
I love the color scheme! And there is no shame in enjoying the Christmas decor while you can! We wasted hours last year trying to fix blown out lights on our tree. You are better off not bothering at all!
Amber Martin says
Looks lovely!! My husband and I decided to get a fake tree this year, so I am wondering, where did you find your tree? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s from Target on clearance (snagged after Christmas about 4 years ago).
xo,
s
Katie says
Beautiful!!
off Subject: Where’d you get that awesome You+Me picture?!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Katie,
Here’s the poster info for ya. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Tracy Lee says
I too am anti-christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, but because we just moved, we decided that while we were unpacking, we might as well just unpack our Christmas Trees (yeah, that’s right, PLURAL) and get them decorated anyway instead of storing them for another week. LOL, I feel so cheesey.
I have 2 trees so I have 2 different color schemes. The large main tree is turquoise and brown with lots of metallics, with some “natural” elements added, such as peacock feathers and pinecones. I guess I like combining rustic with glam!
The smaller 3 foot tree is red,hot pink, and purple (the kids’ tree, and they chose the colors, LOL). I am sad to not have a “traditional” Christmas theme this year, but having some unexpected colors is also fun (and the large Christmas tree doesn’t seem TOO out of place for Thanksgiving, since it matches all my Thanksgiving decor)
Molly P-H says
COVET that chihuahua ornament (even though our little guy is black and tan).
Laurie says
Now I’m silly excited to put up our tree!!
Thank you!
Kristen Dalton says
I love the tree, and you guys had a very good excuse for putting it up early!
Where did you get the ESB ornament? My fiance and I got engaged there, and it would be a great ornament to add to our “sentimental” collection!
YoungHouseLove says
That was actually from Target a few years back! They had a few others too (like the Eiffel Towel). Hope they have them again this year!
xo,
s
Veronica says
Love the tree and love that Clara does a “taste check” on all the ornaments with John before they go up! Have a great Thanksgiving guys! :)
Christina says
I too am one of those people that can’t stand anything Christmas before Thanksgiving. I refuse to listen to Xmas music until Turkey day is completely over. But, your reasoning convinced me it was worthwhile. It looks good!
Jamie says
With all the snow falling at my house in UT and a blizzard warning this afternoon I decided to put my tree up last night, amongst all my Turkey Day decor. Normally I wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put it up but I just couldn’t resist.
Angela says
Wow! I always look forward to seeing how you decorate for Christmas so this was a nice surprise.
Does Clara have an ornament commemorating her first Christmas?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re planning to tackle that project soon- the pressure is on with the move coming up! We’ll post whatever we come up with asap.
xo,
s
Lauren says
Your tree is beautiful. I think the personal ornaments are what make a Christmas tree special. I like to collect a new one each year, but somehow I always forget!
This year I am trying to figure out how to toddler-proof our tree. Last year everything that was breakable made it’s way toward the top of the tree. This year I think that the entire tree needs to be child-friendly, since our 2.5 year old will now move furniture around to get to what she wants.
We might be making ornaments out of pine cones and Styrofoam balls this weekend!
Jeri says
We’re going full-on girly this year for our 3 (almost 4) year old daughter and doing a Pink Candy Christmas theme. Lots of sequins, glitter, candy ornaments, and obv pink. Yeah, the husband is thrilled (ha!).
Your tree looks awesome, and definitely get a pass on the too-early tree this year. Thanks for sharing!
jja says
I LOVE yur video!
What I don’t like is the fact that the tree is not real. It would smell like a tree :-) and ecology is also happy since we don’t cut/take just any tree, then those which have been specially grown for christimas, so called one year trees … no environmental damage.
Greetings from Germany
Patricia says
I love the sentimental ornaments way better than anything else on that tree. Sentimental christmas items are what I think make Christmas the best. My boyfriend and I are going to buy an ornament every year. We bought Space Alien in honor of Toy Story 3, 1 of the movies we saw together this year and really liked. We don’t own a tree yet but my aunt just gave me the mini tree that my grandparents used for about 6 years when they lived in an apartment. I hope that as you and your LOVELY family collect more ornaments that mean things to you guys, that your Christmas tree will not have a theme but will be a mish mash of colorful ornaments! That’s my hope for you guys anyways. :p Then when Clara’s 50 years old, she can inheriet them and tell her kids about them all and what they mean!!
Kari says
Love it!!
We put our tree up last weekend, too. Normally we’re after Thanksgiving folks, too, but I got all my Christmas shopping done early this year and I wanted to get my wrapping done. Wrapped presents just aren’t fun without a tree to hang out with!!
Plus, there’s this pesky PhD program I’m in, so if I procrastinate for a single minute, it’s like wasting a day. So, do now what can be done later, but likely won’t be!
Can’t wait to see everything put together in the new house, too!!
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Perfect Timing! I just posted about my tree having a string of pre-lit lights out!
Shreya says
I love the pink accents for Clara’s first Christmas!
Quick question: I recall you mentioning that the tree was from Target, would you remember which one it was exactly?
Thanks much!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, don’t remember at all. And now that we keep it in a red bag instead of a box we don’t know how we’d find the name. All I know is that it’s tall and skinny (as opposed to super wide) since we didn’t have room for something more “robust.” Hope it helps!
xo,
s
danyelle says
I found once my kids were born, I get more and more excited every year for Christmas. By the ways you said “we have already warned our Thanksgiving guests” Tell me with this move only a few weeks away you are also hosting Thanksgiving??
YoungHouseLove says
Just a tiny gathering. Nothing high pressure at all!
xo,
s
Amanda says
I love it! I put our (new) tree up the weekend of the 12th and we finished all of the other decorations this past weekend- including (gasp!) the front door “swag.” We leave to go see our families for the holidays on the 16th, so I too feel “cheated” out of quality Christmas tree time if I don’t do it before Thanksgiving. The only thing left is that I would really like to do real evergreen garland on our staircase banister, but not entirely sure if that’s going to happen this year.
I always look forward to your holiday posts for some inspiration, and you certainly didn’t disappoint with your color scheme this year. It looks great! Hope to see more holiday related posts soon.
Dennis says
You go! We set ours up last week!
Katie says
Really love the video!
Amanda says
I wanted to ask too… since it is Clara’s first Christmas and your are moving mid-December, does that mean the tree will go up again once you get to the new house? Decorating twice in one year- fun!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re thinking we’ll definitely hang stockings and do some other Christmas decorating at the new house, but we’re not sure about the tree. If we have energy we’ll definitely break it out again- if not, at least we got to enjoy it here for a few weeks!
xo,
s
Krystal says
GAH! I just LOVE Christmas decorations (yes, we’re the people with 18 inflatable decorations in our front yard, 67 boxes of lights on the house & mailbox, and yes, we also have the music box that synchronizes with our light show)! I know you said your “add a stand of lights” method worked just fine, but if you ever feel the need to fix the tree (we have trouble with our prelit every year) there’s this amazing red gun looking thing (typically found at hardware stores) that you just scan over the tree and it beeps when it finds the troublesome bulb. Works like a charm every time!
Stephanie says
You know, that doesn’t bother me(the tree part), even though I’m that “Thanksgiving comes FIRST” person. I have neighbors who decorated the entire outside of their house on 11/1 (to the point where we’re pretty sure Santa threw up on the house). THAT! Annoys me.
Do you buy new decorations every year? We have collectable decorations that we use, so I never really go into the themed decorating. Never have room!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Stephanie,
We usually have a $20-ish limit for a few new things to switch things up every year when it comes to holiday decorating. For example, we already had silver and champagne ornaments along with silver bows, so we added in some half-price pink bulbs and a few metallic green ones for a while new look to commemorate the major change in our lives (Clara) that we’re celebrating this year. As for storage, we have two large tupperware bins stuffed with bulbs that we keep in the basement (the new pink and green bulbs should fit in there as well) so that’s what works for us!
xo,
s
Brianna says
I understand the decorating early. I usually hate to decorate early but I am already in the middle of Christmas craziness because we agreed to do a charity tour of homes. I’m a late decorator and then we keep it up till epiphany. This year though I bet I will be sick of the decorations by New Years.
Love the Champagne vibe. I’m really into the metallics especially with the personal ornaments mixed in. Also, Kudos for putting the tree up then having to do it all over again when you move.
Johnna says
As a child of divorced parents, with a now completely overbearing mother in law, I find myself grinching hard core by the time Christmas comes around.
That said…I have been listening to Christmas music and begging to put our tree up since OCTOBER!!!!!!!!! EARLY October!!! The idea being that in order to capatilize on the Holiday Spirit my hubby and I could enjoy the holiday on 10/25…then when people start getting picky about where we go for the holiday, we don’t need to stress! LOL! The husband put the kabosh on that one FAST! Oh well…
Needless to say I love that your tree is up and I am chomping at the bit to get ours up Friday!!! WAAAAHHHHOOOOO!!!!!
Happy First Christmas, Clara!!!!
Leslie says
Since we use a real tree (North Carolina fraiser fir are the very best in my opionion) we wait until around the second weekend of December. Our tradition also includes a stopover at Krispie Kreme. :)
Kristen says
The tree looks great! I was tempted to get our Christmas decor our last weekend but couldn’t get into the spirit of things just yet. I have a feeling I’ll regret it once Thanksgiving is over and Christmas activities are in full swing!
P.S. We also put a tree up right before we moved from our apartment to our house because it was our first married Christmas, so I totally understand that you want to enjoy it!
Melissa says
I love your tree. This year I am embarking on a huge ornament crafting project. I am making felt ornaments for the tree ala the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I found that is a the perfect solution for my toddler. I was really worried about having glass ball ornaments on the tree since my girl is curious about all things shiny and colorful, plus she is quick like ninja. I love the traditional look of the glass ornaments, but toddler safety is always the first concern. With felt ornaments, I can decorate the whole tree (not just the top half) and make my own color scheme. Awesome!
Joyce C says
I have always loved all your time-lapse videos, can you share how you do them and what program you use?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Joyce C,
We record the whole decorating process on our Flip HD camera, upload it onto our computer, and use iMovie (we have version 9) to speed things up. We usually make things around 2000 percent faster, so although it took us around 45 minutes to decorate the tree, we got a nice short summary thanks to high speed editing.
xo,
s
Brittany says
I totally understand putting it up early! Just because you put up a Christmas tree doesn’t mean you aren’t thankful. It just says hey, if I am going to put a lot of work into decorating than I might as well enjoy it for a while :) I personally use the all silver theme but I am going to add a little bit of color by using pops of red in my wrapping paper. I love the idea of using the fur rug as a tree skirt! I may do that!!
Stephanie says
LOVE that video! I might just have to snag that song and use it for my own holiday video. Made me want to dance :)
BTW, kudos to you for mastering the art of getting stuff done with a baby in your arms. It’s quite a work out, isn’t it? (said while I’m typing with a baby in my arms)
Amanda says
I am thrilled you did this. I was planning on going through your past Holiday archives tonight. My boyfriend and I are putting our tree up this weekend (I would of put it up the weekend that just passed but he wasn’t home)
Although, last year my tree was up on Rememberance Day! (I’m Canadian so the whole Turkey Day thing doesn’t effect me!) First year with a tree in my own apartment does that I guess! But I wasn’t feeling it this year. I’m so feeling it now !
I do have a question; I love the idea of using sheep (faux) skin as a non traditional tree skirt but I’m not really into fur per-say. I was thinking of a blanket — I would just have to find the right one. What other suggestions do you have for non-traditional tree skirts? (I didn’t have one last year — my trees feet were cold; hah!)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, a blanket would be cute, or even a series of pashminas or winter scarves wrapped around the base of the tree. Anyone else have fun alternative tree skirt ideas for Amanda?
xo,
s
Jackie says
I have started early this year too! I am going with a Grinch inspired Christmas tree.
carolinahearstrings says
I love Christmas and in order to maximize it and not have to start my decorating in December I did it this past weekend. We always go to the beach for Thanksgiving so if I don’t decorate the weekend before, it runs into December. However, by New Years I am so ready to take it all down. Christmas carols are playing on the radio in my office right now. I LOVE IT!