It’s December 1st, which means the calendar has given us full permission to get our Merry Christmas on- or at least get things started. So we kicked things off last Sunday by putting up our artificial (reusable?) Christmas tree. It has yet to be fully decorated with ornaments, but if you wanna dive head first into the holidays with us, here’s a quick little video that captures the process (broken strand of lights and all) and hopefully drums up a little taste of seasonal spirit in the process.
And while we do our best to give all of you sneak-a-peek-at-work readers a non-video version to enjoy, there’s not much to say or show this time by the way of a photo rundown. Basically we put up our tree (after a couple failed attempts at figuring out which part was the bottom), threw down two sheepskin rugs as a tree skirt and plugged the tree in only to discover a section of lights was out. Sigh. But it’s all in fast motion with a bit of holiday music so it’s somehow still cheerful and fun. Oh and Sherry’s baby belly is clearly visible so that might be exciting for some of you bump watchers out there.
In the good news department: we’ve since fixed our little tree-lighting issue. The better news: we’ll have more pictures (and a sequel video) to share once it gets all ornamentified. Just gotta hunt down (or create) a few more in a certain hard-to-find color first (Sherry’s all about a punchy new scheme this year so stay tuned for that).
But what about you guys. Has anyone else started their holiday decorating yet? We were amazed to see tons of homes that were already fully decked out with lights along the roof and around the porch and a giant tree glowing in the window just the day after Thanksgiving. We’re starting a bit more slowly- but fear not, we’ll pick up steam in the coming weeks and share all the fun along the way. After all, ’tis the season…
Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!
marianne says
i set up our tree the second week of november! it is our first tree in our first home, so i couldn’t wait to get started.
Amelia says
I love that you consider your sneaky-peeky at-work readers!
Thanks guys! (I usually watch all the videos when I get home anyway, though :)
Carla says
Loved that video and Sherry’s lovely baby bump is too cute :)
We decorated the sunday before thanksgiving…we like to have the house decorated for our guests. I have prelit garland that I put on our railings and I’m missing a couple of bulbs…anyone know where you can buy spares?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Carla,
Good question! We also need a spare bulb for our tree and we assume you can pick them up at places like Target and even Home Depot/Lowe’s in the seasonal aisle. Anyone else know other places to look?
xo,
s
Holly says
Can’t wait to see the rest!! And Sherry? You look great! I hope everythings going good for you :)
Krista B. says
Z ME
And while you are doing that let me tell you how cute your little prego self is! Love the bump! Happy Holiday to you guys!
I love doing both! I love to entertain and go to parties. Anything in the month of Decemeber is EXCITING! It’s my b-day and the big man above! This year we will pass on having folks over as we are in the middle of BIG renovations, but next year it is on so everyone can see our home, although I’m sure I won’t wait that long!
Kirsten says
I love the sheepskin rugs used as a tree skirt – it makes them multi-functional, and it looks like fluffy snow!
Aimee hit on this in her comment somewhere further up the page, but when I saw you trying to figure out which section went where, I immediately thought of labeling them. When you’re taking the tree down, just string on a big old label to save some time and energy next year (you’ll need it for baby’s first Christmas!)
I’m in the real tree camp, but only because I did mall Christmas displays for a couple of years. If I never fluff another tree again, it will be too soon!
Paula Grace says
How cute are you with your lovely belly? Can’t wait to watch the sequel! Hop over to enter to win an art glass ornament. It would look fabulous on your tree!
Paula Grace
Sarah says
Cute video in fast-mo and great music as accompaniment!
Renee Smith says
Wow, what a rousing debate about real vs. artificial trees! I tried to read through all the posts to find an answer, but don’t think there was one yet… forgive me if this is a repeat of a question. Do you plan to outline fixing the light strand that is out on the tree? My parents just got a larger artificial tree to go along with their larger house (there aren’t many tree farms that I’ve seen in Houston, TX, and we have allergies anyway) and we inherited their slim artificial tree for our little house… two strands of the lights are out! While I was thrilled about having a prelit tree for free, now it will have a bunch of unlit lights on it? I hope not. I haven’t found any simple fixes yet, so I hope you’ll be able to illuminate the issue. Gotta run, midnight wake-up for our little one!
Ciao!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Renee,
We actually had a strand of lights around that we just strung around the part of the tree and connected to the rest of the lights so they all go on with one plug. That’s the short term solution but we have since figured out which light on the tree is the problem that caused the whole section to go out (we heard it buzzing so it was easy enough to find) so once we get a replacement bulb they should all go back on and we can remove the strand that we shoved in there to fill in the hole. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amanda S. says
Cute video!! Reminds me of why I’ve procrastinated on putting up our tree…. the endless fixing of the little branches that got smushed in the box over the last year! Looking forward to watching the decorating :)
Ashley in NC says
That was precious! Thank you so much for sharing.
Sara F. says
We have a fake tree that also had a dead string of lights. I recommend the light keeper pro, you can find it at the hardware store near the Christmas lights. After spending an hour looking for the broken bulb, we finally discovered this tool and it is amazing! It has a voltage detector so you can zone in on the problem.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sara,
Great tip! We’ve never heard of the Light Keeper Pro but we’ll definitely store it in our memory banks for future lighting issues! Thanks so much for sharing.
xo,
s
Sandra says
Sherry, you look so cute with your little baby bump! Congratulations to you and John!
lacey says
So nice of you to make sure Burger got a hello in!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yeah he’s like Where’s Waldo. We like to sneak him into every video we can!
xo,
s
Debra says
We had live trees for years. Some of our best memories are of spending time finding the “perfect” tree and bringing it home. In our area you can have your tree mulched and bring it home with you or donate to a project. Also, they collect them and use them for fisf habitats in area lakes. Just some ideas to throw at you.
YoungHouseLove says
Great ideas one and all Debra! Thanks for sharing.
xo,
s
Camila says
You guys are the cutest couple!!
Erica says
I put my tree up the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I was excited because this is my first house (but the second year I’ve had this tree.) I would have waited til after Thanksgiving, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to get it up last weekend. All my decorations aren’t up yet, though. I got annoyed stringing lights all around the tree (mine isn’t pre-lit).
I loved the video and the music! I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Sherry, your baby bump is so cute. :-)
Sarah says
Sorry if you guys answered this in another video post, but what camera/camcorder do you use for your videos?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
We love our Flip Mino (here’s a link to it on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BVKAQ?ie=UTF8&tag=thiyouhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0016BVKAQ ) Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Hi Sherry! I’ve been coveting a flip, but read they aren’t too mac friendly. Have you had any problems?
Thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
None at all! We love our Mac and we love our Flip! It plugs right into the usb port and uploads stuff instantly without any issues. It’s pretty amazing. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jenifer says
I finally got a chance to watch the video. I laughed so hard when Sherry brought Burger in – it was just too darn cute. :D
Emily says
Cute video! Are you going to do a little blurb on some inexpensive/relatively easy to make/clever/house-related holiday gift ideas you’ve come up with this year? Your posts with previous ideas are great!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Emily,
Yes of course! We have lots of quick and easy DIY decorating ideas in the hopper for this year and as you mentioned there are these posts from last year to keep you busy until we share our latest holiday projects:
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/tis-the-season-to-set-the-table/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/oh-christmas-tree-2/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/some-simple-holiday-sparkle/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/ornamental-ideas/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/11/the-perfect-gift-on-the-rocks/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/frosty-the-starfish/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/thats-a-wrap-2/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/jingle-balls/
https://www.younghouselove.com/2008/12/fill-er-up/
Hope it helps! Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Mike at The Big Stick says
I will ask the obvious question here: Why not check the lights before they go on the tree? The way we do our lights is to plug them into an extension cord and wrap them around the tree, plugging in each set as we need them. It’s easier to put them on well if they are lit anyway. Then when we’re done we move the tree to the corner it will reside in and start putting on the ornaments.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mike,
Our tree is pre-lit, so it’s not a strand we added (otherwise it would have been a great idea to check it beforehand). Once we assemble the tree and it’s standing on it’s own it’s much easier to then reach down and plug in the single cord that’s attached at the base- and that’s when we noticed one section was out. Not to worry though, we’ve got it all fixed and fabulous. Stay tuned for part two of our tree-decorating adventure…
xo,
s
Heather Jo says
Awesome! You guys are so cool.
patti says
so, after finally watching these adorable tree decorating vids, i now have a question for you…we have what appears to be the same tree – pre-lit as well. we plugged it in and an entire strand is out at the top and a portion of another strand near the middle. how did fix your lighting issue? we tried replacing the fuses, but that wasn’t it, so it’s like there’s one bulb burned out that is causing the entire strand to be on strike and refuse to light up until there little buddy is fixed!
any words of wisdom of how we can identify the “tired bulb” without playing eenie meenie miney moe?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Patti,
We actually described our bulb-replacement method in the paragraph before the video in this more recent post, but we have recapped it below for your convenience:
We last left off with this video of us setting up our pre-lit artificial (faux? reusble?) tree only to discover that a strand of lights in the middle of the tree was out. But fixing it was as easy as listening for the buzzing bulb and replacing it with one of the extras they included along with our tree.
Hope it helps! Just listen for the buzz…
xo,
s
patti says
aw man…sorry for not reading more carefully. i will listen for the buzz! :) thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
No worries Patti! You were on the first tree post (and the answer was in the second one) so it was totally understandable! We hope you can track down that annoying bulb…
xo,
s
Christiana says
What program do you use to edit your videos? They look so great! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We just use iMovie 09 which came with our MacBook. Hope it helps!
xo,
s