Happiness is...A Beautiful Christmas Tree
When my favorite floral designer showed up at my house this morning with this beautiful gift, a silver beaded reindeer we named "Bob", I knew we were in for a fabulous morning!
Earlier in the week, Robert and I met to develop next year's holiday floral design concepts for our clients requiring large displays, multiple arrangements and several holiday trees. Today, we decided to challenge ourselves to see what we could do on a smaller scale and using my tree as our blank canvas. 
With my dining room color palette in mind and a $100 budget, Robert headed straight to the Martha Stewart collection at K-Mart. Luckily, waiting until the week before Christmas yielded a lot of sale pricing and he returned with bags and bags of glorious ornaments, ribbon, and lights. Our final product is proof that you really can do a lot with a little.
The tree-trimming began with the lights. I prefer white lights and recommend using strands of C5 sparkling crystal lights. To figure out where you need more lights on the tree, try Robert's trusted trick: squint (or, if you wear glasses, take off your glasses) so the light is diffused and you can easily spot the bare patches on the tree.
Next, Robert fashioned a glittery, sheer gray wired ribbon into what he calls "dancing ribbon" reminiscent of rhythmic gymnasts who perform with ribbons during their floor exercises. Not only does the dancing ribbon fill in holes in the tree, it creates a beautiful sense of movement.
Hanging the largest ornaments first, we used acrylic snowflakes from the Martha Stewart collection (on sale for $1.79 a piece!) followed by a plethora of Jaclyn Smith glass ornaments ranging from a muted gold to a dusty teal to a reflective silver.
My favorite special ornaments included a variety of feathered birds and silver glass balls with a very art nouveau-esque black flocking. Robert believes there should always be a return to Mother Nature so he made sure to include silver pine cone ornaments for a natural element.
Lady C hung the last ornament on the tree and then we capped it all off with fluffy teal tissue poms (reused from this month's earlier holiday soiree), for a final touch of dramatic flair.
Two final tips:
First, remember, the branches will continue to relax as the hours go by so take care to secure your ornaments well and leave enough room for the "fall".
Second, recycle the cardboard and plastic boxes the ornaments come in and make a small investment in fabric-lined storage boxes so your ornaments are well-preserved for next holiday season.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend. For those of you on the East Coast, enjoy the winter storm headed our way. We might just be in for a white Christmas this year! JG
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