Thursday, December 09, 2010

The Boles Family Christmas Tree





Last week was spent decorating my family's Christmas tree. Now, in years past, the tree trimming went something like this: buying the tree, loading it on top of the car, poor Dad schlepping it inside and getting it into the Red Devil (the super duper Christmas tree stand), stringing it with lights, decorating it with ornaments that we've had forever, and my mother vowing that "Next year, we're going to do this differently. Your father can't keep dragging a 7 foot tree into the house." Fortunately for Mom and Dad, this year's tree is a godsend.

I was contacted a few weeks ago by
Green Valley Christmas Trees and was asked if I was interested in having them send me a tree to decorate. Believe me, it didn't take long for me to email a resounding "Yes!" I admit that I had never thought about ordering a Christmas tree or wreath online before, but now I'm a convert. You order your tree which is harvested and shipped on the same day to ensure freshness, and within a few days it is delivered to your doorstep via FedEx. I chose a 6-7' Fraser fir, and sure enough, within a few days, it was delivered to my parents' home. The tree was absolutely beautiful and fresh, and the shape was pretty close to perfect. And the best part was that my father's back was spared the pain of tree hauling duty.

Since buying the tree required so little effort, I decided to give this year's Boles family tree a whole new look. I had a large remnant of Rubelli fabric called "Tea Introduction", an exotic print filled with blues, pinks, and aubergines, which I used as a kind of slapdash tree skirt. It also served as inspiration for the color scheme of the tree. For the ornaments, I chose blue, silver, and pink ball ornaments mixed with peacocks (I don't think they were present for the tea introduction, but hey, they're exotic), pagodas, and aubergine colored feather-like things. When your tree has a theme, you have to be pretty flexible when buying ornaments. Finding exotic ornaments-especially in an aubergine color- in two days ain't easy!

The best part? My father's back is in one piece and my mother left the decorating to me. I'd say we're starting off the holidays on the right foot.



Rubelli's "Tea Introduction" was the inspiration for the tree's theme.





These peacocks were right up my alley- a gorgeous shade of blue and covered in little sequins.





The pagodas are reminiscent of those found in the fabric remnant.





I think this is a feather, but it was the aubergine color that sold me on them.






(All photographs by Jennifer Boles for The Peak of Chic)

23 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:09 AM

    Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! When are you decorating the one for your own place? I'm trying to get mine decorated this weekend. Last year we had 3 trees - only 2 this year - thank goodness!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jennifer,
    The tree is gorgeous! Peacock blue and aqua have always been part of our holidays and I would love to try pink if the men in my house wouldn't freak out! I tend to combine mine with red and gold, but maybe this will persuade them one of these years!

    ReplyDelete
  4. John J Tackett8:32 AM

    A Christmas tree with its decorations along a theme can be lots of fun. I have enough ornaments to vary the scheme each year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks so beautiful. Love the peacocks. Still haven't wrestled the tree in yet. Mustering energy! Hope you are well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Splendid Sass8:55 AM

    Stunning tree! I love the peacocks.
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fabulous job! I love the colours and how well they look with the white lights!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jennifer - it's absolutely beautiful!! And I'm sure your father appreciates it as well! Love the color scheme and all the special ornaments. So wish I could do something sophisticated like this - but we're still in family Christmas mode!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Adore the pagoda ornaments! Where did you find them??

    ReplyDelete
  10. It looks beautiful Jennifer!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Only one word: Gorgeous! I've never seen anything like that.

    I see that you are doing up your trees much earlier at your end. In Germany, we decorate the Christmas tree usually on Christmas Eve. Somehow I think that adds to the festive suspense, specifically for children.

    We don't have trees of that shape, though. Absolutely perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Loved all of your pictures-xx peggybraswelldesign.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love the pagodas and the peacocks! Beautiful tree, Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's the best tree I've seen so far Jennifer-can you ship it to my house?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the peacocks - as you know, I have one of those at home. Beautifully decorated tree!

    ReplyDelete
  16. OK...you win...best tree yet!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jennifer -- beautiful! And the perfect Peak of Chic tree. I love your take on the tree skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love at first sight. ARE you revealing the sources for the peacock and pagoda ornaments? They are so beautifully unique, especially for those of us that love chinoiserie. Thanks. Mary

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thank you everybody for the kind comments! The pagodas came from World Market and the peacocks were purchased from Pier One. Both stores had some really beautiful ornaments this year :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Now that is an awesome tree skirt! Mine this year is actually a gold lame cape from a halloween costume! You can't tell and it looks great under the white lights, haha

    ReplyDelete
  21. Kathleen Luckard1:08 PM

    A very classy tree and skirt - just as I would expect from you. Maybe an article next year about themed Christmas trees would be in order?

    ReplyDelete
  22. I was at World Market yesterday and they do have some great ornaments. Good prices too. Beautiful tree!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Beautiful! Where did you find the pagodas?

    ReplyDelete