First Christmas Tree!

This year is our first Christmas together as a family, and I'm so excited! I've been a little over ambitious with my ideas, and have given up on most of them. There's just something about being 6 months pregnant and not having a lot of energy that's taking the motivation out of all the project ideas I had.

I've always wanted to cut down my own tree, so we decided to do that this year. We got our pass and headed out to the forest with the in-laws!

I was really hoping to get something more full and comparable to the ones at the store, but we had a lot of fun! Xave loved getting to run around outside, and was maybe a little to excited about cutting things down.

I stumbled upon this abandoned birds nest while I was looking for some good boughs for a wreath (*ahem* one of the projects I still haven't gotten around too..). Xave thought it was pretty dang awesome. I think his camo carhartt jacket is pretty awesome too (and so was the deal I got on it).

Now since I bailed on making a majority of our Christmas ornaments, it was either leave the tree bare, or find some good deals. I got a couple boxes of candy canes for $1 or so a piece, and bought all the lights on sale. Then I decided to visit the Dollar Store and to my delight, they had some pretty decent looking stuff, so I bought the rest of my ornaments there! I'm definitely hoping to get some better ones made or bought before next year, but not bad for the price! :)

These balls came in sets of 5 in mostly red and green. They were tucked on a bottom shelf, and I almost bought a not so pleasant alternative. I was quite relieved a little excited to get these instead.

My absolute favorite find was the little bells that are hiding in the upper part of the above picture. I wish I had a better picture, but they were so adorable! The bottom has a little snowflake, and I loved the faux metal finish. These will definitely be hanging around for a few years at least. And 9 for $1! LOVE that!

These are one of the projects I started but never actually finished. The plan was to make stuffed burlap star ornaments. I put some heat and bond on the back of the burlap and then cut out little star shapes. Then I decorated a few with some haphazard embroidery, and ribbon bows like this one. My plan was to sew them to a plain star backing, stuff them, and attach a ribbon for hanging. Instead I just set them around the tree and they're actually pretty cute just like that.

What are some fun things you've made for your Christmas tree this year? Did you find any new ornaments that you absolutely LOVE?