This year I was asked to join the “12 Bloggers of Christmas” brought to you by Balsam Hill to show you our Christmas trees. I was so honored to be among these amazing bloggers & to work with such an awesome company. As many of you know, we just moved into this house a week & a half ago so this whole Christmas decorating thing in our new house has been a very slow process. Before we left North Carolina a few weeks ago we did set up all our Christmas stuff because I couldn’t possibly leave that historic home without decorating it for the holidays, & so setting up the tree here in our Michigan home seems a little like deja vu. In this whole process I have learned a valuable lesson though. I’ve learned that decorating your tree is about the memories, the family time, & not always about making your Christmas decor magazine worthy. As Mr. LMB & I were laughing while putting up the ornaments & my failed attempts at reaching the tops of the tree even while on a ladder, I just thought to myself that these Christmas memories are worth far more than the stress of decorating a tree for other reasons like beautiful photos & forgetting what the season is all about. Thankfully I picked a really pretty tree from Balsam Hill that didn’t need much decorating to make it a show stopper. In fact our tree was so pretty when we set it up that we even laughed & debated about keeping it bare. Not a bad idea & with this tree we could totally rock it. On to our lovely Christmas tree in both our Michigan house & our North Carolina rental…
Our Balsam Hill tree in our Michigan home….
& in our North Carolina home a few weeks ago…
I always want our tree to look very “antique eclectic cottage”. A lot of our ornaments are collected over time & carry special memories that mean a lot to us & that’s exactly the vibe I want our tree to give. I want it to be relaxed, cozy, & maybe even remind people of Christmas trees they grew up with decorating with their families. As you can see we didn’t do as much decorating on our tree here in Michigan since our house is still covered in boxes, but you know what? With the tree glowing in the living room, it makes me so happy & we have honestly never owned a tree so pretty before. It makes me so happy!
We chose the Stratford Spruce from Balsam Hill & I am so happy with it. First of all how it was delivered made me feel so fancy. It came in handy storage bags which was great for moving this big dude home & it even came with gloves so you don’t prick yourself while fluffing the tree. I feel like a very sophisticated 26 year old while fluffing my tree with my gloves… it’s the little things. I loved how real this tree looks & it may seem weird, but it has a little vintage flare to me so I feel like it fits in with my cozy cottage Christmas theme.
Of course I will be sharing more of our Michigan house Christmas decor soon, but I also wanted to mention that the wreaths on the card catalog in the living room are also the stratford spruce from Balsam Hill. I love how bulky & full these wreaths are & how they added some greenery to our card catalog for the holidays. Also, in our NC historic home we had these LED pinecone trees in our dining room from Balsam Hill that I am obsessed with!! I honestly need to get more for our new home because I’m so in love with how they look & add to the rustic cottage charm of our decor. Now on to the glow of our Balsam Hill tree at night in our Michigan house….
Balsam Hill is kindly giving my readers a discount on their website as well! If you spend $200 or more you can get $25 off using code: 12BLIZMARIE25 & of course free shipping! Our Balsam Hill Christmas tree is currently the centerpiece of our home. This may not be the place our tree sits every year, but it worked this year & I love that you can’t miss the Christmas tree when you walk in our house. What do you think of our Christmas tree? I would love to hear what you think of it & I would LOVE to see your Christmas tree, if you get a second tag me on Instagram or share it with me on Facebook. Can’t wait to see!
Be sure to visit my amazing blogger friend, My Sweet Savannah’s home today & then continue the rest of the tour below.
Here is the 12 bloggers of Christmas lineup for the week! Be sure to stop by everyones blogs to check out all of their lovely Christmas trees & get inspired!
| Mon, Dec 8th | Jessica from www.fourgenerationsoneroof.com |
| Lucy from www.craftberrybush.com |
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| Tue, Dec 9th | Kristen from www.ellaclaireinspired.com |
| Jennifer fromhttps://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/ |
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| Wed, Dec 10th | Melaine from www.mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com |
| Liz from www.lizmarieblog.com |
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| Thu, Dec 11th | Sarah from www.theyellowcapecod.com |
| Jamie from www.somuchbetterwithage.com |
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| Fri, Dec 12th | Kelly from www.eclecticallyvintage.com |
| Courtney from www.frenchcountrycottage.net |
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| Sat, Dec 13th | Vanessa from www.atthepicketfence.com |
Jen from www.jenniferrizzo.com
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I just love these trees! So wanted to get one this year but just could not but I am hoping to shoot for next year though we always go out and cut down our own tree but since they look so real I am trying to get hubby to approve….LOL
Thanks for sharing and have a great day! 🙂
Hi Liz, I am a long time reader and I love following your blog. You are killing it!
However, I thought you might want to know that as a reader I find your blog very difficult to read now with the way the ads are set up. I usually read your blog on my iPad with music or a noisemaker app open. I do all my blog reading while my baby naps. 😉 The ads make whatever sound or music I have playing immediately stop. For some reason I can’t have both open at the same time. Also, the ads are so big that your blog is only on the left side of the screen now – I can hardly see your beautiful pictures. It makes me sad!
I can appreciate that bloggers need ad revenue, and I understand it’s just part of the game. However I wish that you would change the ad set up and go back to what it used to be when your content was the main focus of the site. I would be so sad to have to stop reading because of this!
Sorry for all the mistakes- I wrote this on my phone & it doesnt pull up normally. Sincerely, a big fan 🙂
I love your trees! It is refreshing to see another blogger still embracing the traditional look when it seems as though everyone else is going for a neutral tree. Yay for non-conformity! It seems funny to think having a traditional Christmas tree has become non-conformist, but I am right there with you. In fact, I just posted the story of our humble little Christmas tree this year and it still dons the traditional red and green theme. I love your blog and love the new house! Have fun setting everything up!
These are beautiful trees. I cannot wait to have a house big enough to even put up a little tree. Right now all that fits is a little bush on our window with a few ornaments 🙂
Happy holidays!
Love love love your Christmas tree, looks beautiful but is meaningful and fun too. My favorite ornament is the retro camper! Wishing you and your husband a very merry Christmas and hope you make many wonderful memories celebrating your first Christmas in your new home.
These trees are definitely on my “one day” wish list. Yours is lovely. I love that it’s so collected. “Magazine-worthy” is overrated sometimes. 🙂 I can’t believe how much you already have done in your house!
Thank you so much for your feedback! My site is currently being worked on & changes are being made & I guess this is part of the process.. I will be fixing things asap & making things better.. thank you for your kind words & I appreciate you so much!! xx
haha right?? It’s so comforting doing something traditional once in a while & it takes me back to my childhood. Thank you so much for your sweet comment & cheering me on.. this new house has been a whirlwind & I’m so excited about everything!! xx
That sounds so adorable Hannah!!! I’m sure it’s so cute.. sometimes big trees are overrated 😉
It’s one of my favorites too Denise! It’s adorable. Thank you for your sweet comment & a very merry christmas to you and your family!! xx
Thank you so much Debra!! Real trees are awesome too.. you know I have never ever had a real tree my whole life? I would like to try one year maybe. I hope you get your Balsam Hill tree soon 😉
Hi Liz,
Sorry the phone interview did not work out. So glad you loved your Stratford spruce and you have such a matte way of decorating a Christmas tree, that I find wonderfully comforting. No glitz, no glitter, no super sparkle, just comin’ at you, fun stuff and saturated color on the tree. From the color choices to the ribbon, to the boots. Love that it looks kid friendly and doesn’t have a sense of a “don’t touch tree” but quite the opposite. So many textures and interesting things to look at on the tree. Comfortable and right at home is what your tree looks like. Thanks so much for decorating it and showing us your style.
I love the checked tree skirt and boots underneath it! So rustic. I had Mark go dig up a tree from the timber behind our house and we stuck that thing in a galvinized bucket. I am so loving the rustic look this year!!
It’s gorgeous! And how special that you have it in your new Michigan home. I love both homes decorated with this tree. I cannot wait to see your new home…I’m loving it so far 😉
Big hugs, Jamie