A New Tradition? The Thanksgiving Tree

I have a tree in my family room.  A Thanksgiving Tree.  I love it.  I think it's amazing.  It's got white lights on it.  Messages of thankfulness hang from the branches.   It has a huge wow factor when you enter the family room. 

I got the idea from Pinterest.  There were paper trees, table top trees, individual trees but no statement trees.  No tree size trees.  No trees that called to me.  As I looked at the selection of Thanksgiving trees on Pinterest, it occurred to me that I had the perfect opportunity to create my own Thanksgiving tree.  Earlier this week we had eight of the trees in our yard trimmed.  The potential selection of any size or shape of Thanksgiving tree was easily available in my yard.  So, I went Thanksgiving tree shopping.  After having Rob hold and rotate a wide selection of trees I settled on a branch from the cherry tree in the front yard.

H13 helped me haul the tree stand and the white lights down from the attic.  Both H13 and Rob helped string the lights.  We hung the thankful notes from last year that I saved for something.  Turns out that something was my tree.  For the next week we will be adding "leaves" of thankfulness to the tree.  We are punching a hole in the leaves and hanging them with Christmas hooks. 

I am so excited about this project.  I hope this becomes something we all enjoy over the next week.  I hope it becomes a tradition.  Whatever the Thanksgiving tree turns into, right now it is fun and festive and lovely.

The "Perfect" Star Wars Room

Over a year ago, I posted about my experiences as a stripper (of wallpaper).  I realized a few days ago, thanks to a discussion on a message board, that I'd never posted pictures of the finished effort.  Life moves fast and the moment to celebrate creating the perfect (for S10) Star Wars room slipped past. 

So, by way of celebration, I'm taking time to revisit and share this room. S10 loves it as much today as he did when he first saw it and I think it has potential for transitioning with him as he grows.

The Star Wars Clone Wars figures are all wall clings I found on Amazon so they will peel off. 

  I fear the closet doors will have to be repainted but that was a pretty easy project so it won't be a huge loss.

The paint while perfect for Star Wars can be adapted to other colors or themes.

 

 Overall, I am really proud of the room.

Deck the Halls... fa la la la la.....

Checking it off

I'm a list maker. There are several things that I love about a list. One is that it gets the listed items out of my head. Somehow, the act of making the list relieves the pressure of all those items bouncing against the inside of my skull. Also, the satisfaction of crossing items off a list is really fulfilling. Knowing that I had an intention and followed through is very empowering. Even the act of making a grocery list and crossing off the things I've put in my cart is satisfying.

I've been known to put things on a to-do list that I've already done, just so I can cross them off. It's not cheating if it's your list.

I teased my mother about being a list maker when I was younger. It took me awhile to get in touch with my list making self, step out of the list making closet and embrace the list maker that I am. Maybe there is a genetic component to list making, maybe list making is the result of being around successful list makers, perhaps list making is the result of experience and the inability to remember anything that's not written down. Whatever the origin of the list making, it's a method of making my way in the world that provides comfort and a sense of accomplishment.

This week we managed to mark four things off our "Things to do around the house" list. We added insulation to our bonus room. Already there is a noticeable difference in the temperature there. The kids won't need to wear their heavy coats to school any more. They are thrilled, I assure you.



We reworked the family room coffee table, covering the top with padding and upholstery. It's lovely to look at and prop your feet upon.



We hung a peg board in the garage for the tools there. I suppose the picture is a give away for my husband's favorite football team. Until we got the peg board up, the sign (yes, it is as large as it appears in the picture) was centered in front of our home. At least this year the love of my life didn't string the Christmas lights on it.









My favorite project, and the one of which I am most proud, is our new headboard. We created a luxurious, covered headboard for our bed. The headboard was the final touch to having a beautiful bedroom to rival any world class hotel.








There are other things on the list but the sense of accomplishment in crossing these things off is great. If I hadn't made the list, I'd never be able to acknowledge the triumph.

I wonder how non-list makers take time to feel the victory of a job well done when there is no list to help them slow down and mark the moment.