Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Valdez Christmas Tree Over the Years

2007: Our first tree at our home in Sta. Rosa.  Aly was so bulinggit back then.
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2008: Our first tree at our home in Bangkok.
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A small magenta tree that doesn't go with anything in the house so it totally stands out.  But that's exactly how I wanted it.
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2009: I added two more.
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I love the vibrant colors!
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This year, I added yet another one.
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So we now have four: red, white, green and magenta :)
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This year, I wanted to go overboard with the trimmings for a more stariray look  so I added handmade decor to the store-bought ones.  I also wanted the decorations to pop so I used contrasting colors.  Here's a closer look:
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For the red tree, I used two shades of green: emerald and lime.  The tree is actually a deep shade of red.  I added crystals to the tree to make it sparkle.  I would have wanted to make more crystal strands, but it's a lot of work and my wrists began to hurt.
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I initially wanted purple (my favorite color!) for the white tree, but I didn't see a lot of purple decor so I went for two shades of blue (Richard's favorite): aqua and dark blue.
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Our white tree also has crystals (which I DIY'd), small disco balls (mirror balls) and clear balls.  I love this tree!
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Our neon green tree has magenta and a bit of purple and white.  I found an old faux pearl necklace, took it apart, strung the beads on thin wire and hung them on the tree.
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The magenta tree has silver and white trimmings.  The white garlands that you see are actually sold as a necklace but I thought they would look good on our tree.  And those disco balls...they totally rock!  I really love them.  I wish I bought more.  This tree has clear balls as well.
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Now this red thing is a leftover of what was supposed to be a Christmas decor in itself.  But, what I did was, I took them apart; cut the balls one by one and twisted them on the trees.  I got them in different colors depending of the motif of the tree.  It was a painstaking process that left my hands red and calloused -- in spite of using pliers.  But it was all worth it and for my hardwork, I rewarded myself with a mani-pedi.  Heehee! 
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TIPS: 

  • Sometimes, you need not look at the household section for the perfect Christmas decor. I found some of them at the accessories section!  
  • And if you've got the time, making the trimmings yourself is cheaper and more rewarding than getting ready-made ones.  There are tons of resources on the internet for inspiration.  
  • Always, ALWAYS get the little ones involved with the Christmas preps.  Aly was in charge of putting the trimmings on our trees.  I just made a few minor adjustments.  It is, after all, for the children.
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Christmas is definitely in the house!   



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