This past Monday morning, I was jolted out of a deep sleep at 6:30am by a sound that no one wants to hear this time of year… the sound of our newly decorated Christmas tree crashing into our dining room table.
After shedding more than a few tears over the many precious ornaments that were shattered in the fall — including our Lenox bride and groom ornament that topped our wedding cake, my blown glass turtle given to me by a sorority sister in college, the blown glass Hershey bar that we picked up on our Thanksgiving trip to NYC last year, and so many others — we stood the tree back up and removed every last ornament from its branches.
This was the first time ever that we went out and purchased a real tree, so we’re not positive on what caused the fall; however, we’re pretty sure it was a faulty tree stand. My husband was ready to chop the tree up for firewood at this point, but I talked him into purchasing a new stand first to see if it was salvageable.
But even though the tree seemed far more stable with the new base, I was still very hesitant to redecorate it with what was left of my priceless ornament collection, so I decided to hit Walmart to see what was left in their seasonal decor department. Honestly, I really expected it to be quite picked over at this point, but I was pleasantly surprised to find they still had quite a large variety of styles and colors.
I fell in love with these beautiful non-traditional jewel-toned ornaments, but ultimately we decided to go with these larger sets in a more traditional color scheme.
At just $16.98 for 50 shatterproof ornaments, 2 sleeves was plenty to fill our tree nicely. It’s been four days since we redecorated it, and it’s still standing! Knock on wood…
I’ll admit I do miss the personalized look that our ornament collection gave, but this late in the season, I’m perfectly happy these inexpensive alternatives. I have a few plastic icicles to add, and we’ll call it good!
P.S. Be sure to keep an eye out for these really cool clip-on ornaments, as well. They come in lots of fun colors, and not only are they great for decorating your tree and wreaths, but they make super cute DIY Christmas napkin rings!
Connie
Blown glass turtle? Are you a DZ?
Tara Kuczykowski
I can’t believe I just now saw this, Connie. Yes, I am a DZ!
Cristy
How AWFUL and heartbreaking for you! Over the new year, make sure you do periodic searches on eBay for the ornaments you lost. You may find the same one for sale and, even though they will not be the exact ones you lost, you may find a replacement for them so you can keep those memories alive! You can also contact a Christmas store in your area and see if they can order them for you. You never know! Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Angie
Every time I put up a real tree it falls over once before I finally get it in there correctly. What I started doing was not decorating it until I was sure it was in the stand good and straight. That usually meant waiting a day or so to decorate it. I go ahead and put on the lights so that I spent some time tugging on it and moving it around. If it’s still standing the next day then I decorate it.