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Recently my mom and my sister Cindy helped me put up my Christmas tree. You must be saying, "Why Nancy? It's so early. Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?" Maybe. LOL! Actually, Bethlehem Lights is bringing us the Pre-lit Balsam Fir for our October "Joy of Christmas" Event, and I wanted to show you what it looks like and how easy it is to put together. (I chose the 7.5' tree with white lights.) Before I share pictures, I'll reminisce about Christmas Trees past.

We always had a live tree for Christmas when I was growing up. For several years we went to a Christmas Tree Farm in southern Indiana to pick out our tree. It was always freezing cold with snow on the ground. But it was fun searching for the perfect tree: not too skinny, not too wide, not too short, and not too tall. Once our beloved tree was chosen, Dad tied it to the top of the "tank," and we headed home.

Once it was finagled inside the door and around the corner to living room, we would secure the tree with the same green stand we used every year, add lots of water, and drape it with a beautiful skirt. Then it was time to trim the tree. While my Dad fiddled with the lights, hoping they would go on, mom helped us kids make paper chains and popcorn strings. Next came the ornaments. We hung ones we made in school, ones my parents picked up on vacations, hand blown glass ornaments from the Lawrence Family Glass Blowers in Nashville, IN, and a whole lot of red and white frosted glass blubs. And then…the crazy single strands of tinsel made their entrance. Do you remember that stuff? I'm not sure if that's still made. But if it is, I might have to get some for Isabella. She'd love it! We kids would hang globs of it on the branches we could reach. The tree's final touch was a colored glass tree topper shaped like a ball with a spike coming out of the top. What a funny topper it was! But it was the Hornback family tradition.

 

The year my folks began using an artificial tree was the year we were driving to Colorado the day after Christmas. My mom didn't want to leave a live tree in the house because of the potential fire hazard. And, there was too much to do to get ready for a big trip like that without having to worry about taking down a tree and its trimmings. The fake tree we got was a hot mess and took forever to put together! It came in a million pieces; each branch came with a color on its end that matched a color in the pole. Once the bottom branches were in securely, a ring of "evergreen" slid down the pole to fill in the holes to make it look more lush--if that were possible. And so it went until a tree appeared. It probably took an hour or more to put together, and that was before adding lights and ornaments. I'm getting tired just thinking about that tree. I need a nap!

 

Thankfully, Bethlehem Lights trees are a breeze to assemble and the lights are ready to go. Check out these pictures of our tree-trimming fun. Putting up this tree was easy!

 

The tree arrived securely boxed and in just four manageable pieces, the stand and three sections of tree. It snapped together in minutes! Thanks to the Ready Shape design, the tree was fluffy right out of the box.

 

Look at the beautiful white lights! Since the tree is pre-lit and equipped with Instant Power Technology, all I had to do was plug it in after the simple assembly. Voila!

 

Now the decorating fun could begin! Here are some of the ornaments from Christmases past, including one I made in school.

Here's the Gingerbread ornament that reminds of my childhood.

 

Poor Jim didn't save his stocking from when he was a kid, but I did…look at its wrinkles! It's probably 45 years old! Isabella has a shiny-new stocking for Santa to fill.

My husband did the honors of topping the tree with a beautiful angel.

 

We love our tree! It looks like a real tree with none of the hassle. All it needs now are presents. Maybe Santa will come early this year!

 

I'd love for you to share what your favorite ornament was growing up and if you still have it. Mine was a gingerbread man that my mom just passed on to me.
 
Be sure to tune in September 23rd for our "Joy of Christmas" event.

Cheers to a happy, easy holiday!

Nancy Hornback