The Lighting of the Tree and a Winner!

     Yesterday I showed you a hint of the color theme I'm using in my home this Christmas. Today, I will show you the tree! My hope for the tree this year was that it would almost have that "wedding cake" look to it. I decided to use silver, white and hints of gold plus lots of sparkle to capture the feeling I wanted. I started with my 7 foot tree and 1300 white lights (yes, it took hours to get them on the tree). Of course I had to create a new topper for the tree. A complete tutorial on how I make my "strange" toppers can be found in my sidebar.

I was waiting for the sun to shine so I could get

some good daytime shots of the tree, but there

 is no sun in my part of the country this week.

     The bows are double layers of two different wired silver ribbons. I use four bows to surround the tree topper for a more complete look. This year I didn't use long streamers on my bows as I wanted that "cake topper" look. There is a tutorial for making "florist" bows on my sidebar.

The gifts are wrapped in silver and gold,

with ribbon in the reverse color.

I used two of these silver and gold poinsettias

in the topper and then, I just stuck one

in the tree for added interest.

     I love to add sprigs of something each year. This year I loaded the tree with ice crystals. For a tree skirt I used shimmery silver and gold fabric, which you can no longer see because the gifts are covering them.

I am joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for

Outdoor Wednesday (we can go indoors during Dec.)

I am also joining Kathleen @ Faded Charm for White Wednesday

Please take time to visit our hostesses today.

As for the winner in the Progresso Soup Giveaway

was number Sherry @ Country Wings in Phoenix!

Congratulations Sherry!