Our Five Dollar Fraser Fir

Okay fine. The month is half over but we just couldn't resist decking the halls just a little bit more now that we're home for the rest of the month.
Besides, when I tell you what we scored yesterday, you're going to freak.
I certainly did. So did Kevin.
Heck, even the guy that helped us (lovingly) shove it through the trunk to the front of our mid-sized car seemed extraordinarily excited we had discovered such a fabulously, frugal find! He told us to "have a very Merry Christmas" and to "love each other" as we jumped into our freshly-crowded front seats.
So thanks to the "Damaged Trees" area at Lowes, I present to you- our FIVE DOLLAR Christmas tree...



Measuring in just over 8 feet tall, this elegant evergreen enjoys water, plant food and displaying dazzling decorations. Its hobbies include standing, shedding needles and making rooms smell good.

And simply because our Fraser (and a bunch of other trees just like it) have splits in their trunks, they're all priced to sell for just $5.00. If I had 8 more tree stands, I would've bought a tree for every room in our house!

To create what we're calling our "Gift Box Tree", I used small boxes, like the one below, covered in pages from old books, newspaper, sheet music, brown paper bags and white copy paper. You can use any old box. Soap boxes, eye drop boxes, allergy medicine boxes, cup o' noodles boxes, etc.



They'll all be covered up, so it doesn't matter what kind of box it is. The key is using boxes you already have. See how pretty they look all wrapped up...



Most of the ribbon I tied around them was on clearance at Michaels, so it was very inexpensive and the project only required a handful of rolls total. (A few of the rolls were just 49 cents each!)
I used little green hooks to suspend the gift boxes from various branches.












I used some leftover burlap garland (also from Michaels) around the tree to create a nice swirl of woven texture...



I added touches of sparkle here and there with gold and silver ball ornaments we purchased last year...







I also collected every white pencil starfish I had laying around the house and hot-glued green hooks to back of them so they could be a part of the action too..



Our tree skirt is the same creamy white throw blanket I usually have draped over the back of our chair-and-a-half...



Just like a warm, winter sweater for our fabulous Fraser. :-)

This is the first time Kevin has had a real Christmas tree, so it was an especially exciting occasion for him...



And since I'm addicted to the stuff this time of year, I immediately cranked up the Christmas music so that we could decorate and dance. :-)



Unfortunately, I guess we got a little carried away during Trans-Siberian Orchestra's rendition of "The Hallelujah Chorus", because we broke one of the branches clean off the tree while we were fluffing it. But instead of throwing it away, I seized the opportunity to curl it around the top of one of my galvanized pedestals. It created the perfect nest for the rest of our unused silver balls...





In other Christmas decorating news-
I found a little wooden bowl for $1.50 at our favorite local flea...



...it and my Anthropologie bowl are now BFF's, up on the mantel...



I'm going to do another post tomorrow (and maybe even Sunday!) about the rest of the crafty Christmas creations I had fun making this year. I've got tons of photos, so I thought I'd break up the posts a bit.

For more beautiful-yet-budget-friendly Christmas tree decorating ideas, visit Shannan's blog "Flower Patch Farmgirl". She made a newspaper chain-style garland...



...and trimmed her branches with stencils...



Beautiful!

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