Something New For Christmas

I LOVE Christmas and I LOVE pretty things - so naturally Christmas decorating is something I like to do!

I had built our family's Christmas decoration collection slowly over time by adding something new to the same theme each year. Eventually after 8 years or so, I felt like I had topped out my theme, and I was tired of my decorations!  For the last couple of years I have been looking for something new, but nothing has really grabbed me.  Gradually however, I felt myself moving away from the fancy-schmancy, gold and glittering decorations to something a little more simple, clean and natural.

I fell in love with red berries and decided to make the transition last year, experimenting with some new themes and began to build a new collection - so it was perfect when I received an email this year from treeclassics.com asking if I would be interested in reviewing a couple of their products!  I could choose a couple products that they would send to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review on my blog.  Free Christmas decorations of my choice in exchange for my honest opinion?  It seemed like a no-brainer.  So things around my studio got a little Christmasy a little earlier this year.

Treeclassics.com specializes in beautiful artificial Christmas trees, but to me it's just not Christmas without that real-tree smell, so I opted instead to review a couple of items from their other accessories.

Because I have fallen in love with red-berries and have based my new decoration collection heavily around that theme - the Classic Cranberry Christmas Wreath instantly caught my attention.

The wreath was larger than I expected, which I was quite happy about!  It's simple and natural but beautiful, and aligned entirely with my new vision and direction.

The cranberries on the wreath are quite realistic, which I appreciated.  The twigs do seem to shed a bit when the wreath is handled - but overall I am very happy with this lovely wreath!

The 2nd product to catch my eye was the Silver Glass Beaded Finial Set.  In my new vision, what to do with the tree is what I have wrestled with the most.  I started with clear lights and lots of berry sprigs, but after that I was getting stuck.  I wanted a clean and natural look, and felt myself moving away from ribbons and garlands - but I didn't really like the pine-cone, burlap/twig ornament look either.  I experimented with some "ice and snow" styled decorations, and decided I liked that much better.

I love finials because they remind me of icicles, and these elegant beauties grabbed my attention.  I loved the 2 different shapes which provided some variety and thought the glass beads would catch the light from the tree in lovely ways.

These ornaments are a nice weight and quality - but I just didn't love them as much as I thought I would.  That being said, I can't really put my finger on why exactly.  I think in the end, they were just a bit chunkier than I expected, and they just didn't catch the light quite as I hoped they would, but they are still a lovely decoration that brings a little touch of fancy to my new, much more simple tree.

     

All in all, I was quite impressed with the products I received from treeclassics.com!  If you're looking for something new this Christmas, check them out!