A Christmas Tree Fit for the Emerald City

Following my Christmas Home Tour last week, someone somewhere made a connection between my latest Christmas tree and the Emerald City. That comment set my holiday heart all a flutter. And even though you’ve already seen my emerald-inspired Christmas tree, I couldn’t resist giving it a post of its own.

I have been overjoyed to share this tree with you, so I hope you don’t mind looking at a few more photos of it. As I mentioned on the Christmas Home Tour, I recorded several short videos on my phone as I decorated the tree. I’ll be putting together a large post of my entire Christmas tree process in the very near future. (Hopefully, I’ll have it ready as early as next week.) However, in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a closer look at this tree.

As you may recall, the inspiration for the tree came from my new velvet green chairs. I must confess that at first, I was a tad hesitant about doing another gold and green tree. (I used those colors for my Adele-inspired tree a few years ago.) Yet, the more I thought about it, I was sure this one would look very different.

I adore the reference that a wonderful reader/follower made to the “Emerald City.” The Wizard of Oz has been a favorite of mine ever since I played the scarecrow in a grade-school play. I didn’t make the connection myself, but as soon as I read those spot-on words, I fell in love with the notion.

Although I’ll be doing a deep dive into my whole process in a later post, I should tell you that when decorating a tree I like to find my ribbon first. Since Amazon is my go-to source these days, I searched for “emerald ribbon” and was so excited when I stumbled upon this one. As far as I could tell from the online photo, the color matched my chairs exactly.

I decided to use my flocked tree as the base for this tree because the white background would make the green really pop. (I got this tree from Lowe’s a couple years ago. It’s made by GE. Unfortunately, Lowe’s no longer carries it.)

I did pick up a few new ornaments. I was so lucky to find these emerald green balls at HomeGoods. I also purchased matching ornaments in gold. For more interest, texture, and sparkle, I bought large mercury glass ornaments in gold and silver.

In my search for ornaments, one of the places I went to was Michaels. I love Michaels because they offer ornaments in several shapes and a wide assortment of colors. On sale (which they usually are), a box of their ornaments runs about $5. What an easy and inexpensive way to add a lot of color to your tree!

Besides the ball ornaments, I added a few of these gold and mirrored stars I found at a local greenhouse. I think the stars are interesting and that they bring something special to this tree.

If you look closely, you might notice quirky things on my tree. Even on a more formal-looking tree, I like a touch of whimsy. I’ve included sequined unicorns and lions, wagoneers topped with trees (to echo my red tree), gold cats, plus a couple fuzzy white skiing Santas.

My personal preference is to have mostly glass ornaments with the exception of ones (like the sequined ornaments or felt Santas) that are intentionally made from other materials. I think glass ornaments look richer. And because they are a bit heavier, they tend to hang nicely. It’s a subtle difference, but I appreciate it.

So, with the ribbon put on first (learn how I add ribbon to my tree here), followed by lots of ornaments, I finished things off with a beautiful pearl and gemstone beaded garland from Balsam Hill. When I saw it on their website, I was instantly obsessed and knew it would be perfect on this tree.

And with that, my tree was complete.

Elegant yet fun! Isn’t she beautiful?

I did dress up the bottom with a new tree skirt. This one is white faux fur. It has a subtle diamond pattern with tiny pearls at the intersections of the lines. I thought it partnered well with the pearls in the beaded garland. I found the tree skirt at HomeGoods.

All in all, I’m super pleased with how this tree came together. I think the emerald green is special because it’s something different. While I’ve decorated a lot of trees (You can see most of them here.), this is definitely near the top of my list of favorites.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this closer look at my Christmas Tree Fit for the Emerald City and found some inspiration for trimming your own tree.