This post is sponsored by Tree Classics. All opinions are my own.Â
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house! Yes, I’m that person who decorates for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Christmas is my favorite season and I like to enjoy the decor as long as possible.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is watching holiday movies with the family. We turn off all the lights except for the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. To this day, I like to snuggle up on the sofa with a soft blanket, a cup of hot cocoa (don’t forget the marshmallows) and popcorn while watching my favorite Christmas movie. It’s the simple things in life that mean the most to me.
Speaking of Christmas trees, my new Christmas tree from Tree Classics arrived a few days ago. So, come along for the ride while I unbox my new tree, complete with prelit LED Christmas lights.
Why LED Christmas Lights?
In the past, all my trees were lit with incandescent lighting. Here are a few reasons I’m excited about the change to LED Christmas lights:
- More Energy Efficient
- Durable (they can withstand much more punishment than incandescent)
- Heat – LED Christmas Lights don’t produce the heat that incandescent lights produce. Plus, LED lights remain cool to the touch. That’s a good thing when the grandkids love to gather around the tree.
- Better for the Environment
Let’s Put Up the Tree
I’m doing the happy dance because this Nobel Fir is the most amazing tree! You can find one just like it here. This tree is super easy to put up and I didn’t even break a nail! That’s a biggie for me.
The tree arrived well-wrapped and my sweet husband helped with the unboxing.
My new tree is gorgeous, but the feature I like the best is the ability to change the lights from clear to colored or both. Yes, you can set the lights to change back and forth from clear to colored. The grandkids are going to love this!
Christmas Tree Decorations
My tree is decorated with two sets of Merry and Bright Vintage Ornaments and one set of Classic Red Finials.
The ornaments are beautiful and remind me of my mom’s ornaments when I was a little girl. Decorations also include my personal collection of vintage Santa ornaments.
I’ve got a thing for beautiful Christmas tree skirts. The skirt completes the tree kind of like a statement necklace completes an outfit. I’m in love with this 60″ Quilted Noel Tree Skirt and it finishes my tree nicely.
After Dark Photos
Have you ever tried to take photos of your Christmas tree at night and was disappointed at how they turned out? I’ve been there! If you have a DSLR camera, here are a few tips to help you out.
- Shoot in manual mode.
- Turn off the overhead lights.
- Don’t use a flash.
- Use a tripod (or table – something stable to hold your camera).
- Shoot with a wide-open aperture (low number).
- Lower the shutter speed.
- Crank up the ISO.
My camera happens to be amazing when shooting in low-light situations and the best way to get a good photo is to keep practicing.
If you want to take some photos of the kids in front of the tree with the lights blurred in the background, it’s easier than you think. The term is bokeh and it simply means your photo has a shallow depth of field and anything you don’t focus on will be blurry.
For these two photos, I used my Nikon 50 mm f/1.8. Be sure and set the aperture as low as possible (lets more light in). My shutter speed is set at 1/125, the aperture is at f/1.8 and the ISO is set at 1600.
Now that my tree is up and decorated, it’s time to get the rest of my Christmas decor up. The tree is the main event and the rest of my Christmas decor has a supporting role because I don’t like to go overboard.
To prove I don’t take all my photos at night, here’s one taken during the daytime.
Kids’ Tablescape
I entertain often during the holidays, so I always create a special Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer table for the kids. They love it and it’s so easy to put together. These pieces have been collected over time and the children always get a kick out of their special table.
When the grandkids stop by for breakfast, their special table is waiting for them, along with their favorite breakfast treats.
I’m so glad you stopped by! If you’re in the market for a new Christmas tree or decorations, you’ll want to visit Tree Classics.
Be sure and stop by Edith & Evelyn and French Garden House for more Christmas After Dark photos and Christmas decor inspiration! You’ll be glad you did!
So, when do you decorate for Christmas?
31 comments
1. your tree is beautiful. 2. I love LED lights on mine, too. 3. We go all Chevy Chase on our tree with the lights – the more the better 🙂
You can never have too many lights on the tree!
My neighbor just purchased a tree that goes from white lights to colored lights. You can program it for one or the other or both. Really a beautiful tree. Everything looks very pretty around your home.
That’s exactly how mine works. I have three settings – all clear, all colored or flashing back and forth.
What a gorgeous tree! Thank you for sharing how to take photos of it. I am terrible with that! I’m going to keep your tips in mind. Ours will be going up next week!
That is an absolutely beautiful tree! I can’t wait to do ours up and running. It is always my favorite time of year. The Christmas tree makes a whole special feeling come back every year.
Yes, it does! It’s my favorite time of the year.
I can hardly wait to put our tree up this weekend. A little bit earlier than usual but that’s because we’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our home. We usually put our tree up on Thanksgiving weekend. Oh and your tree is gorgeous.
Thank you! I host Thanksgiving too and I like to have the house decorated before everyone arrives. I know your Thanksgiving Dinner will be delicious!
I need to get some new Christmas lights. We are getting an unlit (real) tree for the first time this year.
I did real trees when the kids were small. I loved the smell! My new Nobel Fir looks real and I love that I can get it up early. Any excuse to extend the celebration of Christmas is fine by me. 🙂
So fun and beautiful, Alli! It’s so fun to see these gorgeous trees at night, isn’t it? I love the one we have here at FrenchGardenHouse, I’ll be sharing ours tomorrow. Hope to see you there! xo Lidy
I’m looking forward to seeing it. Everything you do is beyond beautiful! Thanks so much for stopping by!
We normally put the tree up a week or two before Chridtmas. This year I want to put it up Thanksgiving weekend.
We’ve been using LED lights for the same reasons you listed.
Before I became a food/party blogging, I always put my tree up the day after Thanksgiving. I kind of like getting it up early now.
I haven’t put up a Christmas tree in a couple of years but I would definitely do LED lights if I put one up this year! I love the look of LED plus, like you said, they don’t get hot!
We have an artificial tree that is prelit with LED lights. It makes decorating for the holidays so much easier.
This looks like such a beautiful tree. It’s so convenient that it’s prelit .We use a prelit tree and it saves us so much time.
I was never fond of LED Christmas lights when they first came out. However, after they’ve made some modifications, I love them. We converted all of ours to LED’s
This is so why I like love Christmas!!! Your tree is so pretty!! My tree is already up and I can’t wait to use your tips on how to take amazing pictures!
Your tree rocks so much! Ours is in storage with the rest of our Christmas decorations currently. I’m going to try out your photo tips so I can get some cool shots!
I love Christmas, it’s my favorite season. That being said, I don’t believe in decorating until the day after Thanksgiving. I only do a real tree, and I have slowly been replacing old lights with LED as they are brighter.
Such a beautiful tree! I never thought I was fond of colored lights until I saw them on this tree from Tree Classics!
I love how you decorated your tree, it is so colorful. I love led lights too, most of ourChristmas lights are led lights.
I love Tree Classics trees! You have decorated this beautiful tree so wonderfully for your family. The tree is truly joyful! I am sure that your family is thrilled with their new tree.
Love your tree with colored lights – the pedestal for stockings is adorable. My DH frets with stockings over the fireplace and it is usually to hot to use fireplace!
I’ve always thought LED Christmas lights were safer. Not just that but they’re brighter and stick out better. Love them!
Your tree came out beautifully! I love the lights and the decorations. A few years ago we switched over to LED lights from our traditional lights. They are definitely an improvement in many ways!
We haven’t started setting up the Christmas tree in our house. I need to get done shopping for new ornaments. The tree you have is so pretty! I might take inspiration from you and set up our tree that way too.
I love setting up the tree with lots of pretty lights! LED ones are pretty – I tend to lean toward the more traditional lights but I do like the look of these!
I never thought I was fond of colored lights until I saw them on this tree from Tree Classics!