I’m excited to be back again this year participating in My Home Style: Christmas Tree Edition, hosted by Stephanie over at Casa Watkins Living. A big welcome to those of you coming over from House Homemade, and make sure that when you’re done here you hop over to see what the very talented Domicile 37 has going on tree-wise this year. And go back to the beginning and see ALL the trees if you haven’t already! Links are at the end of the post.
I wanted to post about our travel themed Christmas tree for last year’s blog hop, but I didn’t get it finished in time, so I posted about our white dinosaur tree instead. This year was down to the wire (and I still didn’t get to everything I’d planned), but here it is: the grand travel tree unveiling.
We bought a travel trailer a couple of years ago, and we’ve been doing a lot of traveling since then (including a two month cross-country trip this past summer; you can read all about that on my travel blog). I like to incorporate things that remind us of our travels into our home (like my son’s national parks inspired room), and our Christmas decorations are no exception.
We have two other trees downstairs: the aforementioned white one with dinosaurs and then our real tree that we buy every year and string with colored lights and trim with every ornament a kid has ever made. But then I found this very tall (10 feet, I think?) tree at the thrift store last year, and brought it home for our sunroom, the only place in our house with tall ceilings.
I’ve always been bummed by how expensive Christmas ornaments tend to be in the gift shops we come across, and we’ve only collected a few of them. Our go to souvenir is the ubiquitous and much more economically accessible souvenir magnet, so we have an enormous collection of them. Last year I came up with the idea of using wooden craft rounds and magnet tape to turn them into temporary ornaments. So the “collected” in my home style words is no joke; we literally collected these from all over the country!
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These are the craft rounds I bought, and this is the magnetic tape (though, full disclosure, the tape I bought this year didn’t work as well as last year’s, even though it was from the same manufacturer. I don’t know if the quality’s gone down, or if I just got a bad batch or something. At any rate, next year I might buy heavy duty magnets and glue them onto the circles instead). Complete tutorial here.
We also have collected a few actual souvenir ornaments over the years. This new one, of the Tybee Island lighthouse painted on a shell, is one of my favorites:
And, of course, our trailer helps make all our trips possible, so we have to have a (cuter, way more retro looking) stand in for it on our tree, too (available here):
That’s as far as we got last year, but the tree never really looked finished, so this year we broke out an old atlas and went to town DIYing some finishing touches (if you don’t already have an atlas to cut up, brand new ones are not very expensive).
My husband and 14 year old son got pretty into making some origami stars using this tutorial:
And then we made a paper chain to wind around the whole tree. This was very easy, but it took FOREVER. I felt like I’d never done anything else in my life but cut strips of map and tape them together into rings. Such a tall tree!
We finished things off with this tree topper from Target. It lights up, but I just got it, and I haven’t gotten around to plugging it in yet. There was supposed to be a different, DIY tree topper, but that didn’t happen this year!
And of course I had to get this retro trailer (also Target) to sit under the tree. I’ve seen it all over the internet this year, so I’m not the only one who loves it.
And then, finally, I used this great retro US map tablecloth that I got for my birthday a couple of years ago as a tree skirt.
Hope you enjoyed my collected, eclectic, and a little bit quirky travel-themed Christmas tree (and maybe even found some inspiration on bringing your own travel memories into your home). Now spend some time checking out a whole bunch more fabulous trees!
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I love, love, love the paper chain! I love the ornaments, too, but the chain most of all.
Thanks! If you have an extra FOUR HUNDRED hours, you can make your own! 😉
Luckily my tree is much smaller. Probably less than 200 hours. Not this year, obviously!
your tree is so awesome! I love the ornament idea and the map garland. I know my kids would love as much as I do. Such a great idea.
Your tree is super-cute and creative. Love it!
Thank you!
What a fun idea! I can see this tree being so special to create. I will definitely keep this idea in mind for next year! the chain is fabulous so are the magnet ornaments. I also spy a See Rock City little bird house, I live in Chattanooga :).
Thank you! The Rock City ornament is one of the first travel ornaments we bought–many years ago–we love visiting Chattanooga!
That is a great way to use those magnets!! So clever. Love it!
Thank you!
i just love this theme- so clever and perfect for your family! the map garland and stars are awesome
Thank you, Cassie! Now that I’m finally finished, I’m glad I stuck it out with the garland 🙂
I like that tree topper 🙂
you need to come over and help me figure out how to make it light up! 😉
This is such a creative idea, and the tree looks wonderful with all of your memories displayed on it! Happy Holidays!
Thanks so much! Happy holidays to you, too 🙂
Gretchen you always have a super creative tree. I adored your tree last year and adore this year’s tree even more. Beautiful display of memories and family.
Thanks so much, Stephanie!!
It’s so cute and creative!! Love all the travel memories that are showcased. What a great idea!
Thank you!!!
I have never seen a tree like this! it’s genius! And one I’m sure your children will spend hours looking at. Happy Holidays!
Thanks so much, Ariel! Happy holidays to you, too!
Love your tree! I am not always a fan of themed trees but this one is perfect since the theme really means something to your family. And how fun to get a reminder of everywhere you have traveled each year as you decorate for Christmas!
Such a perfect tree for your family, Gretchen! And the magnet idea, I remember when you shared it last year, is so smart to save a bit on souvenirs. My husband has always collected magnets on trips, so maybe this is something I should round up for him — his own mini travel tree with magnet ornaments.
Thank you! I love collecting magnets, but then it’s hard to know what to DO with all of them…so I like that mine can multitask :).
Woohoo! This is such an awesome tree theme, Gretchen! I absolutely love the map DIYs! And that retro trailer — too cute!
Thanks, Brynne! Nothing cuter than a retro camper!
Your travel theme is so creative! How lucky you are to have visited so many interesting places!
Thank you! And yes we are–we planned the summer trip for years, and it was an amazing experience!
So fantastic! The travel theme is so wonderful! Well done!
Thank you!
What a COOL tree idea! I LOVE the way it looks lit up!! Now I need a vacation 😉
Thanks so much! and I ALWAYS am ready for another vacation 😉
Wow – your travel ornaments are such a clever idea!! I love them! What amazing memories this tree must hold for you and your family!
Thanks, Heather–it’s really fun having reminders of our trips in the house all December 🙂