Un Noël Chanel

After our first Christmas in Arizona, I decided that our trusty 8” tree seemed a bit, well. . .diminutive, considering our 12’ tall ceilings. Just before our second Christmas here, I apparently had a moment of insanity and purchased a 10’ flocked, pre-lit tree for our Living Room. I guess this was one of those “emotional purchases” and was not at all well thought out.

My hubby is Jewish and although he is open minded about the Christmas tree, seems truly befuddled about the extravagance of all things Christmas. Suffice to say, he wants no part of helping install the tree except on occasion - perhaps adding an ornament or two.

What was I thinking when I purchased that flocked monster?? It takes a team of movers to bring the tree from the air-conditioned storage unit (flocked trees will yellow if left in an Arizona summer 1000 degree garage) to our home and 2 men to set it up (= $$$$) and me climbing up to the tippy top of the 8” ladder to reach the ornaments and treetop angel! Because of the logistics and cost of setting- it up, the flocked monster has only been used for 3 years. Although it is stunningly beautiful and reminds me of New England, it just seems to be far too much trouble and expense.

Last year, I was diagnosed with a torn tendon in my elbow so the huge flocked tree was truly out of the question. I found a darling little white boa-feather tree that could easily be set up and decorated without re-injuring my elbow. Last year, the little boa tree was decorated with delicate vintage ornaments in pastel colors and really looked very quaint and charming.

"Un Noël Chanel" Tree

This year I decided to change it up a bit (that’s the beauty of a smaller tree – fewer ornaments and expense for those of us that like to try out new creative ideas). With tons of “decorating ideas” dancing in my head for the Kitchen/Family room renovation, I decided to only use items that were already on hand to keep the expense down. Voila – the “Un Noël Chanel” tree was born!

A simple tree as a tribute to Chanel – my little 4ft. boa feather tree consists of only items that I had on hand from previous design projects. The black quilted table skirt, blush pink tweed “tree skirt” and creamy white Chanel camellias with their iconic black bows were from a tablescaping event I did 3 years ago. The black urn was originally purchased as a pair for my jewelry booth display at Scottsdale Fashion Week. And lastly, the frosted pink ornaments and jumbo pearl garlands were from previous Christmas trees many, many years ago.

I think Ms. Coco would approve!