Inspired by my attempt last December and from my friend Stephanie, I’m going to try blogging each day in December — holiday themes, of course! I’m calling it “31things.” Click here for more details. Read below for today’s post.

Tree trimming
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with decorating trees.

I remember walking through the old Kaufmann’s department stores amazed at the elegant looking trees displayed.

When I was younger, my family put up several trees.

Downstairs, was the “family” tree — a 7.5-foot tree filled with multicolor lights, all of the fun and traditional ornaments we had collected throughout the years, and I always constructed a town below, complete with a train.

Upstairs, was our “Kaufmann’s” tree. That tree had white lights, red and gold ornament balls and some ribbons.

I loved both trees equally.

For whatever reason, we stopped putting up the downstairs tree and moved our family celebration upstairs. The Kaufmann’s tree was retired and replaced with multicolor lights and all of the family ornaments.

Underneath the tree are a few pieces of my Lemax and Kohl’s villages — depicting a slowed down approach to Christmas.

The current tree stands at 7.5 feet and has been with us for 10 or 11 holiday seasons. The first several years, I’d spend 12 or more hours lighting it before decorating began.

I hide the wires among the branches. After the first several years, I decided to build my own pre-lit tree, so I decorated six of the eight tree sections with their own set or two of lights. This way, I figured, when it came down, we could store the tree’s sections with the lights still in tact.

It’s been a beautiful process! I still spend anywhere from 4 hours to eight hours replacing lights and making sure the tree looks real.

Then we decorate!

I love spending time decorating the tree and making it look grand. People often ask if I get frustrated or stressed. And to be honest, I don’t.

But I still miss that Kaufmann’s tree. One day I’ll recreate it. And several others, too!