Christmas Traditions: Tree Raising

I know I'm early based on conventional traditions, but when have I ever been conventional??? The holiday spirit hit me quick this year, so yesterday I decided to put up my tree.

My neighbor helps with the tree

If you know me at all, then know this... I am not mechanically inclined. Like, at all. So when my tree came up with missing parts, I wasn't well equipped to handle it. That's why I called in reinforcements.

What was the problem, you wonder? Well, I bought my pre-lit tree used this year from someone moving back to the States. The 220V plug is handy to have. But when I opened the box, I realized there were no directions or diagrams or anything.

I can hear you laughing, you know.

With only 4 parts in total, you would think I could do it without directions. I thought I could. Then, I couldn't figure out which piece was the bottom tier. Then I realized the base was obviously missing a few screws. Then I finally figured out the bottom tier, but it immediately fell over due to the lack of parts.

Help!! Lucky me, my neighbor came over to laugh at me.

I mean, she came over to help me. And she did. But we pretty much redneck-ified my tree (this is an official word now).

Tree base, plus zip ties

We searched my tool box for screws that would fit the tree base. No luck. However, I did have quite a few zip ties! These are like duct tape, they fix all sorts of ills. As you can see from the pic above, I zip-tied the first tier of branches to the base.

Problem solved.

All of this took several hours of thought, a few trips back and forth to my basement and the neighbors house, 1 cup of coffee, 2 bags worth of zip ties, and a lot of laughter. But in the end...

Eureka! Let there be light... which is a whole other story and took another 30 minutes of plugging in, unplugging, and rearranging of cables. Not to mention the time it took to move all my living room furniture and find the perfect spot for my zip-tied Christmas tree.

Needless to say, I didn't get around to actually trimming the tree. That comes this weekend! Wish me luck, fingers crossed that my jerry-rigged stand holds, kay? Until next time, my friends...

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Follow me on Facebook @ OurArmyLifeAccordingToTheWife
or on Instagram @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

or on Pinterest, my newest obsession @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com