Let me start by saying something that you don’t know about
me and actually you may not think is true about me. The truth is, I never like
to hurt anybody’s feelings. I am overly aware and overly cautious of protecting
people’s feelings. I know, I know… Difficult to believe… But it’s the truth.
However, if you cross me… I do not hold back and you will feel the wrath. But,
on the whole, I am very cautious of people’s feelings. In fact, this girl whom I
completely hate and pity has no idea that I hate her and pity her because I’m
so fucking polite. That being said, I have been stressing out all week. I kept
thinking to myself, “Ellie, how could you have a Christmas tree contest?
Someone’s feelings are going to be hurt.” I almost considered canceling the
contest. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings if I don’t choose them. Even
if I did not like your Christmas tree, you would never know it… I would go on
and on about how beautiful your tree is… And I would be secretly cringing on
the inside. So as you can see, this is a very difficult process for me. Let me
start by saying that I love and appreciate all of you for sending me pictures
of your tree. I love that all of you were so proud of your trees. You can see the
amount of love that went into each and every tree even if some of you did use
poinsettias in your tree. :-) At least you put those poinsettias in your tree
with love. Was that rude of me?
First of all, who am I to judge? My ghetto tree is the worst
one yet so in my eyes you are all winners… compared to my tree. However, I do
think I have a pretty good eye. Like I said, I like all sorts of trees…colored
lights, white lights, lots of ornaments, no ornaments, small trees, big
trees…as long as they have some style. If you need a refresher course look at
my Pinterest board of Christmas trees HERE. See! I even like a flocked tree! So,
I’ll shut up now and show you the top trees that deserve an honorable
mention…and then I will reveal my very favorite tree that will knock your socks
off. Here we go…
See how different all of them are! I love all of them. And
yet, I’m sitting here feeling bad for the other trees that didn’t make the list.
Note to self: never have a contest again.
Okay, here comes the winner...Voilà! The winner of the Have
Some Decorum Christmas Tree Contest is…
Ron van Empel from the Netherlands!
There are so many
reasons why I like this tree. Primarily and obviously because of the tinsel.
This is what I intended with my tinsel but obviously I’m not as talented as the
owner of this tree because my tree was embarrassing. This is how tinsel is
done! It’s magical, chic, sparkly, and oh so Christmasy. Now, Mr. Ron van Empel is no
one-hit wonder… No no no… Mr. Ron van Empel has, for lack of a better word, “game”
and “drops it like it’s hot.” My daughter’s going to kill me for talking like
that but it’s true… Mr. Ron van Empel is the Mack daddy of Christmas tree
decorators. Check out his other trees from previous years…
In case you were wondering where Mr Ron van Empel gets his
inspiration… Check out these trees…
I mean honestly, does it get better than that? By the way,
Mr. Ron van Empel and I have been communicating via email and he is officially my
new best friend. Sorry Yolanda and Jenny. Mr. Ron van Empel lives in the
Netherlands and was formerly an interior designer and now he focuses mostly on
lighting, furniture and accessories through his website HERE. Sometimes
people forget how important lighting is in your whole design scheme. It’s as important
as your freaking couch! It should not be an afterthought and it should be
incorporated into your whole budget. Mr. Ron van Empel sent me a photo of a set of
lamps that he is working on that will make you have a decorating heart attack.
I hope he will let me post a photo with they are finished because they are
genius. I just knew I would like Mr. Ron van Empel right away when he told me that
he shipped Christmas lights over from the United States to the Netherlands and
had to have the voltage converted. That is my kind of friend. So, bravo to you
Mr. Ron van Empel. You have completely and totally impressed me. Your prize is on
its way!
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest… But we are
never doing it again because I can’t take the stress. Merry Christmas! Stay
tuned for tomorrow’s blog… Yeah, I’m back.
http://www.empelcollections.com/en
