The Best of Orlando's Festival Of Trees 2017, Pt 2!

It's time for more glittery holiday goodness, starting with:

CHECKERED MOOSE.

I'm such a sucker for black and white checkers with classic red and green.

And here's whole tree of fuzzy white animals, which I would very much like to snuggle:

See that collar of icy branches under the topper? I like that. In fact, my favorite tree (which I'm saving for last, of course) has an interesting layered effect similar to that. I also like the little red berries sprinkled throughout.

If you ever have a container that's too big for your mini-tree, here's a neat solution:

I like how the designer off-set the tree and put that house beside it. You could also do this with a pretty wrapped gift or stuffed animal. (Because I'm not the only one who decorates with empty gift-wrapped boxes, right?)

Here comes the tree that was almost my top favorite:

Snowy pastel prettiness!

Just look at all these sweet details:

It was covered in gold forks, you guys. That's right: THEY USED THE FORKS. Plus pink and teal mixers and little cake crowns!

This is a girly baker's DREAM, right here - and all that fake snow is perfect with the colors!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, check out these green mossy place settings:

Another great use of bare tree branches here - and they painted the ornaments to look like bird eggs! (Or maybe pretty stones? Whichever, ME LIKEY.)

This one made us laugh; the table garland was so massive it spilled over the end chair and onto the floor:


If your table decorations need their own dining room chair, folks, you may have gone too far.


Back to wreaths with this little deer:

And I like this faux stag head design:

The wood frame behind the wreath with the red hanging cord is awesome - I like how it ties in the berries.

I'm a little on the fence with this rustic tree, but I *think* I like it:

It's that lantern that's hanging me up, pun intended. The asymmetry bugs me a little, but then I also think that's what makes it work? Hmm. At any rate, the cat tails topper is excellent, and I like how they frame the wood stag head below them.

This trend of moving the tree topper below the actual top of the tree is super handy, btw, and opens up a lot more topper possibilities. Like this nativity tree:

The whole top quarter is really the tree topper; and talk about a clever use of the star on top.

I'm not sure how Christmassy this is, but I'm super crushing on these giant pom-pom flowers:

POM POM FLOWERS.

(I bet these would be fun to make Mickey ears with. :D)

This mini tree has the tiniest little birds adding the garland, Cinderella style:

HOW FUN IS THIS? There are more birds and birdhouses all over the rest of the tree, too. (You may have to click to embiggen; they're pretty small.)

John commented that this next one looks like a wreath Hagrid would make, and now I love it:

It's got that messy, just-put-together-with-things-found-in-the-Forbidden-Forest vibe, right? But in a sweet way? I need to start collecting all the little fallen branches from the backyard for future decorating.

More magnolias (so popular this year!) in the BEST arched window frame:

That window. Hnnnnnggg.

I can't tell if this is a snowman in a stocking or a snow merman:

Either way: SO CUTE.

I remember when teal and lime green were THE colors for Christmas, and I still go googly-eyed for 'em. And the little pops of pink liven it all up.

This next set up was SO vivid, SO holo-glittery, that my camera just won't do it justice:

The gold is that rich, almost-amber gold, and all the tinsel was holographic. The green was bright bright emerald, and I like how the designer made the three deco-mesh trees:

I bet you could recreate those with tomato cages, lights, and deco mesh.

Click to see the details on the big tree, though: check out that giant amber gemstone! And the glittery poinsettia garland! SO PRETTY.

Yes, I'm about to show you another table setting.

But look how lovely! Furry trees, pine cone candle holders, and that drapey vine over the back mirror is the stuff that dreams are made of.

One more:

I like the raised platform in the middle, with all the greenery underneath. Such a good way to show off your centerpiece - even if it's just a funky piece of driftwood.

And finally, let's go out with a big orange fireball of a bang:

Once again this tree loses something in photographs, but I'm telling you, in person? DROOLS-VILLE. It has this fascinating layered design, like a feathery cake, and all in the most beautiful array of oranges and copper:

In that top feather layer you can see a few oil-slick feathers mixed in, too, and that purple/teal/black sheen did the most amazing things against all that firey orange. But again, this concept of layering your ornaments and garland is super interesting; I like that it makes it easier to appreciate the individual elements, as opposed to having them all mixed in together. What do you guys think?

K, that's it for me! As always I have more photos than these favorites, of course, so you can go check out the whole shebang here in my Flickr gallery.

Happy Decorating!