Today, I am taking part in the Balsam Hill 12 Bloggers of Christmas and Giveaways to start the holiday festivities here at B@H! Balsam Hill asked 11 talented bloggers and I to each deck out one of their fabulous trees and offer up some really great prizes and discounts to our readers. I am so happy that we can kick off the Christmas season in a big way for you this year!

I really wanted some simplicity and ease this Christmas season. I am trying to recover and we are wrapping up our big kitchen reno. I selected the Calistoga Fir Instant Evergreen™ for several reasons including its easy assembly. Here’s the beginnings of Christmas in our home this year. I decided to go with one of my favorite holiday trios of gold, silver, and black.

The Calistoga Fir is a slim tree, which I prefer in our home since it is tight quarters. I opted for the 7.5 ft. size since our ceilings in this room are 9ft. This was hands-down the EASIEST assembly of any tree we’ve ever owned. You just snap the 3 pieces together. There are no cords to find and snap together. All the electrical is ran through trunk, such a smart design!

Sticking with simplicity again, I just used varying sizes of ball ornaments to dress it up. A simple black bow tops it off and it just feels so swanky and glamorous.

I could not resist the temptation to add in those fab gift boxes and ribbon. Besides the tree, those are the only new things I brought into our holiday decor this year. I really like to use what I already have and find new ways to reinvent our holiday home every year.

Another great thing to point out is the realism of the branches. This is by far the nicest and best quality artificial tree we have had. The branches look and feel much more life-like and they can hold your heavy ornaments.

We had a big snowfall over the weekend and we enjoyed using our fireplace for the first time this year. It just felt so magical with the glow of the Christmas tree and it’s only just begun!

We usually wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving to decorate our tree together, but we have plans this year so the timing on this blog hop worked out really great.

We are still going to go to our favorite tree farm soon and chop down a tree for our dining area that we will all decorate with our heirloom ornaments. It’s those special traditions that I want to make sure we keep throughout the years. My boys, including D, love the holidays here so much and I am so happy to create these environments for them to enjoy all month long.

Balsam Hill has offered a special discount for B@H readers to use on their site.

Enter code:

12BBLISSK2015

to receive $25 off any one time purchase of $200 or more.

Offer code good until 1/31/2016

Also, be sure to visit Balsam Hill’s 12 Bloggers + 12 Gift Cards Giveaway to win any of the following: 10 $100 gift cards, 1 $300 gift card, and 1 $750 gift card specifically toward a BH tree of winner’s choice.

ENTER BALSAM HILL GIVEAWAY HERE

Last but not least, here’s the amazing line-up for the Balsam Hill 12 Bloggers of Christmas:

It’s sure to be some amazing inspiration for your holiday decorating with a line-up like this!

Up next…pop on over to Debbie’s of Refresh Restyle and see how she’s decked out her Christmas tree.

Here are the dates and updated links so you can visit and catch up:

Monday, Nov. 23rd: Home Stories A to Z, Hunted Interior

Tuesday, Nov. 24th: Bliss at Home, Refresh Restyle

Wednesday, Nov. 25th: Just a Girl and Her Blog, Dukes and Duchesses

Thursday, Nov. 26th: The Idea Room, Fox Hollow Cottage

Friday, Nov. 27th: Tidbits and Twine, My Creative Days

Saturday, Nov. 28th: Domestically Speaking, Our Fifth House

Thanks so much for visiting today! I love the ease and laid back vibes I have this season going into the most wonderful time of the year.

Does anyone else do one real tree and one fake? Do you do more than one tree for Christmas? I love to have a formal tree in our living room and a real one for us all to deck out together with funky popscicle stick ornaments and beaded snowflakes my kids have made.

This post is in collaboration with Balsam Hill. All images and opinions shared are my own.