My Christmas tree is flamingo pink!

Well, isn't everyone's???
Actually our big tree in the family room is white this year, more about that later.

Take a look at that pretty entry tree... all pink and beaded.
Beaded?
As I set it up this year, I looked to the right at my flamingo

Who proudly waves her sparkle flag all year while wearing her mardi gras beads. And her lei. Now she is holding a Christmas plant. She gave up her beads for the tree this month because....

Mama like-eee !!!
In previous years I went all out on a railing garland, but this year simplicity won out...

We discovered some years back that all three of us including the poodle got sick when we had a real tree in the house. We went to artificial, or as I like to say, artistic interpretation of a tree. This year I needed some of the pine scent, so we got a wreath of boughs and I draped the end of the lights on it. Voila!

Meanwhile back in the family room we unfurled the tree. It's is in three pre-lit sections, you stack them up, level it, it shakes itself like a dog, and there's your tree. I usually weigh it down with sparkle and ornaments and beads. This year is a lesser year. Instead of winding ribbon around and around I draped it from the top like streamers and I think I like it better! Gold see thru ribbon.

shimmer

I put on about a tenth of my ornaments,  some  flamingos, icicles of crystal, and some of Cole's.

That's when I began crying.

Oh my poor heart.

He never touched the tree, unlike my lab who treated it like a treat dispenser. She would walk over calmly, look around and choose an ornament, carefully take it off the tree and chew it up.

 Cole treated the tree like any other decoration. He would come in, see it had entered the room, give it a once over, maybe a sniff  test, and after inspection, leave it alone.

For a while I made a stuffie each year,  with red felt. They are lining the tv cabinet and under the tree this year.
 I never wanted to tempt Cole with a stuffie... even a grown poodle has his limits.

Cole's scarf and hat are resting on the little poodle Maria gave us when he went to Heaven.

"Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" meeting a scottie under the tree

See the pretty bags?
I put them out as decoration. Now they have a purpose... we both ordered gifties for the other from Amazon prime.... from the same account. We don't know who's stuff is in the boxes!! Our solution was to put the unopened boxes in the bags til Christmas morning, and open them together to figure it out!

Drew said " of course, one of these holds the replacement heads for our toothbrush"
Nothing says Christmas like clean teeth!