Oh Christmas Tree...

So once the hairnet came off, our Christmas tree looked significantly better.

Add a few lights, some ornaments & a star on top...
& presto!

The stars of the show were my vintage goodies from the ornament swap I participated in.

They didn't mind sharing the spotlight with the other new additions, 

the two hand-made felt peacocks I bought for us at a market in Budapest last month.

(Do they look familiar, Krista?)

Speaking of the ornament swap...

Micaela (who organised it all) has posted lots of photos on her blog
to showcase the baubles that were sent & received.

My swap partner Krista blogged about what I sent her over here.

Tanya at Dans le Townhouse read Krista's blog entry & was quite smitten.
Whee!

So there you have it. 
Fun ornaments, new friends & cute little tree, right?

Oh & I really do mean "little".

I'm five-foot-nothing (or 152 cms if you prefer)...

... but suddenly I'm a GIANT!!

OK, here's one more funny thing to show you.

In France, people don't seem to fuss with tree-trunk stands &/or water.

They just nail the base of tree to a cross made from two flat pieces of wood
or (the slightly more artistic version)
drill a hole in half a log & stick the trunk in there.

No fuss, no mess.

Well, apart from the endless pine needles on the floor, of course.

I guess some things about Christmas really are the same, 

no matter where you are.

(Now, where's that broom...?)

Ornament Swap

Last month, I participated in my first-ever blog swap.

You didn't even know that such things existed?

Me neither, until recently.

So how did this all come to pass?

Well, my lovely Erin (in Victoria, BC) directed me to Dolce Vita, 

which is a fabulous blog written by Micaela (a newlywed Texan who now lives in Virginia.) 

Micaela was organizing a Christmas ornament exchange.
She matched me up with Krista in Georgia for the swap.

Still with me?

Good.

The idea was simple: have a look at your swap partner's blog to get an idea of her style.

Pick out an ornament or two.  

Write a note.

Mail it off.

Et voila!

I received a pretty little box from Krista in my boîte aux lettres the other day.

As you can see, she did a fabulous job picking out two ornaments for me 

(at a vintage auction, no less!)

She included a lovely letter too.  

I was also pretty excited about the sparkly bits amongst the shredded paper 

she used to make sure my little elf & glass ball got 

all the way from the Southern U.S. to the French Alps safe & sound.

We are decorating our tree tonight & my new ornaments are going to be front & centre!

More photos tomorrow!