I love decorating the Christmas tree but I always feel wasteful when I just throw away the trimmings after we get the tree into the stand. I decided to try to use real pine branches is some of my decorating. I started with a pile of trimmings:

And decorated most rooms in the house. The banister:

The window above the door:

A dresser in the guest room:

Around the poinsettia:

And my favorite – the pitcher from my lovely mother-in-law with trimmings and a few ornaments:

No more wasted trimmings in this house! Actually, there was still another pile outside! I’d love to hear some more ideas of ways to use them!