One of the most wondrous things about Christmastime is that irresistible sense of anticipation and excitement that permeates the season. Advent calendars count down the days, twinkling lights make the neighborhood more and more festive, and brightly wrapped presents begin appearing, as if by magic, under the tree.
Once again I’m participating in the Michaels Dream Tree Challenge and this years tree pays homage to that glorious Christmas season tradition and anticipation that accompanies writing to Santa. If you’re like me, you remember that tingling excitement of writing out your wish list and sending it off to the North Pole. Then begins the hoping, the wishing, the dreaming as you wait (usually not so patiently) for that magical moment when you run down the stairs to discover if the big man and his elves thought you were good enough to deserve at least a few of the things on your list.
In keeping with the theme of tingling anticipation that comes from writing letters to Santa, I chose bright, fun colors for my Polar Post Christmas tree.
I instantly feel in love with the Jingle Jolly Way holiday collection at Michaels, in fact the cute little Letters to Santa mailboxes are what inspired me to create this year’s tree. This year I used a 7.5 foot pre-lit Vermont flocked tree, the snow white branches were the perfect backdrop for the bright colors and ornaments.
Santa is making a list and checking it twice to see who’s been naughty or nice, and so are his little helper elf’s. I printed out a bunch of names on computer paper and pieced them together to create my “nice list” garland.
I always like to create a few handmade ornaments for my tree. This year I used my Cricut Maker to make small felt “letters to Santa” ornaments. My kids have already asked if they can put their wish lists inside. Speaking of wish lists, I had my kids write down some of their Christmas wishes on a small white piece of paper. Then I wrapped their lists around large wooden spools and hung them on the tree. These will be such a treasure year after year.
I found a container of large retro plastic lightbulb ornaments that I thought would be perfect of my tree. I filled them with paint that matched my color scheme, this was such a quick and easy way to add a pop of color with out spending a fortune on ornaments.
Colorfully wrapped presents with fun gift tags are piled high underneath the tree for all the nice boys and girls. And our DIY Special Delivery stockings are hung with care on our North Pole inspired mantle.
A small vintage desk is the perfect spot to write your letters to Santa, or leave him cookies and milk. My kids are eager to write their letters to Santa and drop them in one of the adorable little mail boxes.
Michaels has everything from flocked trees, ornaments, decorations and more that you’ll need to create your own dream tree this Christmas. To see my previous Michaels Dream Trees check out these posts:
Glam Metallic Farmhouse Christmas Tree
Winter Woodland Christmas Tree
This is truly spectacular! You really have a designer’s eye. Well done!
Thank you so much Delia, I appreciate the sweet comment.
I LOVE the teal and red together! This is one of the cutest set-ups I have ever seen!
Fun colors…exquisite details! This is my favorite!
I LOVE your color scheme!! Such whimsy
This is absolutely gorgeous! Can I ask where did you get your flocked tree? Thanks!
Thank you so much Tatanisha! The flocked tree is from Michaels, they have a huge selection of trees this year and some great deals on them too!
That’s a dream tree for sure! Renews my belief in the magic of Santa. Love your blog! You’re so generous with your creative gifts. Thanks!
Do you have a printable for the nice list? Love the idea!!!
Hey Jen, I hadn’t originally created one but if you are still looking for it you can email me at mariah(at)gigglesgalore(dot)net and I can see what we can do. 🙂
Mariah your North Pole tree inspired me to re-create this for our work donated tree. Can you help me out with your “nice list”. Did you have a template you used? Would love any tips and pointers!
That is so fun! For the “nice list” I simply typed up a bunch of names in a Word document and printed them on white copy paper. Then I trimmed the list to be about 3 1/2 inches wide. I taped them together on the back. I added red and white striped washi tape to the edges to give it a little extra detail and pop of color. Then I rolled the list so that it would have more of a “curve to it. Hopefully, that all helps, but feel free to email me if you have any other questions or need additional help!
I super love your polar christmas tree! So fun and for sure kids will love it too!❤️ I’m inspired to do this decor I love the idea of using paint inside the ornaments, I was wondering what kind of paint did you use? And the big christmas ball ornaments and garland are those all from Michael’s? Thank you!
Yes, the ball ornaments were from Michaels. I created the garland and have a DIY tutorial for that on my site. I used DecoArt Acrylic Paint inside the ornaments. Hope all that helps.
Hello. I absolutely love this and hope we can create something similar for our North Pole theme this December. I’d love to find out where you found all the beautiful teal signs such as the letters to Santa ornaments in the tree (are these ornaments?) Red Santa arrow signs, Santa Stop here, etc. Were these all from Michael’s?
Thank you!
Hi Jeannie, thank you so much for visiting our site and using our tree as inspiration for your own. Most of the decorations and signs came from Micahel’s, including the arrows, and while they don’t carry the same ones anymore in the past few years they have had similar versions of this line in different variations so you may be able to find a few things when their Christmas stuff comes out. I did make the Santa Stop Here and For Goodness Sake sign using my Cricut. I have a tutorial for it here, https://gigglesgalore.net/whimsical-north-pole-christmas-mantle. I also make the Letters to Santa ornaments and you can find that tutorial here, https://gigglesgalore.net/diy-letter-to-santa-felt-envelope. You can also create the scroll list ornaments using this tutorial, https://gigglesgalore.net/diy-scroll-christmas-wish-list-ornament. Good luck, I hope you have fun creating your own Dream Tree this year! We love to see how others use our ideas, so be sure to share pictures with us online and tag us on social media @Giggles_Galore.