Friday, December 9, 2011

O Christmas Trees

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!  Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,  but also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!  Thy leaves are so unchanging!

Of course, my Christmas tree is green because it's fake, but let's not quibble over details. I have eight Christmas trees in my home...would you like a tour?

Let's start in the living room:


The living room is also the toy room, so all the ornaments are break-resistant.  The lights are colored, but all the ornaments are gold and red.  There is no real theme to this tree, unless you count "festive and sparkly" as a theme. If so, there is a definite theme!

Next, let's head to the dining room:


Last year, there was no tree in the dining room--this is one of the four new trees I bought on clearance after last Christmas.  The dining room has a circus theme going on already with the artwork, so I carried that over to the tree.  This tree has white lights and jewel-toned ornaments.  It also features several fun circus-style ornaments, like this Santa using a bullhorn while riding a unicycle:


I have a very small tree in the kitchen. It has to be small, because it sits on top of the fridge; I just can't spare the counter space, especially during this time of year.  The kitchen tree is decorated with handmade snowmen holding cinnamon sticks, baking-themed ornaments, and white lights.


Next is the 12-foot tree in the family room.  This one holds all of our heirloom and family ornaments. It has white lights and an angel on top.  This is where Santa leaves his presents for the kids, and where we exchange and open presents as a family.


Now, let's head upstairs...I now have a tree in the master bedroom (one of the four new ones to the house).  It is a (scrawny) four foot tree pre-lit with white lights, and a strand of iridescent pointy bulbs added for effect. 


This tree has a Wizard of Oz theme, which is actually more appropriate for the guest room.  Perhaps in the next year or two my dream of a beach-themed tree for the master bedroom will happen.  In the meantime, I am really enjoying Miss Gulch on her bike along with all the other Wizard of Oz ornaments.


Thanks to my after-Christmas shopping spree last year, the kids each have a tree in their rooms, too.  I thought I was buying two foot trees for them, which would have been suitable for their dressers, but they turned out to be three foot trees so I kept them on the floor. Little Guy's tree was pre-lit with white lights, but I threw a strand of blue lights on there to brighten it up. 


I tried to include ornaments on each tree that corresponded with their personalities and/or interests.  Here is the Hallmark ornament "Max Sets Sail" from the book Where the Wild Things Are, which is wildly appropriate for both the Little Guy and his very own Christmas tree.


Little Miss also has a tree in her room. It also has white and blue lights, though I added strands of pearls to give it a more feminine touch.  The ornaments on her tree, once all evenly distributed, are now mostly all of to one side: Little Miss likes to redecorate and reorganize her tree, it would seem.


Instead of a star, Little Miss's tree has a butterfly at the top.  I think it's a nice touch.


Christmas tree #8 is one I've had for a while, and it's also one of my favorites.  This tree is on the second floor balcony overlooking the foyer and just outside the master bedroom.  It's theme is The Twelve Days of Christmas and almost all of the ornaments relate to the theme.


The some ornaments are grouped closely together, which is Little Guy's tree-decorating style.  Fun story: the Little Guy and I decorated this tree, just the two of us.  It was after his bedtime, and I knew that he hadn't fallen asleep yet. I peeked into his room, got him up and told him we weren't going to talk, just work.  So (almost) silently we decorated this tree, all the while giving each other smiles and thumbs-up.  It was a fun mother-son moment I will remember for a long, long time, and I hope he does, too.


O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!  Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree afforded me the greatest glee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!  Much pleasure thou can'st give me.

I hope you enjoyed this Christmas tree tour. Over the weekend, I'll put up a full photo album of all the trees and special ornaments on facebook.  Become a fan to see the gallery. Have a great weekend!

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