It ALWAYS Starts with an Inspirational Vision

For those of you who have joined the journey this past year, you know that all of my trees have started with a piece of inspiration. Some times the initial inspiration revealed surprising additional pieces like the charm bracelet from my Nana that I hung on the St. Patrick's Day tree. Each tree along the way triggered memories I hadn't anticipated would come and I think of all the things this experience has provided me, the ability to spend time with long forgotten, but happy memories was the absolute best part.

In deciding what the final tree should be...I was at a loss for ideas or motivation. For many years, the trees have been about the decor of the room. Long gone were the kid's handmade ornaments replaced by anything from beaded Victorian fruit to pheasant feathers and polished seed pods. No two trees were ever the same and every year was an opportunity for something grandeur and totally unexpected.

I have certainly taken a lot of ribbing from my children who at times questioned, "Mom, can we have a REAL Christmas tree this year?" This being the FINAL tree of this blog I decided to surprise my children (who are now nearly all adults) with a REAL Christmas tree. What I did not expect was all the SURPRISES I would gift myself.

With my new motivation in focus, I immediately knew where the inspiration would come from. Years ago my husband's aunt knitted each of the children their own personal Santa stocking. When the first one arrived in the mail for our daughter's second Christmas I nearly cried at the sight of it. I was so touched by the thought and the care taken by the hands of their beautiful Aunt Dorothy. She continued the tradition for the next two children as well as all of her nieces, nephews and grandchildren. For many years displaying those stockings was one of the highlights of our holiday. Years ago I tucked them away for safe keeping. Aunt Dorothy is no longer with us and I worried the stockings would get ruined and I wanted to preserve them. Still...I knew they had to be a part of this year's special tree and so instead of hanging them on a mantle, I hung them on the tree.

Further rummaging through long hidden boxes in the attic led me to ornaments and keepsakes I honestly had forgotten we had. Carefully unwrapping the tissue paper they were packed in, each and every one brought back a flood of memories of either the person who gave us the ornament or the reason behind our purchasing it. Everything from all the babies first Christmas ornaments to puzzle piece wreaths made in elementary school. I stumbled across bags of ornaments made by the ladies auxiliary group at the Church my grandmother attended. Many of the women responsible for those beautiful pieces are long gone, such as my own grandmother and yet...these pretty trinkets stand testimony to their talents and serve as a legacy. Of ALL the treasures I joyfully reconnected with there were a few that truly took my breath away. I found two ornaments from my own childhood Christmas tree and a precious envelope addressed by my son Ryan to the North Pole. Inside is his letter to Santa asking for specific gifts for himself, his sister, dad and me. ( Seth was not a part of our family then). I also discovered Ryan's favorite baby rattle. I happily tucked all of them in the tree.

For years I couldn't wait to have a REAL Christmas tree. The trees I long admired in magazine photos and fancy establishments. Trees of glorious ribbons and color coordinated adornments. Trees that had a theme where everything matched and flowed with a decorator's touch. Trees that said PRETTY.

Is this tree Pretty??? NO! It's BEAUTIFUL!!! I have a REAL Christmas tree for the first time in years and I couldn't be any prouder of it.

Merry Christmas friends!

Another Month...Another Tree Design

I must admit...as excited as I was about the idea of a Halloween tree and still am, the thought of having to say goodbye to The Gator tree is difficult. My family has really enjoyed lighting the tree these past few Saturdays in honor of our beloved football team. This tree has brought so much enjoyment to my children and I especially. BUT...this is after all A Year in the Life of a Christmas Tree and just as the leaves on the trees around us are about to CHANGE, it's time for the decorations on the tree to do so as well.
I hope you will check back in to see the newest design. If you don't hear from me any time soon, please send help. I am off to the darkest regions of our crawl space in hopes of finding Halloween decorations. Many have been boxed up for at least 11 years as we had no use for them when we moved into our new house. Surely hoping I can find them. Looking forward to another walk down memory lane...hoping for more treats than tricks.
Until next time....

TOUCH DOWN!!!

Happy September Everyone!

I don't know about you, but I for one am counting down the days until the start of the Fall season. This summer has been an exceptionally long and hot one. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself wondering who in their right mind would be decorating a Christmas tree while the temperature was 91 degrees, but I guess we long ago established the fact that I am not in my right mind for if I was, would I have a Christmas tree still standing in September? Worse was my recent confession that the tree was still adorned with Easter decorations well past their expiration date.
I want to thank my numerous friends who showed their support to me when I confessed to losing my interest in the year long Christmas tree experiment. I had come very close to just taking the tree down once and for all when I spied some Halloween tree decorations while visiting a Michael's store. The thought of a Halloween inspired tree brought new excitement to the stale experience, but I had felt as though I failed by not reaching every month of my commitment with a newly decorated tree. One friend offered the following words of advice...You can pick up where you left off as you've come to far to give up. With that gentle encouragement I recommitted myself to the task and vowed to have a new tree designed for September.
The next concern was the design itself. What type of tree would best represent the month of September? Well it didn't take me long to figure out what my favorite part of September is...it's the start of college football season and anyone who personally knows me, knows I live for college football. Not just any college...but the University of Florida GATOR football. A quick run to my nearest Hobby Lobby to find some orange colored ornaments and I was on my way. On my return home, I had a new found sense of urgency and excitement as I went to task finally removing the Easter decorations. OH and for those of you who have been keeping up with me through this journey...the Peeps held their own and looked just as fabulous today as they did when I strung them through the tree back in April. NO, I didn't eat any! Okay...I thought about it, after all I had been out and about shopping with no time to eat, but it was a very quick thought and I erased it while saying a tiny prayer for their sacrifice and then gave them a proper burial in a hefty bag.
I gathered up numerous Gator items many of which still remain in my daughter's vacant bedroom and went to work placing them through out the tree. I must admit as I strung the orange and blue lights I congratulated myself on my choice knowing that for the next two months the orange lights will remain on the tree saving me additional work with the future design plans. Stepping back to admire the tree I felt a sense of accomplishment. Yes, I missed a few months over the summer, but my friend was right...I'd come too far to not see it through and the time spent working on the tree was pure bliss. It not only renewed my excitement in the idea of being able to live with a Christmas tree on display for an entire year, but the excitement of welcoming another season of football.
It was just a few moments after cleaning up my mess that my youngest son came in from school and with one look at the tree he smiled and said Mom, that's epic! After sending a few photos to my daughter she phoned with total excitement over the tree and announced that it was the greatest tree I had ever designed and she wanted it to be our actual Christmas tree this year. I told her that I couldn't do that as I was already planning the Halloween design. Slightly defeated, she quickly rebounded with the idea that this year's annual holiday Christmas card photo would be done well ahead of schedule as it was her request that I take their photo in front of the Gator tree. WOW...this is already turning out better than I expected! A family first...children WANTING to have their holiday picture taken!
As I sit at my desk writing this I can see the tree in all its glory. All I can say is GO GATORS!
This brings a whole new meaning to the words all I want for Christmas is another SEC championship!
OH and speaking of my daughter...she probably won't appreciate it, but I have a story or two to share about my Gator Girl. : ) Stay tuned...

An Embarrassing Confession

OK, well truthfully, how embarrassed can I be...I mean it's August and I still have my Christmas tree up. To add insult to injury however the tree is still decorated in its Easter best. BTW...for those of you who wondered...the PEEPS have held their own. They are still going strong...hard as rocks, but none the less still as cute as can be. Peeps...not just for Easter baskets any more.

The Year in the Life of a Christmas Tree started as an experiment fueled by a few ideas. #1) I am the first to want to put the tree up every year with the excitement of a child, but ready to take it down the moment the last present has been unwrapped. I love the holiday decorations, but I love order and organization more. Would I be able to handle the sight of a Christmas tree well past the expiration date? #2) I was a tree designer years back and I never tire of the creativity they allow. Never satisfied with the traditional Christmas tree designs, I use every new year as an opportunity to do something very unique. A year's worth of designs was definitely an enticement to explore all the options. #3) A lit Christmas tree months past the fact is a fun way to embarrass the heck out of your offspring. #4) Last Christmas was so special part of me wanted to extend the amazing feeling of warmth and good cheer in a world that was feeling cold and gloomy.

Unfortunately, all good intentions and reasons aside, I lost interest in it. I meant to do the Margaritaville theme to welcome in summer. I envisioned a tree of pink flamingos and margarita glasses which I would have decorated to the background music of Jimmy Buffett. I looked forward to celebrating independence day with streamers of red, white and blue...BUT then it happened...I lost my tree mojo. No longer an object of desire and inspiration, but another thing on the to-do list which seems to grow day by day. SHAME ON ME! Knowing that this experiment was meant to teach me something...I realize today's lesson is that once again I allowed myself to be distracted by all the things I don't necessarily want to do but failed to allow myself time for the things I WANT TO DO. How often does that happen???

And so although I could call what happened a failure, I will refuse to do so. There have been so many wonderful surprises that took place on the journey so far and you know what...I'm not ready to give in. There are Halloween decorations that are calling to me. It's time to put on my big girl shoes...take a bite or two off a stale peep to allow for the sugar rush and find me a theme for September!!!

Stay tuned....???

Peeps Not Just For Eating...

Welcome back to another edition of A Year in the Life of a Christmas Tree and our new Easter Tree. What a lesson in patience this one has been! For one thing...it is the only tree to date where I had to keep replacing my decorations. Apparently, once a certain item becomes labeled "decoration", my hungry men decide it's the one thing they NEED to eat. I had boxes of Easter peeps, jelly beans and gumdrops carefully hidden, or so I thought, in the pantry. With the scent of bloodhounds they uncovered my treasures and went to work snacking. The worst part is, I had the peeps opened for weeks so they would harden as I thought they would be easier to use that way. I can not tell you how many boxes of them I have thrown out over the years as although they are an Easter basket staple, they've never been a huge hit with the kids. Like I said...reassign their lot in life and they become delicious delicacies. I guess I can't be too upset, because my "brilliant" idea of stringing all of the above was less than brilliant and more sticky than I had anticipated. I scrapped most of it, but still wished to use the peeps in some way other than what they were intended for.

I was up until the wee small hours of the morning stringing eggs, making tissue paper flowers...questioning my sanity. Will hope to get the room back in shape at some point today to be able to post additional photos soon. As for the peeps, they gave a good fight and did not go in vain. They actually are quite cute hanging on the tree. Now the real trick will be keeping the dogs or my guys away from them.

Now if you'll excuse me...I have a date with a vacuum.

Erin Go...BYE!

Ahhh...once again the feeling of a heavy heart as it's time to say goodbye to another month In the Year of a Life of A Christmas Tree. I know by now I shouldn't be so surprised, and yet I am. I have felt a heavy heart with each deconstruction project.

It has surprised me how much I have become attached to every one of the creations. All of them to date have been something entirely different than what I first envisioned...and perhaps it is because of that, I find myself so tickled and amused by the finished product. Every day when I catch a glimpse of them they continue to delight me. Some times it's the way the light is hitting them or maybe it's a way a certain decoration seems to stand out more than the others.

Tonight as I realized I had no choice but to get to work taking apart the St. Paddy's day tree I was completely awe struck by the way it appeared in the glow of the setting sun. The only word to describe it....magical. As if it also knew it was the last hurrah and just like a star that shines brightest before it falls from the sky it excited me like the rare site of a shooting star.

From my vantage point from my office desk where I type this, I once again look over at a bare tree and can hardly believe that just moments earlier it was a festive site of St. Patrick's Day pageantry. How sad and lifeless the bare branches. But like a painter with a brand new canvas there is a tinge of excitement to get started with that first brush stroke. An anticipation for the artwork to unfold...another reason to let go and create.

To beautiful beginnings all over again........

It Always Start With An Inspiration...

As noted in a recent post, I was finding every excuse imaginable to drag my feet on re-decorating the Christmas tree. I had reached a point where I was growing tired of it and questioning whether or not I could make the year. In blogging about my feelings, I suddenly was inspired by thoughts of my Nana and her Irish heritage. I didn't know how the tree would look, nor did I really care because I suddenly realized that it didn't matter. I had given myself a task and dwelling on the "how" was keeping me in the now. How often does that occur in life?

After making a run to the local craft stores and also a visit to my own crawl space, I soon had a large supply of items handy to begin the decorating process. The first thing I did before even removing the Valentine's items from the tree was to hang a shamrock from the chandelier to inspire the mood. OK...pardon me...the FIRST thing I did was pour a nice cold glass of chardonnay and THEN I affixed the shamrock.

Posting to face book my plans for the evening...I once again found myself in an enjoyable conversation with supportive friends. One such friend even introduced me to his beautiful wife Beth and with in a few comments back and forth she shared her thoughts that both my Nana and her Grammie were looking down from heaven and sharing a laugh together. Wow! What a beautiful thought. Now that is inspiring!

What could you create today if you didn't think you would fail? What would you create right now if you weren't distracted over not knowing HOW to do it? What inspirations are brewing within you? Peel back the layers and be ready to gaze upon your treasure. It all starts with one step...HANG YOUR SHAMROCK!!!

Memories...Light the Corners of Her Room....

What I have grown to enjoy most about the Year in the Life of a Christmas Tree is the wonderful reactions, inquiries and conversations it inspires. One of the biggest surprises to date is how many people have confessed ( in hushed tones ) the fact that they too still have their Christmas trees up. Many of them sadly naked in the corner of the room just waiting on a spurt of energy from someone in the house to finally pack it away. Others share that they like the warmth that the tree lights provide during the cold and dark days of winter and are not ready to let go of the holiday feelings it represents. Perhaps it has something to do with the overall sadness that so many people are feeling right now with the economy in such a state of disarray. Or maybe the tree is a reminder of simpler, happier times that many of us are wanting to wrap ourselves in.

That is why I was most delighted when my new on-line friend, Caroline Johnstone, shared the following story with me. Having enjoyed an exceptionally warm Christmas holiday she wanted to find a way to experience the feeling a bit longer and that led her to the idea of a Memory Tree. She got a large branch, attached lights and the concept is every time she celebrates something special, she finds a way to hold on to that memory with a treasured representation of the occasion with an "ornament" added to the tree branch.

Above is a photo of her memory tree as of Feb. 8th. The following items have been added to the tree so far: Champagne corks, a snoopy phone charm - A large red heart - the outside of a small chocolate box as a reminder of a fantastic party - a completed Sudoku laminated (from Glasgow Herald) - pretty little bag of bath salts, a reminder of a fabulous, amazing hot stone massage - nail varnish (as I stopped biting my nails this year) - a four leaf clover given to me by Emma last year for my birthday, one of my seven wonderful gifts, but it's allowed in this year to remind me to make my own luck and be thankful for it - And a healing crystal to symbolise the many I got as gifts to help me continue healing quickly.

I am so delighted that Caroline shared this with me and I can not wait to see what the tree looks like at the end of the year. I hope that it is completely covered...not a bare branch in sight as that would mean her year was blessed by numerous happy occasions and memories to be treasured.

I LOVE the concept and have shared it with numerous friends who also feel inspired by Caroline's story and idea. I do believe there will be a lot more Memory Trees being started and enjoyed!!! What would your tree hold?

Until next time...BE INSPIRED!

A Big Thank You!

I just knew when I started on this year long experiment that there would be more to it than met the eye. I had hoped that it would engage people and give people permission to be who THEY want to be...not what other's expect. The overall theme...HAVE FUN! I am so enjoying the feedback I am receiving and love that there are others who want to join the journey. I would like to publicly thank Miss Jane Ann Lance for her generous donation of authentic Mardi Gras beads which she offered to send to me from her home in Alabama. I felt like a kid in a candy store when I opened up the box to find her wonderful gift. The moment I placed them on the tree, it just seemed to come ALIVE! I encourage you to check out Jane's website at http://www.enhancedbylance.com/ Jane Ann is a very talented Real Estate Home Stager. Another friend, Janet Gibson Wood commented on one of the photos that the tree looked like a piece of art. I LOVE that! Now that the tree is completely decorated I wish to do something to honor it even more. Putting on my thinking cap...It is my desire that with each month and change of decorations...the occasion can be celebrated in a unique and memorable way. For now however...I will just enjoy each day as it is. Another reminder that yesterday is past, tomorrow isn't guaranteed so LIVE and celebrate TODAY!