For some women it is shoes or marriages or Bundt cake recipes, but for me it is trees. Christmas trees. Artificial Christmas trees, to be precise. Oh I know everybody loves to get their hate on regarding artificial trees. Yes, yes, I am aware of how lame artificial trees are. No piney smell, no nostalgic trip to the parking lot at Walgreens to purchase an overpriced dead-and-getting-deader tree, and after Christmas, I miss out on the joy of setting it out by the curb with care, in the hope that St. Garbage Man soon will be there. To, you know, haul it away without any further effort on my part.
So all you haters--try living 6000 feet above sea level in a desert highland and just see how long your average once-alive Christmas tree lasts! (I will tell you. If you wait until mid December to purchase and decorate, your tree will NOT be a fire hazard until approximately 3 days before Christmas, at which time it will spontaneously turn into a giant, festively decorated Duraflame log a spark away from conflagration.)
And anyway, lit up at night my fake trees are really rather beautiful--especially if you squint.
Here is a picture of me putting together one of my four full-sized indoor fake trees. I like to get all dressed up in my holiday togs whenever I decorate. (Don't you find a grown adult in a Santa hat absolutely adorable? I am just kidding. When I see adults at the grocery wearing Santa hats I want to give them a holiday punch in the face. And I'm pretty sure that's not the eggnog talking.)
If you have visited my home you know it is no false modesty on my part when I say that I am not a decorator. I have neither the decorator's gift for creating beautiful surroundings nor do I promote any pretense that I do. So it is no surprise that my philosophy on holiday decorating is best described as "less is more, and there will be no singing trout on a plaque, belting out the Kristmas Klassics".
So this is where all my trees come in. They are like a shortcut to filling a room with holiday cheer! Trees are the workhorses of Christmas decor and pretty much take on the entire decorating burden of any room they happen to be set up in. Plus if you have more than just ONE tree, you can assign the kids to decorate one that doesn't get seen much by the public such as, say, the laundry room tree. Seriously, just because my kids made a special 2 lb. bread dough ornament with their picture shellacked to the front of it doesn't mean I want it sitting on THE tree in the window for all the neighborhood to see. Just kidding again! I don't actually even have a laundry room tree. Hmmm, laundry room tree.
A few pictures to give you some decorating ideas:
A Charlie Brown tree.
I also have 4 full-size trees for outdoor use, plus two more sets of 2, 3, and 4 foot trees that I group together. A girl can't have too many fake trees you know. I've got my eye on a couple at Wal*Mart right now, just waiting for the after-Christmas markdowns.
Kelly, I blame you for this. You and your "tree in every window" philosophy. Enabler.
