This year, I am seriously thinking of having a perfect “theme” tree. Usually, we have our traditional tree that is an eclectic mix of paper ornaments, glass balls, tiny plastic reindeer and anything that might have caught the eye of a child anytime in the last 40 years.
But I also dream of another tree, one whose branches yield a more cohesive style, where the ornaments all match and everything is planned out. I have been pouring through home magazines and catalogues dreaming of the perfect decorated Christmas tree.
There is the rustic cabin in the woods kind of tree, complete with natural materials that I could carefully gather from our backyard and augment with traditional elements. There is the colonial type of tree, complete with hand stitched ornaments that I would lovingly create, despite having three children six and under and a job working from home. There is the Victorian tree, that carries the romance of a simpler time and embodies all of the velvet luxury that I always thought the holidays should include. There is even the flashy tree, bright and shiny with all manor of silver and blue that winks cheerfully from every angle.
But, I remind myself that we have never had more than one tree. And that despite our best intentions, the “everything tree” usually wins out. Oh, the tree might start out with a hidden theme, perhaps a bit of burgundy and gold that has the hint of the Victorian, or those backyard pine cones. But then I unwrap a special Christmas ornament, such as the one we bought for our daughter the month she was born. And there is no way that the ornament can go back into its wrapping to be kept away and dark through the festivities. Then there is my eldest first paper Santa, made with a cotton ball beard and repaired at least twice. One memory snowballs into another and before I know it, the everything tree takes shape.
But this year it will be different. This year, as I pour through those gorgeous full-color photos of elegant great rooms and majestic trees, I may actually come to realize that the perfect Christmas tree really does exist; right in my own home.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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