Wednesday – Christmas Excesses
Dec. 9th, 2009 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
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When it comes to Christmas decorations on a tree, I believe that less is more. I admire those trees with just the right number of ornaments on them, each surrounded by enough space to showcase the individual ornament in all its glory. Ideally, the most ornaments a tree should hold is a couple of dozen; this keeps the tree from looking cluttered. Simplicity is elegant.
My tree has about two or three hundred ornaments on it. We don't do elegance for the holidays around my house, we do overkill.
I've always admired theme trees, as well. Snow and ice is a nice theme for a Christmas tree. Red and Green is another popular theme. There are hundreds of themes to choose from: rustic Christmas, Santa Clause, whimsical mice, and 1960's cocktail party, just to name a few. My babysitter has a Dallas Cowboys Christmas tree, decorated only in that team's colors and topped with a blue star. It's not exactly elegant, but at least it's disciplined. My tree has no less than 8 themes running concurrently. They don't really compliment each other all that well but we cram them all on there and somehow make it work.
The themes are, in no particular order:
1. Aviation: My husband is an Air Force brat (the son of an NCO) who works for an airline, and airplanes are greatly admired around here. We have the entire collection, to date, of the Hallmark collector's series called "Sky's the Limit" ornaments that looks like scale models of various aircraft since the dawn of the aviation age (the #1 ornament in the series is the Wright Flyer). Before these ornaments, Jeff was prissy about his Christmas ornaments and turned up his nose at anything made of plastic. He did not become aware of the Hallmark series until it was in its 7th year, and then he got a little hysterical that I hadn't told him about it years earlier.
"You don't like plastic ornaments," I reminded him.
"Well, yeah, not normally, but these are airplanes!" his voice squeaked a little when he said airplanes.
We won't discuss how much I ended up spending on EBay to collect ornaments 1 through 6. Since a couple of the harder to find ornaments (specifically the #4 Spirit of St. Louis and the #5 Gee Bee R-1 Racer, which looks kind of like a peppermint candy with wings and thus appealed to people who were decorating non-aviation themed trees) could only be found in a group of ornaments that I paid way too much for, I now have duplicates of ornaments rather than holes in my collection. I have 2 Wright Flyers (#1) and Stinson SR Reliants (#7), and 3 each of the (#2) Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" and the (#3) Curtiss R3C-2 Seaplane, which has cute little water skis on it. If anyone needs any of those ornaments to complete their own set, let me know.
In addition to the Hallmark ornaments, we also have more whimsical flying machines on our tree: hand blown glass airliners, a spun glass bi plane, and a Santa Clause flying a red and white helicopter, just to name a few.
2. Antique Glass: My husband brought a box of delicate antique Christmas ornaments from the turn of the last century into our marriage, some that double as candle holders for back when trees were lit with real wax candles. The ones that aren't broken and still have some color and glitter still make it onto the tree every year.
3. Homemade Kitsch: My mother loved to make Christmas ornament. As a kid, we spend hours sticking pins adorned with beads onto Styrofoam balls. Most of these Styrofoam balls eventually disintegrated, but I saved the beads in a glass jar that I can't bear to part with. The ones that were covered in Sateen that she put beads and ribbons on are still on my tree. We also have needlepoint ornaments and other sundry of made-by-hand ornaments that we've been given or inherited. I also went through my own homemade ornament making phase, and a lot of these are also on the tree.
4. Sweet Pea Nostalgia & Sweet Pea Friendly: My son's daycare always sent home a Sweet Pea ornament, usually with his hand print, but one year it a snowman painted onto his footprint. There are also things he's made with his own little hands, like the wreath made out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells. Then there are the non-breakable sateen ornaments we bought so we could have ornaments that would be safe for a toddler to handle. He's only 5 and an only child, but we could decorate a whole tree with just these sorts of items.
5. Birds: I like those bird ornaments that clip onto the branches and perch above the ornaments that hang. These are a holdover from my single days when I tried to decorate an elegant nature-themed tree, before I got married and the ornament collection got so out of hand.
6. Glass Candy: Another holdover from another phase of mine. As a diabetic, I like looking at candy but don't eat it much. Candy made out of glass, therefore, is ideal for me. I have peppermints, lolly pops with delicate glass handles, and assorted hard candies wrapped in clear glass (which is also hard).
7. Bells: I like bells. The metal ones we put around the bottom of the tree so that the dog hits them when she walks by and they make her nervous enough to stay away from the tree, or at the very least alert us that she's over by the tree so we can chase her off.
8. Miscellaneous Holiday Nostalgia: Baby's First Christmas (3 different versions all for the same child); Our First Christmas Together (2 different versions); photos in little ornamental frames; and a little pillow with fake gold wedding rings on it that adorned a wedding present, just to name a few. Every household has these types of ornaments. We just have more than most people.
If I had a bigger house, I would have several large trees in several rooms. Maybe I could put similar groups of ornaments on one tree together (such as putting the aviation and bird ornaments together for a "things that fly" tree). As it is, we only have room for one tree and the poor thing has no many ornaments on it that you can barely see that it's a tree and not just a collection of brightly colored object and lights in a conical shape.
Every year I get the idea that I will only put part of our collection out, but then every year I fall in love with each ornament that I pull from the boxes. When I take off the tissue paper, I not only uncover the ornament but the memories that come with it. This year my 5 year old also fell in love with each ornament and couldn't bear the idea of not using some of them. So between sentimental me and an enthusiastic he, they all went on the tree.
As I stand back and look at it, it occurs to me that there is nothing elegant about my Christmas tree. In fact, it's downright tacky. But I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Reminder: It's not too late! If you want a Christmas card from me, leave me your address here.
.
.
When it comes to Christmas decorations on a tree, I believe that less is more. I admire those trees with just the right number of ornaments on them, each surrounded by enough space to showcase the individual ornament in all its glory. Ideally, the most ornaments a tree should hold is a couple of dozen; this keeps the tree from looking cluttered. Simplicity is elegant.
My tree has about two or three hundred ornaments on it. We don't do elegance for the holidays around my house, we do overkill.
I've always admired theme trees, as well. Snow and ice is a nice theme for a Christmas tree. Red and Green is another popular theme. There are hundreds of themes to choose from: rustic Christmas, Santa Clause, whimsical mice, and 1960's cocktail party, just to name a few. My babysitter has a Dallas Cowboys Christmas tree, decorated only in that team's colors and topped with a blue star. It's not exactly elegant, but at least it's disciplined. My tree has no less than 8 themes running concurrently. They don't really compliment each other all that well but we cram them all on there and somehow make it work.
The themes are, in no particular order:
1. Aviation: My husband is an Air Force brat (the son of an NCO) who works for an airline, and airplanes are greatly admired around here. We have the entire collection, to date, of the Hallmark collector's series called "Sky's the Limit" ornaments that looks like scale models of various aircraft since the dawn of the aviation age (the #1 ornament in the series is the Wright Flyer). Before these ornaments, Jeff was prissy about his Christmas ornaments and turned up his nose at anything made of plastic. He did not become aware of the Hallmark series until it was in its 7th year, and then he got a little hysterical that I hadn't told him about it years earlier.
"You don't like plastic ornaments," I reminded him.
"Well, yeah, not normally, but these are airplanes!" his voice squeaked a little when he said airplanes.
We won't discuss how much I ended up spending on EBay to collect ornaments 1 through 6. Since a couple of the harder to find ornaments (specifically the #4 Spirit of St. Louis and the #5 Gee Bee R-1 Racer, which looks kind of like a peppermint candy with wings and thus appealed to people who were decorating non-aviation themed trees) could only be found in a group of ornaments that I paid way too much for, I now have duplicates of ornaments rather than holes in my collection. I have 2 Wright Flyers (#1) and Stinson SR Reliants (#7), and 3 each of the (#2) Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" and the (#3) Curtiss R3C-2 Seaplane, which has cute little water skis on it. If anyone needs any of those ornaments to complete their own set, let me know.
In addition to the Hallmark ornaments, we also have more whimsical flying machines on our tree: hand blown glass airliners, a spun glass bi plane, and a Santa Clause flying a red and white helicopter, just to name a few.
2. Antique Glass: My husband brought a box of delicate antique Christmas ornaments from the turn of the last century into our marriage, some that double as candle holders for back when trees were lit with real wax candles. The ones that aren't broken and still have some color and glitter still make it onto the tree every year.
3. Homemade Kitsch: My mother loved to make Christmas ornament. As a kid, we spend hours sticking pins adorned with beads onto Styrofoam balls. Most of these Styrofoam balls eventually disintegrated, but I saved the beads in a glass jar that I can't bear to part with. The ones that were covered in Sateen that she put beads and ribbons on are still on my tree. We also have needlepoint ornaments and other sundry of made-by-hand ornaments that we've been given or inherited. I also went through my own homemade ornament making phase, and a lot of these are also on the tree.
4. Sweet Pea Nostalgia & Sweet Pea Friendly: My son's daycare always sent home a Sweet Pea ornament, usually with his hand print, but one year it a snowman painted onto his footprint. There are also things he's made with his own little hands, like the wreath made out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells. Then there are the non-breakable sateen ornaments we bought so we could have ornaments that would be safe for a toddler to handle. He's only 5 and an only child, but we could decorate a whole tree with just these sorts of items.
5. Birds: I like those bird ornaments that clip onto the branches and perch above the ornaments that hang. These are a holdover from my single days when I tried to decorate an elegant nature-themed tree, before I got married and the ornament collection got so out of hand.
6. Glass Candy: Another holdover from another phase of mine. As a diabetic, I like looking at candy but don't eat it much. Candy made out of glass, therefore, is ideal for me. I have peppermints, lolly pops with delicate glass handles, and assorted hard candies wrapped in clear glass (which is also hard).
7. Bells: I like bells. The metal ones we put around the bottom of the tree so that the dog hits them when she walks by and they make her nervous enough to stay away from the tree, or at the very least alert us that she's over by the tree so we can chase her off.
8. Miscellaneous Holiday Nostalgia: Baby's First Christmas (3 different versions all for the same child); Our First Christmas Together (2 different versions); photos in little ornamental frames; and a little pillow with fake gold wedding rings on it that adorned a wedding present, just to name a few. Every household has these types of ornaments. We just have more than most people.
If I had a bigger house, I would have several large trees in several rooms. Maybe I could put similar groups of ornaments on one tree together (such as putting the aviation and bird ornaments together for a "things that fly" tree). As it is, we only have room for one tree and the poor thing has no many ornaments on it that you can barely see that it's a tree and not just a collection of brightly colored object and lights in a conical shape.
Every year I get the idea that I will only put part of our collection out, but then every year I fall in love with each ornament that I pull from the boxes. When I take off the tissue paper, I not only uncover the ornament but the memories that come with it. This year my 5 year old also fell in love with each ornament and couldn't bear the idea of not using some of them. So between sentimental me and an enthusiastic he, they all went on the tree.
As I stand back and look at it, it occurs to me that there is nothing elegant about my Christmas tree. In fact, it's downright tacky. But I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.
Reminder: It's not too late! If you want a Christmas card from me, leave me your address here.
