Monday, January 21, 2013

"THE TREE"

Hello friends!  Have you ever had an idea that you wanted to accomplish and it just never saw a beginning?  After the Christmas holidays, for many years, my family has heard me say, I'm just going to leave our Christmas tree up, remove all the ornaments and decorate it seasonally throughout the coming year!  

Good idea? "Whoa, wait, not so fast" I believe I heard several times!  "You can't do that" expressed other family members.  What were they afraid of?  It's not like I was asking them to do anything, in fact, it would alleviate some of that after holiday packing and putting away for them!  Right?
  
Why or why did I give in each year and reluctantly remove "The Tree" carefully packing away all the ornaments, trims, and ribbons?  I had come to LOVE "The Tree" year after year.  After all, it told a story.  It was about my family and it was our story.  Maybe I just wanted that feeling all year through.  Maybe I wanted to keep those lights sparkling within us!

 My girls have all their childhood ornaments adorning their Christmas trees now.  Paper plate angels, candy cane reindeer, and salt dough school picture frames, among many other ornaments have been handed off to them. Every year of their life so far, Grandma has gifted them Hallmarks "Granddaughter" ornament too!  I hope they feel the same as I did when unwrapping each of those ornaments year after year. As a family we decorated "The Tree" each year, and watched our life unfolded before our eyes!


So, as I reflect on Christmases past, I've decided that this IS the year.  
I have decided "The Tree" will remain standing throughout 2013! All ornaments have been removed, leaving the lights, netting, and ribbons intact. My plan is to decorate for the different seasons, or maybe the holiday at hand.  I can think of Valentine's Day, Easter, or how about family Birthdays?  Yes, "The Tree" has reached a new beginning and I hope you will join me for the journey! I can't wait to get started!  Take good care!  

7 comments:

Kathy/NorthCarolina said...

What a fun idea....can't wait to see what you come up with!

Unknown said...

Good Woman! I have also thought I'd like to do this - Good on you for having the chutzpah to do it!

Gretchen Wilson said...

Barb, I have 3 little tree stuck together in the den, that I change with the seasons. It sure brightens the little corner of the room. I plan on a bigger one in the basement as soon as I complete my organization of my craft space. I will change that with the seasons. I love the way it up lifts my spirits. I still have my family tree up and don't want to take it down. I just love it. So I all with you and your beautiful tree.

Unknown said...

What a great idea i like it. We should all have ago at this if it makes us all feel better.xxc

Colleen said...

Oh, I have done this myself. Would decorate for each holiday; Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, 4th of July, etc. etc. Have decorated for the Super Bowl parties, birthday's, the changing of the season's, etc.
Just fun to decorate for no reason at all

Mary Esther said...

I still have my tree up, too! :-) Glad to see I'm not the only one. I keep saying it is because I haven't felt like tackling the job of packing it all up (been down with back pain) but really...I'm just not ready for the house to be "bare" without all the decorations and lights.

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Buffalo, NY! I love your idea Barb. Every year, we have a "theme" tree where my daughters get to pick the colors and theme, then we give our tree a fun name. I always hate when I have to take it all down so I take lots of pictures that I can look at all year long. Thanks for being so brave, I was I had the courage to do the same thing! Debbie Pokerwinski