Friday, December 21, 2012

o tanenbaum...

Flocked Trees
i can still remember my first time seeing tchaikovsky's nutcracker ballet.  i was young, possibly in the ten age range.  i got to be super dressed up in some ridiculous frilly dress and stay up past 8:00.  i sat in my chair completely mesmerized.  my absolute favorite moment was when the christmas tree quadrupled in size.  it was beautiful.  this monstrous tree is the epitome of trees for me.  you can imagine my disappointment when year after year our tree at home was, in my eyes, a disaster. 

if you remember last year i had the "rat tree".  i borrowed my mom's fake tree and unbeknownst to anyone there was a stowaway "r.o.u.s.".  the rat was way more than i bargained for.  one would think that having a live rat in your tree would take the cake for the most memorable tree moment, but i have several that make the cut.

the nutcracker has made me love big trees.  i don't want to be able to see over the top of them, that is a definite requirement.  wel,l one year mom decided that she wanted to buy a live tree so she could plant it in the yard afterwards.  just an fyi, the ground is frozen after christmas so you can't really plant it.  anyway, mom bought this tiny, i'm talking maybe 4 ft. tall, tiny tree.  she put in this huge blue grain bucket and set it on top of an old trunk.  granted it was taller than me, but it doesn't count when the base of the tree starts at knee level.  for some reason our regular lights went m.i.a.  so mom, being very resourceful, put the giant outside lights on this tiny tree.  it only took one strand.  this was a tree fail (in my eyes).

for the past couple of years i have had a fake tree in my home, but i prefer a freshly cut tree.  there was a christmas that mom, sis and i were going to minnesota to celebrate the holidays.  mom didn't want to put up a tree, but sis and i were having none of that.  we begged and begged for a tree.  christmas just isn't the same without a tree.  that year we got to open gifts before the actual day.  so mom, again being very resourceful, made a construction paper, 4 sided christmas tree complete with drawn on ornaments.  she placed in the center of our round kitchen table adorned with the tree skirt and nestled the presents under the table.  although memorable this is yet another tree fail (in my eyes).

oh i'm not done.

i have another tree requirement.  i like branchy trees.  meaning i want there to be space enough for my ornaments to hang from their cute little hooks instead of lay on the outer surface sunbathing in the glow from the lights.  one holiday season a boyfriend of my mom's surprised us with a tree.  before i go any further, i am of the belief that a christmas tree is a pretty personal decision and this isn't really something that you "surprise" someone with.  if you would like to spread some cheer get a wreath. 

anyway, the surprise tree was one of those huge fluffy trees with the sunbathing type branches.  mom, still resourceful, tried to make it a branchy tree.  she took her loppers and started cutting out branches here and there.  for anyone who has thought of doing this, it doesn't work.  the tree ends up all patchy and uneven, sort of resembling of a person losing their hair.  for obvious reasons this was a tree fail.

in attempt to stay positive, my absolute favorite tree is flocked.  i absolutely adore a flocked tree.  besides the fact that it is beautiful there are some really great benefits to flocking your tree.  one, it is flame retardant.  whatever is used to flock the tree doesn't catch on fire.  bonus.  two, it is preserved.  the tree people put it on a stand and you don't have to water it, just put adorn it.  bonus.  three, since it is preserved you could potentially store it for the following year.  definitely a bonus, but i haven't tried this, i live in a tiny shoe box.  if you haven't ever tried a flocked tree i definitely recommend it.

anywho, happy holidays.  i hope you are having a successful tree year.

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