Tree Time

Over at the fabulous remodelingmyspace site they have some lovely photos of themed Christmas trees and today was the Sharp family tree picking day so it is fitting that we show you our prize and share some tree trimming tricks of our own.

Our tree is never a theme tree. It is a mélange of the history we have created over the last 9 years together. I have my childhood ornaments that my mother gave to me, some very special old ornaments from Gran, the gifted ornaments, the chosen few Joe and I have collected, and now the new ornaments each year for the boys. The tree would never win any beauty awards but it speaks volumes about the history of our life. Perhaps the most precious are the small slips of red paper from 8 cold winters ago when Joe and I were without a lot of money and had only a wee tree in our kitchen apartment. We wrote Christmas wishes and love notes to each other and I can never throw away those sentiments. Each year I tuck them between the branches and think back to those times and smile.

Now that we have kids I am thinking of starting a kids tree next year and be able to decorate it in a theme they might choose. We have friends who have a "tree" cut out of a wooden pallet and each year they adorn it with something odd (baby shoes/beanie babies/bowling shoes/who knows!) and it makes such a cool conversation starter for holiday guests. It is now becoming their son Parker's creation as they are making ornaments for it together this year from paper. I thought of a ton of ideas while looking at the remodelingyrspace website and the cool tree page they have put together. (The peacock tree is fab!)


What about these ideas for trees:




A Barbie tree
A recycled tree
A 1900's tree
A superhero tree
A book tree
A money tree to donate to charity
A candy tree
A cultural tree
A giving tree
A ABC tree

The thing I like is that it could turn into a family tradition and my favorite thing to think about is what gifts I will pass down to these wee ones. I squint my eyes and think about young Finn saying to his family one day, "This is what I did as a boy." I hope each day that I am able to pass something down that sticks and allows our children to smile fiercely 50 years from now.
The tree is not trimmed yet, we are all tired from our tree farm adventure and the rain came down and we are all now inside warming and snuggling and dreaming about what the tree will look like tomorrow. We will post a photo. Promise.