Monday, December 6, 2010

Any suggestions?

Ok..so my little misfit of a tree, The Little Tree, has made its official debut as a decorated Christmas tree! It has brightened the dining room tremendously! It is absolutely pulchritudinous! (Now..be truthful..how many of you quickly looked up that word?!! Actually, my son and I were discussing this word today..it sounds like the exact opposite of its definition! Pulchritudinous.. beautiful, comely! Doesn't it almost sound as if it is something quite disgusting!) Anyway, now the question..my tree is decorated but has no topper..what should I use as the crowning glory of The Little Tree?? The tree itself is old, balding and tired.. it is leaning slightly to the left.. it is gorgeous if only in my eyes! It has the tiny, white lights and exactly $14.98 of ornaments! I challenged myself to decorate a tree for under $25 and have managed much better! The lights came from the local dollar store and the bought ornaments were from DollarTree! They actually have really pretty decorations. The boxes of glass ornaments surprised me with the quality! The garland of tiny light bulbs is another dollar store find and the green beaded garland is..well..sort of recycled. Actually, that will be called upcycled! Face it, Folks, I live on the Gulf Coast..we have Mardi Gras beads cluttering up every junk drawer in our house! The suggestion of using those for garland came from a young girl that I met in DollarTree. She and I were discussing how to decorate on a budget..I, because of my challenge and she, because of this being her first Christmas in her apartment. When I got home from the store, I dug around in every nook and cranny, box and basket, closet and cabinet to find all of the old Mardi Gras beads. What a collection! I had well over a hundred strings. I had multiple strings of all colors..except.....red. There were only two strings of red. I had so wanted a red beaded garland to match the big tree in the living room. Nope..wasn't happening..no way. Next choice was gold..only there were all sorts of golds..yellow gold..orange gold..almost white gold..hmmph! I am down to mounds of blue..too many different sizes..pink..whoever heard of a pink garland..purple..now there's a thought..and green. Green won out since the theme of the tree was to be red, gold and green following a gifted Santa ornament. So the garland was free. Since I have spent well under my allotted $25, I have leeway to splurge on a topper. I am just not sure that I really want any of the toppers that I saw at the stores..I want something a bit unique..something that will catch the eye and say "Hey..I am up here on the beautiful tree..look at me!" I would love something handmade perhaps! So there it is..what do I put on top of my tree? Any suggestions???

While photographing the Little Tree, I noticed the vintage Santas behind it on the shelf. Every year, I carefully unwrap these little Santas and smile. They make me happy! I remember as a small child playing with these very same Santas at my grandparent's house. Each holds a tiny tool in his tiny, hard plastic hand. I, also, remember as a child the horror I felt when I broke one of those tiny, hard plastic hands. I was trying to remove the tool and CRACK! Santa's hand fell off! Oh my! I just knew I was sooo in trouble! My grandmother consoled me and merely picked up the pieces. WOW! What a lesson in patience! But a few questions...are these supposed to be Santa? If so, why are there so many of him? Why is he the one (ones) with the tools..what is wrong with those elves? And why is he not wearing red? Is it his day off? So many unanswered questions!

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