Time for a holiday decor update. For the last several years, our Christmas “tree” was a floor lamp with LEDs made to look like cherry blossoms and decked out with our bird ornaments. When not serving holiday duty, it sat behind the couch in my office providing ambient light. Eventually it started to die, and whole branches no longer lit up. In 2023 I bought a white tree, but we just didn’t like it (too sparse), so it was Freecycled and I went back online and found a tree that kind of looks like the A Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It’s prelit and flocked. I’m not sure how long it will last, as the flocking does make a mess.
Anyway, it’s much taller and fuller than the old tree, so all the ornaments I’ve accumulated over the years fit easily. I had to buy extra garland, and I found a rainbow disco ball tree topper, which works nicely. Each year I buy one or two new ornaments, usually that year’s Hallmark’s Beauty of Birds ornament. Two years ago I also bought a proper ornament storage bin.
I then took just about all the childhood stuffed animals and soft toys from the top shelf of the blue room, tarted them up (a tradition that goes back to our first Christmas here), and placed them in a variety of large baskets my mum shipped to me. The baskets had been stored in my parents’ basement in Ohio for years. When I was there in 2021 decluttering their basement, Mum said I could have them, but there was no room in my car. They were lightweight enough that she shipped them out to me.
Lastly, the Pound Puppies under the tree are old toys I’ve had since childhood. I found a couple of tiny Santa hats for them, and then crocheted them a rug.
