Isn’t it amazing how every Christmas tree has its own look? Almost like snowflakes or a fingerprint—no two are exactly alike. A thousand people can start with the same basic tree with trunk and branches and make it fit their personality, taste, style, and decor.
When my husband and I first got married, we had no particular style. We bought basic glass balls for ornaments and hand strung popcorn-and-cranberry garland to decorate our early Christmas trees. (We didn’t have much money, either.) Through the years we changed it up. For a while, we chose a red and silver color scheme. Then we switched to a more sophisticated look with rose and gold ribbons and ornaments. Then one year I found some blue and green ornaments that I absolutely loved, and a whole new “look” was born. And even though I’m using mostly the same ornaments every year, the trees never look exactly the same. Some trees are taller, some are fatter, sometimes I switch out the ribbon or find a new piece to add.
I enjoy seeing how people trim their trees—colored lights or white, solid or flashing, handmade ornaments from the kids or high-end designer baubles. In the last few years, I’ve seen a lot of fun trees in pink and white and some beautiful, more traditional trees in reds and golds, and it makes me wish I could have a different tree in every room. Some years we put up a smaller artificial tree in the dining room for all the kids’ ornaments. I used to buy them each one every year, and, of course, they made them at school and Scouts. But now they’re grown and married, and I’ve given them their ornaments for their own homes.
One year, we decided to wait until both kids were home from college before getting the tree. You know, make it a fun family outing. Well, we did have that, but when we pulled up to our longtime Christmas tree lot, the place was packed up and put away. Gone.
Except for one lone deformed tree that had been left behind. I mean, this tree made Charlie Brown’s tree look like perfection. At least his was shaped like a tree! This thing looked more like a shrub in need of a serious trimming. Sitting in the car in the cold, we considered our options. Go drive around and try to find another lot that was open? I have no idea whether there were any others that still had trees. It didn’t matter because a kind of poor-baby sympathy began to well up for this pathetic little tree-thing that nobody wanted. Plus, it was free, right?
We decided to do the right thing and give the outcast a home. So, we loaded it up and took it with us. My husband had to hack and saw on it to get the crooked trunk into the tree stand. Once inside the living room, there was a definite “now what?” moment. Laugh or cry?! Well, we dressed it up as best we could with our usual ornaments. Had we known this is what we’d end up with, we might have come up with a clever “theme” more fitting of the situation. But time was running out, so we made do.
In the end, we kind of liked our wacky Seuss bush-tree. It was worth some laughs. And made a fond family memory!
Do you have a favorite theme or color scheme? I’d love to hear about them!
Here’s a snippet from my Christmas novella, Cookie Collision, a sweet romance that also features festive holiday decor, cookies, and heartwarming vibes.
As soon as Alana stepped inside her aunt’s home she was pulled into a hug. “Hey, you. Come on in, and let’s get this party started. I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”
The enthusiastic greeting cheered Alana immediately, and she grinned at her aunt. “Me, too.”
“Here, let me take your coat. Just dump your bag. I’ve got tons of chocolate and snacks.” She steered Alana into the spacious great room, which opened into a fabulous light and airy kitchen. Alana loved her aunt’s home—old and stately on the outside but completely updated and contemporary on the inside.
“Wow, Helen, this is gorgeous. You didn’t tell me you changed your color scheme. That tree is amazing.” The towering Christmas tree shone with white lights and hues of blue plus silver and white. “It’s festive and, I don’t know, tranquil at the same time.”
“Thanks. I like how it turned out. All right, first things first. Let me get you something to drink then I need those pics. What’ll you have?”
“An iced tea would be great.” Alana retrieved her phone, checked for any new messages, and set it on the huge quartz island. There was only that one brief “check-in” from Justin, which offered absolutely no clue of his mood or thoughts about last night.
A moment later, her aunt hand handed her a glass of tea and picked up the phone.
“Ooh-la-la. This guy is adorable. Oh, these are cute. You look good together.” She handed the phone back to Alana. “How is this guy not married?”
“No idea.”
“Well, good looks mean nothing if he doesn’t measure up in other areas.” She cocked her head toward the seating area. “Come on, let’s get comfy.”
Alana followed her aunt into the other room, kicked off her shoes, and curled onto the creamy sofa.
Helen settled into an armchair. “So, tell. What happened last night?”
Alana sucked in her breath. “At first it was great. We had a carriage ride and saw the lights, and it was a lot of fun. Dinner was good. Honestly, the whole thing felt romantic, but…But then I found a flaw.”—
AUTHOR BIO
Darlene Deluca writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction that explores relationships – what brings people together or keeps them apart.
Her intent is to bring to life interesting characters that readers can relate to in real-life situations that combine a little fun, plenty of drama (with perhaps a tear or two), and big helpings of friendship, love and self-discovery, and will leave readers either cheering or sighing with a satisfied smile as they turn the final page.
The Kansas City author enjoys getting lost in a good story with a glass of tea, a bit of dark chocolate and a warm, sunny beach.
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Darlene DeLuca
I love the insight of the uniqueness of each tree being like a snowflake. How cool is that!
I thought this was a cool tree!
Love your story about the straggly tree you adopted. I can't think of any tree stories. We've had artifical ones for years. As newlyweds, we had a live tree. I guess we left it up too long, or didn't water it enough, maybe both. To get it out of our apartment, we wrapped it in a sheet. The needles were SO prickly. We had gloves full of needles. They were all over the tile floor. Not a great memory. Ha. A favorite memory is when our kids were in band and played at a city's old theater every Christmas. They had a Festival of Trees that had many trees and all kinds of decorating themes. Another local historic place doe…
Thanks for being here today, Darlene!