Thursday, December 4, 2008

Christmas Rose

Of course there are roses on our Christmas tree. These paper mache hearts are old-fashioned and sweet, aren't they? I love that they bring me roses in December.
The Christmas trees in the women's magazines every year are so gorgeous. Works of art, really. "Southern pine swathed in billowing gold chiffon, magnolia blossoms, and cut crystal icicles," or "fragrant balsam boughs bedecked with vintage mercury glass orbs of silver and gold." They remind me of women in elegant ball gowns, and a tree like that would be as out of place in my house as the designer gown. Our tree bobbles with little gourd Santas, grown by my husband and painted by his mother. A handful of ornaments made by the kids when they were in elementary school dust the boughs with glitter. There's a tiny stuffed rabbit, a pair of wax Santas, and crocheted angels and stars--each with a loved one and a story behind it. To hang any one of these ornaments on a House Beautiful Christmas tree would be like pinning a macaroni brooch on a Vera Wang.
So I'll flip through the books and magazines again this year, and I'll ooh and ahh over the pretty trees. But there's no more meaningful Christmas tree than the one set up here in my own living room. Christmas Heart photo by JulenaJo.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, so true. I just watched a show on HGTV that spent an hour showing how to decorate trees - and rooms and yards - for the holidays. All the trees were co-ordinated and just beautiful. They're lovely to look at but I will never achieve it. Like you, I have too many ornaments that mean too much not to put on the tree. And I too love your roses. A lovely touch.

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  2. My own tree is a hodge podge of generations of childrens efforts, mismatched this and that, felt ornaments made by my mother...The concept of "My tree this year has a blue, creme and silver theme, blah blah..." would seem from another planet here. I guess if mine had a theme it would be "stories".

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