Christmas Tree Themes

I used to decorate our one and only Christmas tree with all the ornaments and collectibles I had. It didn’t have a theme, unless one wanted to call it “eclectic.” The handmade ornaments, the hand-me-down ornaments, the new inexpensive ornaments, the crochet ornaments – the list went on and on. They each have a special place in my heart – ones made by our daughter, my aunt, and friends who took the time to crochet ornaments. I love them all!

But honestly, the tree was all over the place. Until a couple of years ago, I decided it was high time to have a color theme. That’s when I decided to decorate our primary tree in white, gold, and silver. I loved it! Hubby loved it! This year, we continued the silver, white, and gold theme with a pop of cranberry.

What started early in our marriage as a lone tree has morphed through the years. When we moved into a two-story home, where we spent our evenings upstairs watching TV, it became clear that we needed another tree.

I love Christmas trees in all shapes and sizes, and before we moved from our last home, we ended up with two additional trees. These were pencil trees, one in the dining room and one in the formal living room.

After traveling around the country for over three years collecting ornaments, we have turned those two pencil trees into “travel trees.” We display all the ornaments collected before and during that time on those two trees, and they are loaded. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to trim the tree and reminisce about those places we visited. It’s a trip down memory lane through one of the best times in our lives.

This year, as in the past several years, our primary tree hosts the Christmas village underneath its branches. We didn’t always have village pieces, but after the kids grew up and left home, and we started celebrating the holidays at their homes, we didn’t have presents to put under the tree. It was bare, it was lonely, it was sad… so I came up with the idea to put our Christmas train under the tree. Then we added a village piece that was gifted to us. From there, we bought another piece until eventually, we ended up with over 36 pieces.

You can’t display that many pieces under the tree unless you build a platform with four levels. We did. The top level houses the tree itself, with a few pieces around its base. The second level houses the Christmas train, and the bottom two levels house the rest of the village. We add lights and snow, and trim the village with trees so it resembles the North Pole with a Swiss Alps feel.

Our upstairs tree is what we dubbed the “fun tree.” Its color theme is green and red. Adding ornaments and picks to this tree is nothing but fun – far from being serious. I mean, the primary tree must be “perfect,” but trimming this tree is all about fun! Insert a curlicue pick here, elf legs sticking out there, a Grinch ornament, crocheted lollipops, and any ornaments that is, well, red and green!

I also have a tabletop Christmas tree in my office. We picked it up last year at Walmart while it was on sale. I didn’t bother with any ornaments but simply put gold bowls around the tree. Simple and easy.

And, yes, I contemplated getting another Christmas tree for our bedroom. One of those beautiful pre-lit spruce pine trees, leaving it as is. No ornaments, no trim, but letting the beauty of the tree shine for itself.

We have a blow-up Grinch that we placed in our garage window for many years while living in California. Moving to North Carolina, we no longer have a window in our garage, so hubby displays the Grinch in his office window, upstairs.

And this year, he added a Grinch-themed Christmas tree. I have to say, I love it!

There are many types of themes that deserve recognition, and I have to say look like so much fun!