Decorating with Christmas Trees for the Holidays

Written by Dedra Davis

Christmas trees are the main element in my Christmas décor when I deck the halls at my house.

There is a quote I like a great deal; it sums up the way I started decorating for Christmas. “The Perfect Christmas Tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!” Charles N. Barnard brilliantly exclaimed.

Last year, I wanted a change in the way I decked my halls. I had used a lot of the same décor for years. Being empty nesters, and not having grandchildren yet, (YET!?), I was ready for a change. A grown-up change. I turned to Pinterest (duh?) and I found the change I was looking for in one picture.

It was a simple tree, in a simple wooden crate.

It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment! I have crates and baskets and tins, galore! I already use them year-round; all I had to do is buy more stick trees and that would be my new motif!

O, Christmas tree, O Christmas tree How lovely are thy branches?

I have new and antique and antique-looking crates, baskets and tin buckets that I decorate with. Now I fill them with all sizes, all shapes, all types of fir trees that are both lit and unlit. I adore the way it looks in my house. I already have a French/farmhouse/rustic-look.

•An antique wine crate that I simply place a wide fir in sits in front of an antique wardrobe. I love the way this tree looks rustic and adds to the authenticity of the wine crate.

•A basket, near my back door, filled with stick trees, as if I have recently purchased them at market.

•Use a wire bucket to house a simple tree.  It serves no purpose other than to make me happy.

•Fill smaller crates with smaller Christmas trees.  Stack the crates, if you can.

•Wooden drawers, from Paris, or not, look great with tiny fir trees sitting in or on top.

•Mantles, filled with twinkling lights, crates and old books, look wonderful with Christmas trees of all sizes, shapes.  Use trees both lit and not lit.

•Smaller Christmas trees look rustic when places in crocks, either antique or simply antique-looking.

•For a more glamorous look, use a cloche bell jar with a tiny tree inside.

•Baskets filled with smaller Christmas trees look cozy when teamed with old books and perhaps a plaid throw.

Many of the simple trees in the simple containers decorate my house until sometime in February.  After all, winter trees should be used to decorate in winter, is a not just Christmastime. Right?

Christmas tree is defined as an ornamented evergreen used as a Christmas decoration.

Rather than ornamenting every one of the trees I use–the trees themselves will serve as ornamentation for my house. Most people decorate one tree for Christmas. And it is the center of the Christmas décor. I just happen to use more than one. In fact, you will find Christmas trees, of some type, in every room of my house.

The plethora of trees make me happy. Christmas happy.

O Tannenbaum.

The history of Christmas trees is vague with many countries claiming fame to the first tree used at Christmas. The evergreen fir is traditionally used to celebrate winter festivals, both pagan and Christian, for more than thousands of years. The tree symbolizes life, rebirth, and the stamina needed to endure the winter months.

Christmas trees, for Christians, are ultimately symbols of the One who gave himself to unite heaven and earth. The trees are a remembrance of what Jesus did on the cross which is sometimes actually called a tree.

Andy Rooney was on the right track when he said, “The Christmas tree is a symbol of love, not money. There’s a kind of glory to them when they’re all lit up that exceeds anything all the money in the world could buy.”

Christmas, for me, is about the little twinkling lights, the decorations, the gift- giving and most of all knowing Jesus is the reason for the season. Decorating with all these trees symbolizes all the things that I love at Christmastime.

I hope for you Christmas trees this Christmas. Whatever your Christmas tree may be and however many you may have; I wish for you Christmas happy and cheer.

Love and blessings~dd

Dedra Davis graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1988 but because of raising children and life, she didn’t start writing professionally until 2014. Based in Waco, Texas, she writes for a newspaper and freelances wherever she can get published. Her work includes online magazines, including Culture Trip, The Groove, Everything Home Magazine and The Outfitter. Her favorite thing to write about is the ever growing and evolving small urban town-Waco. You can read her blog, about life, travel and living in Waco, at http://www.dedradaviswrites.com/   You can also follow here on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/dedradavis/  

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Thank you so much to Dedra for being the first guest blogger during our 25 Days of Christmas! Don’t forget to check out her blog for more!