Although drive-in movie theaters were beginning to become relics of the past when I was growing up, I do have a rather clear memory of being taken to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind when I was about three. I haven’t seen the movie since, but there’s one scene that stays with me in that film because it’s been burned into my memory. Continue reading “And now, on with the show . . .”
The retro tree is now a reality
After my last post, I just could not get the image of my imaginary retro tree out of my mind. So I started searching the ‘net for either a silver tinsel tree or a white one. In the end, I abandoned the idea of a silver tinsel tree because I knew I wanted to add shiny ornaments to the tree, and that would all be a bit . . . much. Even for me. So I concentrated on white and looked around.
And looked and looked some more. Sheesh! I only wanted to spend, like, fifty bucks on this tree, since I had planned it to be a second tree in our house – one on which I could play around with decorations, etc. Needless to say, nearly everything I encountered was well over a hundred and almost everything is prelit. I didn’t want a prelit tree because I wanted to be able to change the lights around if I wanted to. Don’t force me to have white lights, people!
Obviously, this retro tree chase was not going to be easy.
Then last weekend I was visiting my sister in Minnesota, and we decided to take a quick trip to a certain superstore that begins with W. While we were there, I said I wanted to check out the Christmas trees to see if they had any unadvertised white ones that were within my budget.
And there, stacked alongside the green trees, was a simple little box containing a 6.5-foot white tree. Unlit. $40.
I tried not to do a little happy dance as I snatched it up. Next stop: ornaments.
It was getting harder and harder NOT to do a happy dance as I saw what the ornament aisle held for me: sparkly starburst ornaments . . . for a dollar. ONE FREAKING DOLLAR! I found the silver ones and tried not to feel piggish while I snatched up every last one. They had a whole slew of silver ornaments (and gold, and red, and green) so I grabbed some silver snowflakes as well. I remembered I had blue, white, and silver ornaments from a couple years ago, so planned to use those to go with the blue and white lights that I purchased too.
Behold: my creation.
The ornament above was one I found last year in a dollar store. Sadly, they only had three of them. But hey, they go nicely with the dollar starburst ornaments:
. . . and the snowflake ones:
. . . and the blue, silver, and white ones:
And the white and blue lights look so pretty nestled among the white branches:
The best part, obviously, was the price. In all, this creation probably ran me about $80 with the ornaments, lights, and tree topper. And although it’s not quite from my favorite era (too 60’s-ish and not 50’s-ish enough), I am in love with it. I can pretty much guarantee that my tree is unique.
Thinkin’ about Christmas trees
November has hardly begun, yet I am already feeling the urge to drag out the ol’ Christmas tree. However, I’m feeling that I need a change this year. I’m tired of the same old green tree. I’ll probably put it up, sure, but this year I’m thinking of buying a second tree — a white one — and making it my “retro” tree.
I think I’ve become spoiled by modern technology, because I was oh-so-sure that I somewhere there would be an online tree decorator program where someone could play around with different looks for a Christmas tree. No dice. If I were a computer guru, I’d jump on the opportunity to design one, but alas, I was not born with such a gift.
So, since technology cannot help me illustrate my thoughts in this instance, I’ll have to paint a picture with my words. Here’s what I’m thinking . . .
White tree, something like this:
Some pretty blue lights:
Some shiny retro-looking ornaments:
and a retro tree skirt:
And it will all look random and kind of crazy because that’s the way Christmas trees are supposed to be, in my opinion. Have you ever noticed that when looking at pictures of Christmases past? The trees were imperfect (because they were real) and the decorations usually did not mimic something from Martha Stewart’s living room. Now it seems that most people’s trees are competing for the cover of Better Homes & Gardens. I myself prefer the family Christmas tree to look as if the family participated in its decoration – which, of course, they do. We’re not perfect by any means, and neither is our Christmas tree.