Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The Christmas Tree Alliance

Make sure to enter the Christmas Tree War contest—see details at the end of this blog.

Inspired by Book Cover
To celebrate the launch of my holiday novella on December 10th, I used Debbie Taylor’s cover art as inspiration for one of my three personal Christmas trees. While I’m not exactly thrilled with the results of my blue and white creation, I do like it.  I am however, pleased with my other trees. I really enjoyed decorating all three.  In fact, I like decorating trees so much, I start planning a new theme each January (yes, I know I should be in a program). Worse, I’ve infected several of my friends and they, too, start planning eleven months early.

This year, I fashioned a green and pink tree—inspired by a hydrangea display I saw in a store window in Asheville, NC. Normally, I only design one “new”  
tree each year and simply recycle designs from prior year favorites for the other two. Did this obsession inspire The Christmas Tree Wars?


Not exactly.
Pink and Green
Pink Tree without Lights
In the past, I always felt a bit odd for my multiple tannenbaums—until I met my friend Pam.  She had twelve Christmas trees--or maybe the number was even higher. Of course, she counted the small tree on the tank of her bathroom toilet (the woman was ahead of her time). Pam had a wonderful assortment of Radko decorations and lights for every color of the rainbow.  Since I have a new theme each year, I must be more budget conscious about my ornaments.  Not only do I modify dollar store decorations and paint inexpensive boxed ornaments, I also create a lot of folded ornaments. Yep, the very same ones you made from Christmas cards as a kid. Except I use Wonder-Under and shiny/lacy/metallic fabric to give them a more grown-up flavor. You can find the instructions on my website, www.AuthorRobinWeaver.com.

Sometimes art imitates life and sometimes it doesn't. The effort my friends and I expend on our trees each year certainly ignited the idea for The Christmas Tree Wars, but there are no battles. Ours is more of a Christmas tree alliance; we each keep an eye out for ornaments befitting the theme (both our own and others).
Some might say spending so much time on a tree that’s displayed for only a month or so is a waste of effort. I say it’s a thing of beauty.  After all, isn’t that what makes life worthwhile—those moments of beauty?

Wishing all of you a very happy holiday!
Robin

Don’t forget to enter the Christmas Tree Contest.  Send a picture of your Christmas tree to ChristmasTreeWars@yahoo.com.  I will be posting the pictures on my facebook page and will select at least one winner on December 15th. The winning entry will be selected on December 15th and will receive a free copy of The Christmas Tree Wars AND a copy of Ashantay Peters holiday tale, Dickens of a Death. Also, one lucky person leaving a comment on either of my Facebook pages (Robin Weaver OR Christmas Tree Wars) will win a copy of the novella--so leave those comments.

6 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Wow!!! Robin we are soul-sisters after a fashion. I no longer do live or even artificial trees like you but I have a collection of trees (stuffed, glass, pottery, wood, ceramic, etc.) that I get out each year. I clear off the dining room table and fill it with my small collection. Since I live in a tiny house, this practice works well although I do miss having to walk sideways into the kitchen so as not to brush against the limbs (we ended up putting wooden ornaments on those limbs when we did have a big tree). I know trees come in many sizes but---

I do make up a couple of vases with holly and fir and some years I get a wreath and hang it on the inside of my back door or the bathroom door. Remember, tiny house, so the smell of Christmas permeates the entire main floor.

I love your trees! and I love the idea of keeping the spirit of creating beauty alive all year long.

Thanks for sharing.

Sarah Raplee said...

"I love the idea ofkeeping the spirit of beauty alive all year long." You said it, Judith!

Linda Lovely said...

Robin,
No wonder I haven't seen any new pages from you lately. Your Christmas trees are sapping all your creative energy. Get help, now! No, you have so much creativity, you can write books and decorate. So readers do yourselves a favor--pick up Robin's books and enter her contest.

Camille said...

To put it simply...wonderful blog, gorgeous trees, and merry Christmas! :)

Lori Waters said...

Beautiful Robin!!

Ashantay said...

Great post! And I like the photos, too. And to anyone reading my comment, enter the contest! Robin has written a fun holiday read that will captivate you!