Decking the Halls...for Winter?!

We put away most of our Christmas decor over the weekend, a process which is slightly traumatic for me because there is just so much of it, not to mention the fact that I'm always a little sad to see the holidays end. That's why I've taken, in recent years, to leaving selected items in place. It makes the frozen hell that is New York right now seem a little less gloomy. Today is Elvis Presley's birthday, so the Elvis tree remains in place at least until the end of the week:

The snowman blow molds are also sticking around for the season. They not only make us happy, they're a valuable source of light on a gray day like today!

I've also kept a pink tree in place, which I'll be decorating soon for Valentine's Day. I haven't quite decided what to do for March yet. A Mud Season tree? Maybe a green tree, for St. Patrick's Day? Stay tuned!

Oh, Spinning Tree!

Here's our "big" tree, the catch-all tree with everything from ornaments that my parents bought before I was born to reclaimed trash. If you can stick it in or hang it from the tree, we consider it fair game! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! We're so grateful for your support of the "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en!" Click here to watch the tree spin!

Oh, Various Trees!

You didn't think I was done sharing our Christmas trees, did you? Here is the vintage aluminum tree we inherited from Paul's grandmother, by way of his sister, along with a few other trees with tropical and under-the-sea ornaments. Christmas in the tropics sounds great to me right now, stuck as I am in the freezing northwest!

I'm obsessed with Grumpy Cat

That portrait is Paul, painted by his mother many years ago.

Christmas in the Tropics

That peacock is a vintage package decoration I found among my aunt's things - I save everything Christmas!

Oh, Nautical and Horror Tree!

More of our Christmas trees, this time from the Blue Grotto, a.k.a. my office/sewing room/vanity/guest room (It's a very versatile room!). Here we have the nautical tree and the horror tree. The nautical tree is very sentimental, as many of the ornaments predate me or were picked up on our travels, and many more were made by friends, some of whom are no longer with us. Many of the ornaments on the horror tree were made by yours truly, since, go figure, it's just not that easy to find a Jan in the Pan ornament! I've got a laminator and I'm not afraid to use it!

Nautical Tree

Under the Nautical Tree

Tree of Horror

I'm a laminating fool at Christmastime!

More trees soon!

Oh, Glendora and TV Tree!

Here are two more of our 47 Christmas trees, this time Glendora's tree and the TV tree. As with most of our trees, the ornaments tend to be homemade or gifts. In both cases they make me sentimental!

Glendora's Tree and the TV Tree

Glendora pays tribute to a few of her favorite things

TV Tree

This one plays the entire "Laverne & Shirley" theme

Even more trees coming soon!

Oh, Elvis Tree!

The Kitsch-en Christmas tree parade continues, this time with the Elvis tree! Like most of our trees, the Elvis tree started small. This is actually the second Elvis tree, since the Elvis paraphernalia outgrew the first one (which is now Glendora's tree - coming soon). Many of these ornaments play music and it's a riot to play them all at the same time!

It's hard to get a shot of the entire tree in our tiny living room.

Flashing lights AND plays music!

Velvet Elvis

Christmas at Graceland

It's hard to find an Elvis tree topper, so I went DIY!

Coming soon: more trees!

Oh, Tiki Tree!

Here's another of our many, many Christmas trees, the Tiki Tree! The actual tree is the one my parents bought at Sears in Oklahoma City when I was a tiny child. The ornaments are a combination of handmade, picked up on our travels and given to us by wonderful friends and family, with any bare spots filled in with cocktail umbrellas and flowers. You know my motto: anything can be an ornament!

The Tiki Tree

The Mai-Kai: one of the happiest places on earth!

Tiki Bob ornament by our talented friend Brigitte

Before I had any tiki ornaments I made my own.

Of course we have to have cocktails!

This one was given to us by a dear friend.

More trees on the way!

Oh, Cocktail Tree!

You may have heard the rumors that I'm addicted to Christmas trees. It's absolutely true. I never met a Christmas tree I didn't want to adopt. That's why we have, according to a friend's count on Saturday, 47 of them. I'm not kidding. Of course, most are small, but five could be considered full-sized and several more fall into the "medium" category. "You must have a really big house," you might be thinking. Nope! Our house is quite cozy (read small). We just evict furniture to make room for all the trees! Who needs to sit down, anyway? I love sharing our trees, so I will be doing so here, starting with a vintage tree we inherited from some friends who were moving away. This one has a vaguely cocktail theme*:

Those "cocktail tickets" are from Continental Airlines, 1960s-70s. My aunt was a flight attendant who, happily for me, saved everything. And since, as far as I'm concerned, everything is fair game in the ornament department, they now live on the tree!

More trees coming soon! And I'd love to see yours!

*Actually, this is only one of our cocktail trees. We have two others, to be featured soon. ;)

Treehabilitation

If you've known us for at least one Christmas you know we have Christmas trees. MANY Christmas trees. I love Christmas and decorating for Christmas and I never met a Christmas tree I didn't want to adopt. I stopped counting at 40 trees. Our house is small, but I can always make room for another Christmas tree!

As we were unpacking the Christmas kitsch over the weekend I noticed some of our trees were looking a little sad. Prelit trees were burnt out, pink and white trees were taking on a decidedly brown tinge. It was depressing. Getting rid of them wasn't an option. It would feel like tossing out a member of the family. There are memories associated with those trees! I looked into flocking them, but it seemed it was either going to be very messy or very toxic, neither of which excites me much. Then I got the bright idea: what about spray paint? I wasn't looking to paint every needle on the tree. I just wanted to give them a nice facelift. Well, I'm pleased to report it worked great! I used Krylon CoverMaster Paint + Primer, then finished them off with Krylon Glitter Blast. I'm so pleased with the results! And think of the creative possibilities! You can't find a pink, purple and silver tree in any store? Create your own! The world is your fabulous Christmas tree oyster!

During:

After:

I have one left to decorate! Stay tuned!