This challenge was to take the same theme and color and change the layout. For this card it was easy because I had the ovals left from the frames I had cut.
Here is the story that goes with this card.
The Christmas Tree
When I was a child, my father would take the
three of us girls to the timber to cut down our
Xmas tree. We would come home with the best
we could find. No matter how many miles we
walked in the timber, the tree was always very thin, prickly, and very ugly.
But we brought it home. Dad would put it in a tree stand, working hard to make the crooked little trunk stand up straight. Then his duty was done. Now, mom put on one string of lights. It was our turn.
We made our own garland with popcorn and cranberries. For ornaments, we painted pinecones we had picked up from the yard before it snowed. The store-bought tinsel was hung on the tree by throwing handfuls hoping some would land on the branches. It was finished.
Then one year it happened. We were invited to the neighbors who lived just 1/2 mile down the hill. As the lady of the house opened the door,I saw behind her the most beautiful Christmas tree I could ever imagine. It was a large white flocked tree that filled the room. There were so many lights on the tree it was almost blinding. The ornaments were all the same color – turquoise. The tree topper was an angel with a beautiful lit halo. I gasped at the surprise and the splendor. I remember going home that night and looking at our pathetic little tree. I was sad. Where was OUR beautiful tree.
Years passed. I grew up, married and had a family. As you can only imagine, in my home I worked at having my Christmas tree be the most beautiful ever.
I had real trees, flocked trees, fake trees, pine trees, etc. One thing was in common with all the trees—they were very large and very full – no skinny
trees for me.
As I get older, I think of those little tiny ugly trees and our homemade ornaments. I think of my dad walking with us through the timber to find just the RIGHT tree. I think of the work he did to get it to stand up straight, even though the trunk was crooked. And I think about life. IsnÂ’t that what life is all about, making what we have the BEST it can be.
Merry Christmas
Jo
Date: Friday, November 27, 2009 GMT Views: 1396
Favorited:3
Registered: September 17, 2005 Location: Oregon Coast Posts: 8625
Fri, Nov 27, 2009 @ 6:08 PM
I love your card and I love your story.
I brings back memories, as we used to cut our own tree from the forest too. My dad was a forester, after all! Eventually we ended up cutting our tree at a tree farm, my mom probably was tired of scrawny trees! And eventually we even had two trees: one that only Mom decorated in the upstairs front window, and one downstairs where we celebrated Christmas Eve and Morning, with our homemade ornaments and paper chains.