Trees...

 

Christmas and Otherwise....

I Hope you will understand, Dear Readers, the enormous Joy that I feel when the tiny Christmas tree lights on the tree in The Lovely Old Dollhouse turn on! There is just something so magical and timeless and beautiful about a Christmas tree with the lights glowing, but even moreso when it is in a dollhouse! Of course, for Helen and Charles it is the "same old" tree in the "same old" corner of the Living Room and it has been just so for how many years? But never mind, the effect is always the same... Peace and Joy come into their hearts and Love for everyone and everything seems possible! 

 

 

"There!" said Charles with great satisfaction.

 (It seems it is always his job to set up the tree,

 but he really likes it that way.)

 "I think it looks better than ever" he adds happily.

 "You do such a wonderful job with

 the Tree, Charles," said Helen quietly. 

"It always reminds me 

of our first Christmas together..." she added.

 "Do you remember?"

 "How could I forget, Darling..." he replied gently... 

"The first major dispute of our marriage... 

and I thought it would please you

 to have the Tree a surprise!"

 "And instead I was so shocked

 that it was up already 

and nowhere near Christmas Eve 

when my family had always put it up....

 what was I to think...?" said Helen laughing softly. 

 

 

"Well, you told me quite clearly 

what you thought, as I recall..." said Charles...

 "Something about poor taste and 

lack of sharing...." he added with a grimace.

 "I wish you could have seen the expression

 on your face, my love..." replied Helen, sweetly.

 "It nearly broke my heart... " she said.

 "But we learned from it and built a better tradition

 for ourselves because of it, I think" she added.

"Always to do it together..." said Charles smiling.

"And never before St. Lucia's Day and 

Never as late as Christmas Eve..."added Helen wistfully. 

"I think it is just Perfect...." said Helen. 

 

And lest you think I have neglected the other Houses 

 

 

the tree has been lit in the Castle Great Hall...

 

 Where it is very dark, even in the middle of the day.

(I will have to bring out the accessory lighting...) 

 

And over at Sally May's and Chip's House

 the Tinsel Tree has been set up

 and shines brightly all through the day. 

Ernie and Blanche have gotten used to the "style" of the tree, 

even though it wasn't what they would have chosen.

They figure that since it is not their own house

 they have no business to complain! 

But the truth is they are really enjoying the glitter,

 no matter that it is artificial!

 

And over at The Cloud Palace,

 

The whole gang is gathered to admire the Silver Tinsel Tree!

As far as the Fairy Bears are concerned 

the Silver Tinsel Tree is the 

most Natural thing in the World!

Who wouldn't love  

a beautiful glittery silver tree

 to light the darkest Nights?

 

And if you look closely you can spot the

 little snowman ornaments made by Birgit herself!

 But that is not all, Dear Readers!

Do you remember the little table-top ceramic tree Gabrielle found? 

 

I assembled this little tree from a kit a couple of years ago.

 I love the ambiance it brings to The Folly living room

which is really too small to fit an ordinary Tree.

 

 

Even so, it radiates so much Peace and Joy!

And perhaps you remember that the Tree House itself 

once had a Christmas Tree in the Salon!

 

I had to hunt around a bit to find it...! 

Can you see it back there in the corner niche? 

I know it is a bit dark...

 

Can you see it better now?

 

But now I am sure you are wondering, Dear Readers,

 what I meant by "Otherwise" in the post title... 

and since we are on the topic of Trees a lot lately,

 I have more to show you of the 

Tree House Nano Tree House....

 

 

 

If you are familiar with the rooms of The Tree House itself, 

you would know that the third room up is the Library.

 But for the Nano Tree House I decided the Ratlings

 would probably wish for a bedroom

 to go with their kitchen and salon. 

So I am trying to make a very small version

 of the Chinoiserie bedroom with the Pagoda bed!

 You can see the fireplace has been attached.

 And the green base color for the walls has been painted.

 

And then I have to try to "suggest" the painted walls... 

which is where the Trees come in...!

(Please remember the walls are 1/4 inch tall!)

So I am just trying to "suggest" the elaborate

 wall painting I did for the Tree House itself.

 

Maybe you can see it better with the flash?

This is just the beginning... 

I needed to see how it looked in photos....

 

 

And here I have added "leaves" 

(okay, a few dots of green) to the trees in strategic places...

 

And the side wall too...

 

 

And, of course, I needed to attempt

 to imply a Peacock over the fireplace.... 

can you see his blue neck and green tail?

 

Oh yeah, and the black door frame and the painted door too...!

Does it remind you of the trees in the Folly Bedroom?

 

Well, Dear Readers, 

that was what I meant by

 "Trees, Christmas and Otherwise!"
 

Christmas Tree Lights...

 

 

 The Old Fashioned Way....

For Many many years, Dear Readers, I decorated my Christmas Trees with real candles, and on at least one Night we would light the candles and admire the indescribable beauty of real candlelight on the Tree shining brightly in the darkness. And of course, I had to include this in my Christmas Card drawings from time to time. Above is a detail from one of the earliest cards. The first seventeen years of cards were all drawn in black and white, just pen and ink, because there was no inexpensive color duplication in those days. So you would need an imagination to sense the candles lighting the tree! But after color copying became inexpensive I included the Tree lit with candles in a couple of the cards.

It is difficult to get good pictures of the details on these cards.

This was only the second or third year

 that I had painted the card in color.

But you can see the candles in this one!

Here again you can see the candles on the tree lit....

This is taking liberties with real life because

 we didn't leave the candles lit while we did other things!

Usually we had dinner first and then lit the candles

 while we sang carols around the tree.

But this was all long ago...

 the house was big,

 the trees were freshly cut from my own back yard...

Many of us would gather to celebrate.

It is quite safe if you are careful where you place the candles.

I have not put real candles on my trees

 since I moved to my small house.

Everything is too crowded.

But I can remember the light....

and I have always wanted to see if I could make them in mini...

And these mini LED light strings made it so easy!

The "bulb" is just a "blip" in the wire 

and it is easy to bend the wire back on itself.

And then I wrapped the folded wire in paper to make the "candle".

This particular string had eighteen LED's.

I added a "saucer" to catch the wax drips... 

just a card-stock circle punch wrapped around

 and glued at the base of the candle.

 

 

And I painted the candles ocher to look like beeswax.

And when I turned the batteries on....

They were wonderfully realistic!

I could not wait to test them on the Tree!

 

I hastily wrapped the string around the Castle Great Hall Tree

 (I have had this tree forever... waiting to get "candles" on it!)

But the candles did need to be attached so they

 would sit upright so they can burn safely!

Which took a little longer....

and now it is fully dark outside...

But Oh!.... the light is Magnificent and so realistic!!!

It has me completely mesmerized!

 

So I have Finally lit this tree

 the Old Fashioned way

With candles!