How's this for a new take on the Christmas tree, as imagined by AT:LA reader, Bill:
Bill writes: Each Holiday season I bring out the same artificial tree, thousands of lights, hundreds of ornaments and decorations and assemble the exact same Christmas tree. Sorry to say holiday decorating has become more of a chore than enjoyment. But while trimming an oak tree in the yard I came up with an idea of making a tree this year with the branches...
I took 3 limbs and screwed them together. I anchored the branches in a pot with crushed rock and spray painted everything white. I used white corded lights with white, silver, clear and mirrored ornaments. Some of my friends think it's a bit odd (they call it my Charlie Brown tree) but i like that it got me out of my Christmas decorating rut.
Thanks for sharing, Bill!
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This is great, love it!
SWEET!
That is gorgeous!
Bill,
Well done. It's whimsical and spirited.
This does not look like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree to me! It looks luxurious and abundant and I love, love, love it!
Your tree is beautiful! How inspiring!
That's really really glamorous. Thanks for sharing!
you have to get some friends with taste. that tree kicks butt!
beautiful!
that is stunning!!
I love it, but I'm not in love with the pot! I think it should be highter so that it covers the skinny trunk.
By the way how and where do you store this tree?
Wow, that's gorgeous.
That's so much fun! I thought I was the only person in the world with Disco Balls on my tree! My mother would play the Boney M Christmas 8-track ENDLESSLY during my childhood Christmas' - now it's essential tree decorating music, hence the fabulous disco balls - an ode to mom!
This looks really beautiful. I wouldn't say I'm sick of Christmas trees, but I'm definately excited that there are other interpretations of them. This is so new and refreshing without being too crazy. It's really beautiful, and shame on those who call this "the Charlie Brown tree". Charlie would have been proud.
By the way, I'm totally swiping this idea.
How do you screw together a tree?
This tree is exploding with light. I love it!
This is awesome. It makes me happy just looking at it.
Funny, we got tired of our same-old-same-old tree set-up, too. So this year we've changed things completely. Instead of our usual incredibly thick Noble fir, we've got a much more spare variety of pine (not sure the species), so you can actually see the trunk and individual branches. It's a lovely shape, and we find ourselves actually admiring the TREE, and not just our adornments. And instead of hundreds of clear fairy lights, we put up just a couple of strands of large opaque coloured lights. Voila! Christmas circa 1976! It reminds us of our childhoods, and makes us realize we were getting bored with our "grown-up" trees. Hurray for mixing it up!
I'm a traditionalist, but I would totally use those disco ball ornaments on a fir.
Fabulous! I'm going to have to try that next year!
Lovely! So you aren't really avoiding Christmas.
I keep coming back to look at it. I am in love with this tree!
Oh goodness what a fabulous idea!! This would be gorgeous outside on a patio or porch too, I'd wager. So nice of you to share with us!
OMG i love it! I am a christmas tree traditionalist, which give me environmental guilt, but this is an alternative that i could actually live with. Well done!
Nice!
A word of caution. Oaks are protected in Ca an to trim require a free permit. Without that permit you can be heavily fined. A Pasadena couple was just in the Times because they were fined some ridiculous amount for that.
I think the tree looks great though.
This is a great idea and it looks wonderful! I hope Santa brings your friends some imagination for their holiday gift!
Tradition is good, but different/new/original is good too.
I also used a branch for my xmas tree one year, found downed after a storm. The bark was lovely, so I left it natural. It was a large branch, with a beautiful shape, so it needed only minimal pruning. The branch base fit into a conventional xmas tree stand, which I wrapped with velvet as a tree skirt. Clear lights and my favorite ornaments were all it took to finish. I still remember it as my favorite tree, it was beautiful.
That is EXTRAORDINARY and magical.
We're in the middle of the midwest ice storm, and your beautiful tree is reminiscent of our tree branches shimmering in their icy coatings. I'd never seen an ice storm before, and it's by turns breathtakingly gorgeous and sinister (we've been listening to those same ice-coated branches crack and fall for 24 hours now.) Your tree is as lovely, and far less dangerous! Thanks for the inspiration.
Gorgeous! We had painted-branch trees when I was a child in the Philippines (for Easter, hung with decorated blown eggs.) But I never could figure out how to make a “full tree” like yours for Christmas. Any how-to advice on screwing multiple branches together would be much appreciated.
Stunning and lush - not at all Charlie Brown. Congrats!
Just a note on clamp's CA rule: A lot of states have indigenous tree restrictions, so be careful (that's the type of rule that got the people clamp talked about in trouble). but really, this could be done with any dead or deciduous tree! Fantastic idea, especially if you either store/reuse or somehow recycle the branches afterwards rather than throwing them in the garbage.
here's mine, they are just fallen eucalyptus branches from my backyard:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2377/2041577232_01e05fed6d.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/2041557246_c39c35db52.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2053/2078890826_fbd6fe02a0.jpg?v=0
a bit more sparse looking than Bills, but they are not my primary xmas trees...I've got that one in the living room.
awesome
gorgeous. i would be doing this every year, except that i have so many sentimental ornaments that need to come out every year!
another beautiful and creative idea that only A.T. readers can deliver!
GA-GA-GORGEOUS! With enough time, smarts & money, you, too, can have a Xmas tree this amazing! Happy holidays, all. :)
Thats a good tree.
I posted this a few days ago but I'll show it again. This is the tree I just bought for this year. Its like a giant steel slinky: http://gh-design.net/gh_go_002.html
Such a beautiful and personal tree!
That's awesome! I love the first picture.
Thank you everyone for such wonderful comments. To answer some questions: The branches, I cut from the oak were touching the roof of my home and damaging the shingles so they needed to be removed. I took one large branch, stood it on end and placed two smaller branches in the areas where they were needed to create a nice shape and to make it look full. I used a cordless screw gun and 3 inch drywall screws to connect the branches together. I held the tree in the pot and wedged large rocks around the trunk to keep it in place then filled in with crushed rock. If I do this again I may use plaster of paris to anchor the tree because the weight of the ornaments made the tree shift slightly. I'm thinking about storing the tree in the open rafters of my garage.
Thanks again everyone and Happy holidays!
Bill
it took my breath away
beautiful! I wish I had this in my house... just gorgeous
Get out buy the alternative christmas tree. I've done it this year and I'm happy.
I love this tree! It's gorgeous. Well done, really. At first I thought some of the ornaments were clear glass globes; maybe adding some of those would look cool too.