Jennifer Konczyk, owner of Forget Me Not Florals and Gifts on Fifth
Street, shared some professional tips on making any tree a memorable
part of the family holiday season. Her floral designers also
contributed, and you could tell that these ladies have a passion for
their work. Kathy Bruns and Mary Heal share over 40 years of
experience.One of the early mentioned fixes was bows — lots of
bows in lots of sizes, made from ribbons in any color. The ladies
recommended filling in the spots by the size of the bows — larger
bows for bigger gaps and smaller bows where the tree limbs are
tighter.
Jennifer suggested carrying the theme to the gift packages by
using the tree bow ribbon on the gifts, too, thus pulling together
tree and packages in one common pattern.
Mary recommends the use of color, drawing the eye away from any
imperfections and letting the viewer focus on the festive colors.
She suggested using bright reds, gold and silver since these are
traditional Christmas colors.
She also mentioned that it could be a family craft project, with
kids making the ornaments based on their abilities. Perhaps a trip
to a hobby store would lay the foundation for ornament-making.
It was pointed out that a number of people have trees based on
themes. In Kathy's home, she has a tree dedicated to her bear
collection. Hobby-themed trees are very popular. Is there an avid
fisherman at your house? Maybe you need to raid that tackle box and
decorate the tree in lures. Or is there someone who is a baker?
Cookie-cutters make great ornaments as well. Any hobby can become a
tree-decorating theme. Think about it and see where your imagination
takes you.
Research shows that traditions are the foundation in every
family, with each generation making their own.
A tree can become part of a family's history. A story was told of
one family that has had the same artificial tree for 15 years. With
their oldest child being 14 years old, the tree has been there for
all four of their children. Mentioning that the bottom branches look
a little rough triggers fond memories of all the years of family
dogs and cats running through the tree. A tree like that recalls all
those different animals who wove their lives into the lives of the
family. Some of those pets have passed on, but a part of them lives
in the appearance of that tree and in the family's memories.
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