The tree is done! And it is fabulous. We decorated it with Gandalf the Grey heads (that began life as cream-colored Santa heads); purple, fuschia, periwinkle, magenta and violet balls (some see-through, some with gold glitter, some solid, some matte, some shiny); purple, fuschia, teal and gold metallic tassles; teal, purple and fuschia beaded paisley ornaments; giant grapevine balls painted gold and glittered; 2-inch diameter gold rings; clear glass balls painted with gold swirls, medieval weapons (ax, sword, bow--all intended to be Halloween costume accessories) and some other random ornaments in the purple, fuschia, teal color scheme. For garland, we used purple and fuschia tulle in 6-inch wide ribbons.

The tree was flocked and we sprinkled it with ultra-fine gold prismatic glitter before putting 700 tiny white lights on it. Under the tree, we covered our 10x10 square with burlap and then put down 2 movie posters on either side at a bit of an angle and weighted the edges with polished river rocks. We stood up a 5'11" cardboard cut-out of Gandalf behind the tree, off to the side. We put the gifts under the tree in open boxes with purple, fuschia and teal tissue spilling out. The gifts were a variety of Lord of the Rings-themed books, CDs, calendars and puzzle cubes, some fancy necklaces donated by a local gallery, a 14-kt. men's 5mm gold band (prominently displayed on a rustic-looking pedestal), and some gift certificates for dinner and a movie. Once the gifts were displayed, we covered the burlap with fall leaves collected from Stacey's yard and neighborhood and dried moss and some forest dirt (lightly sprinkled about) to give the effect of a forest floor. It turned out very kewl. For a finishing touch, we sprinkled more of the ultra-fine glitter on the burlap/leaves/moss which created a magical effect. Everyone who walked by had to stop and gawk and comment on our opus. I'm utterly delighted with the whole thing. Every year our tree seems to get more interesting and more involved. Last year we did a beachy-Hawaiian theme and our colors were persimmon and teal. We set up a sandy beach and ocean shore on our 10x10 square under the tree including a beach chair and appropriate beach accoutrements under the tree. Our star on the top of the tree was 2 starfish glued together and sprinkled with fine gold glitter. The year before that, our theme was Christmas-a-Go-Go in orange, yellow and hot pink with lots of 70s-style goodies and smiley faces with butterfly chairs, a lava lamp, go-go Barbies and other period stuff.

The most creative tree, though, was our Viva Las Vegas (the movie) tree from 1998. It was in red, black and gold and we had an Elvis doll and Ann Margaret doll wired to the top for our tree topper (Ann was actually an Anastasia doll in different clothes). We had roulet wheels, real clay poker chips, craps boards under the tree, dice ornaments, hands of 21 glued together and lined in glitter (those turned out great!), Elvis-in-the-gold-suit ornaments, and various other Elvis and Las Vegas things in and around the tree. We had a Viva Las Vegas movie poster in metal propped up near the tree. It was just so fun to do and very memorable. To this day, when I mention that tree to Festival of the Trees regulars, they know exactly which one it was.

Next year's tree with be the most memorable, though. We're not using a regular tree--we're having one built out of wood (I know, a tree is made of wood, but this is made of lumber wood, not natural wood) and all the ornaments will be made of wood, too, with natural, translucent stains on them. Under (ok, near) the tree, we'll have all sorts of woodworking tools and whatnot. It will be a tree like no other.

And now my back and hips and knees and arms are tired and sore. It was a big job to put the stupid lights on--we have to wire them to the branches. That doesn't sound too bad but the festival coordinators use preserved trees--they are first been dipped in green plastic flame retardant stuff and then we had ours flocked--so the branches are very stiff and scratchy. My arms and wrists are all scratched and irritated. The products (or the tree itself) caused Stacey to get welts on her arms so she couldn't do the lights very much. But the tree is worth it. Ah--beautiful tree.

Tomorrow is my last day in Photo I and we have our critiques. I have 51 pictures for the critique. We're required to have about 14 or 16 or so, but I did a few more than that. Just a few. :-)

So now I'm going to bed. It's late but I don't care. I got a lot of sleep this morning so I think I'll be ok. I'm just so relieved to have everything done and ready--I didn't realize what a stress I felt over the tree and my final portfolio until it was all done and I could relax. I *love* both my photography class and the Festival of the Trees but they both take a lot out of a person.

Nytol!

--L