This is now my 13th Christmas season creating my upside-down tree. Although I put up many trees throughout the house, this particular tree has become one of my favorites. I love it just as much today as I did the first year I put it up!
I first became enamored by the idea of an upside-down tree when I had visited a local nursey (Donzell’s – which sadly closed its doors earlier this year). The nursery, which always had amazing displays at the holidays, had hung a tree from the ceiling upside down and decorated it with icicles to look like a chandelier. I was absolutely mesmerized.
HISTORY: Displaying a Christmas tree upside-down may date back to the 7th century. Legend has it that Boniface, a Benedictine monk, used the triangular shape of a fir tree to explain the Holy Trinity to pagans in Germany. It was subsequently hung end-over-end in celebration of Christianity.
Shortly after, I spotted an artificial upside-down tree in a Frontgate magazine. It was perfect but it came with a hefty price tag! Little did I know, it was closer to being mine than I had thought.
When my family was living in Indianapolis, I would drive to meet up with my mom in Columbus, Ohio (halfway point for both) to see each other and do a bit of shopping.
While looking around at Easton Town Center during one of our Columbus trips, we stopped by the Frontgate outlet store. We saw a lot of great buys, but I was on the hunt for that upside-down Christmas tree. Nada.
As my mom was checking out, though, I happened to ask the sales clerk if they had ever had an upside-down tree in the store. Lo and behold there was one in the backroom! The staff had not put it on the sales floor because all the lights didn’t work. After some quick negotiations, I walked out with my dream tree for only $75!
It felt like Christmas morning to me!
I could not wait to get this new, unique tree out but I didn’t have any ornaments for it yet. The first two years, I only put icicles on it, because that was all I had. Another year, I tried aqua, green and brown ornaments I had borrowed from a different tree. Eventually, the tree was decorated with elegant gold and red ornaments I had been collecting over the years . They were a match made in heaven!
In 2014, we moved into our current house and I chose to put the upside-down tree in our family room. It looked ridiculous! We have 10-foot ceilings in that room and with this tree standing at 7.5 foot, it looked short and awkward!
The next year, my goal was to devise a plan to make this beautiful tree taller but still be stable.
Cinder blocks were the answer! I stacked four cinder blocks together to raise up the tree 16 inches. Then I needed something to hide the cinder blocks and make it a little safer to have my 4-year-old around.
I found a large pot at Lowe’s and made it work! Since then, we’ve used the cinder blocks and pot every year. Now standing taller, the upside-down tree has been moved to our sun room where it is perfectly framed by a large window.
A large weaight is placed on the back side of the base to be sure the tree doesn’t tip forward. And, a red piece of fabric is draped around the bottom to cover up the cinder blocks.
When decorating this tree, I always start with the larger items first and place them around the tree so they aren’t all in the same spot. The Season’s Greetings sign, drum and sleigh and reindeer go first.
Then I move onto larger ornaments and work my way down to the smallest ones. The icicles I use as tinsel and place those very last.
This is a tree that you need to put a LOT of ornaments onto. I mean a LOT! I put some ornaments deep inside the tree and then work my way out to the very tips of the branches to hang other ornaments.
I bend the hooks around the branches, and sometimes bend the branches around the hook to make sure the ornaments stay safe. Remember, with an upside-down tree, there are no branches hanging underneath the ornaments to catch any that may fall or tumble.
Placing the ornaments on different planes make it look even more beautiful. Layering ornaments and layering some more, and then even more makes all the difference on this style of tree.
Over the years, more red and gold ornaments have been added to this tree. Some of these additions have been $20 ornaments from Neiman Marcus (yes, that was a splurge). But I’ve also added just as gorgeous plastic shatterproof pieces from Hobby Lobby!
It seems that upside-down trees are beginning to gain popularity. The Christmas Gals have spotted several retailers carrying these unique trees this year, and online, there are several sources to find all sizes of these upside-down trees.
-Christmas Gal Shendra
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