Breaking Traditions
I’ve been around the sun enough times to have heard, “I’m not in the mood for Christmas!” I pawnder loudly with you today to suggest that maybe Christmas isn’t the problem; maybe it’s the traditions. A tradition I had was that someone special in my life would get perfume every year for Christmas. The tradition was created by us and each year when this person opened her gift, she wasn’t surprised because she had been dropping hints on the brand for a month before Christmas. Christmas lost it’s specialness and became a burden because finances change each year and perfume may be above what could be spent. We couldn’t always live up to the traditions we created so we felt like we had wrecked our Christmas by breaking from the expectations that were self created.
Few people know, Daniel and I don’t exchange gifts but we will decorate the house together. It’s not pointless because winter can be an ugly time of year. Lack of sunlight, bitter cold nights and we are hibernating. Decorating the house makes the house feel cheery and bright.
This year, for the first time, we are opting to have more than one Christmas Tree. We are doing five of them. I know what you are thinking now… what a stupid idea!! Our trees break tradition and are created with our personalities in mind instead of what the retailers tell us it should be. Here’s the thing, we have planned ahead and purchased the trees while they were being blown out at the end of inventory. We have been collecting ornaments for the trees and those ornaments aren’t always themed around Christmas.
The Black Christmas Tree #1 – Diva’s & Diamonds
- Michael Sellick & Daniel Zondervan Design A Black Christmas Tree. This is our tree in this picture.
Tree Details:
- Purchased at Home Sense in Ontario Canada.
- The trees are solid black with a tall ceramic square base.
- It stands 6 feet tall.
- It is tall and narrow and prewired with lights.
- This tree’s appearance can be used all year long as a household decorative accessory.
Tree Theme:
- Using the black theme, we are doing a celebration to Divas & Diamonds.
- The tree will have ceramic purses, stilettos, diamond rings and other fancy colours.
- The theme of this tree with be black, gold, clear and accenting colours within the hanging decorations.
- This tree is relevant to our personalities as we were chosen for a reality TV show that we turned down. We had to come up with a theme for our episode and it would be a tribute to Divas & Diamonds.
The Black Christmas Tree #2 – Black & White Ballroom

Michael Sellick & Daniel Zondervan Convert A Halloween Tree To Christmas
Tree Details:
- Purchased at Pier 1 as a Halloween tree.
- The tree is more sparse in branches and you can see through it.
- It’s the typical shape of a Christmas Tree and stands 3 feet tall.
- It’s prewired with Orange Lights that will be removed.
Tree Theme:
- This tree is going to get a black and white theme added to it.
- White – feathers, balls, garland, candy canes, doves, snow flakes, and popcorn.
- This tree will need a hand constructed tree skirt.
- This tree will be sitting on a jet black hutch at the front entrance of our home.
- Lights will be transformed to white.
The Pink Christmas Tree – Fairy Theme
Tree Details:
- Purchased at the Fyreplace & Christmas Store in Springmount Ontario Canada.
- Stands 7 Feet Tall.
- It was a used Christmas tree and more than likely was a display model in a retail store. This was a custom order.
- This tree has the lights built in and extremely full with the branches mixed with white and pink fibres.
- When lit this tree glows due to the generous lights reflecting on the shiny plastic fibres.
Tree Theme:
- I love this tree. It causes the seniors bus, that snakes through our neighborhoods to view the Christmas decorations, to stop and check our home out. I swear I can hear heart attacks in motion with people seeing a Pink Tree for the very first time.
- We are doing a fun whimsical take on fairies and extreme glitter.
- This could be in the form of twigs picked up outside, painted, dipped in glue and glitter to create accent pieces.
- This tree has a 20 point solid steel wire star that is really heavy.
- Colourful crochet Christmas tree skirt will be in order for this tree.
Las Vegas Plum Christmas Tree – Enchanted Forest
Michael Sellick & Daniel Zondervan Decorate A Plum Christmas Tree
Tree Details:
- Purchased at the Urban Barn in Ontario Canada.
- Stands 7 Feet Tall and really narrow.
- It has a shiny finish to the fibres. No lights built in.
- It is so deep in colour it could be mistaken as black from a distance.
Tree Theme:
- White lights to be added to this tree.
- We are looking to recreating the forest onto this tree with birds, feathers, decorated branches, insects, moss, mushrooms and bark.
- With the tree being so dark, virtually anything you put onto this tree will stand out.
- This tree is a reflection of nature and revitalization that the forest can provide.
Peacock Blue Christmas Tree – Whimsical & Electric
Tree Details:
- Purchased at Urban Barn in Ontario Canada.
- Stands 3 feet tall.
- Branches are peacock blue with a shiny finish. Branches are exceptionally soft on this tree and doesn’t have a toilet bowl brush feel if you touch the branches.
- No lights built in.
Tree Theme:
- White lights need to be outfitted onto this tree.
- This tree needs some electric colours added to it which may include lime greens.
- Due to the colour of this tree being so bright, we feel it doesn’t need much added to it as it will take away from the colour of the tree.
- The tree is full and you can’t see through it.
- You see it sitting here on our glass table in front of our oil painting.
Regardless of how you celebrate the holiday season, it’s amazing how much more exciting the holidays can be when you break from tradition. Changing up your Christmas tree once in a while can be a true conversational piece and give an entirely new look to your home.