Christmas tree ideas

I know it's a little early to start thinking about Christmas, but....a couple friends and I have signed up to sponsor/decorate a tree for an annual Festival of Trees fundraiser auction. We have to come up with a theme and, since trees that are geared towards children tend to fetch the most amount of money, we're leaning towards a children's theme. Some of the past themes include Dr. Seuss, Barbie, children's lit (tree decorated with several children's books), dogs, cats, Winnie the Pooh, jungle animals.

Right now we're thinking about doing either a Thomas the Train or a Lego tree. For the Thomas theme, we would wire the tracks around the tree sort of like garland and decorate with other Thomas goodies & coordinating lights. For the Lego idea, I found some cute Lego Christmas ornaments or we could build our own. I also thought of putting a Lego train at the base of the tree.

What do you guys think of these ideas? I know we have a lot of creative people here....I'd love to hear your suggestions!

I love the train idea, especially the train track garland. How would you do that?

:christmas:

Ummm...I hadn't really thought that far ahead. It's an artificial tree so we can use lots and lots of wire.

One of my friends also suggested a Polly Pocket theme since Polly Pocket is popular with the girls. I just can't think of any creative ways to use that theme other than to throw a bunch of dolls on the tree.....plus, I'm not really a Polly Pocket fan.

[planet]

How about a tribute to Steve Irwin with crocodiles, snakes, birds and more? I like the train idea too.

[Phoebe]

How big are the trees? I like the train idea or what Janet suggested with the Steve Irwin theme. How about Matchbox cars? Planes, trains and automobiles?

Polly Pocket? I would like to donate some because we are knee deep in Pollys at my house. Other themes for girls, My Little Pony or Barbie might be easier than Polly Pocket. My youngest daughter is into horses.

What about a tree with a theme of arts and crafts supplies?

Thanks for the great ideas! Our tree is 4 1/2 feet tall. We wanted to stay small since we are donating the decorations.

I LOVE the transportation theme. I thought about doing that with some wooden cars, airplanes, etc. that we could paint. I brought your theme ideas up with my friends and it seems like they are still leaning toward Polly Pocket. It seems like we could do some really creative things with the other themes and Polly Pocket just seems so.....boring. Any ideas on how to spice up the Polly Pocket theme? Pink lights?? Do little girls really like Polly Pocket?

I have this fear that we'll come up with a tree that no one will bid on. I do not want to have the only tree that doesn't get any bids! I guess I figured that at least if we had a boy theme, then I could always bid on it if no one else did.

[DCJenn]

Who is Polly Pocket? She sounds sort of annoying. Is she?

Of course we're knee deep into Thomas the Tank Engine so she can't be any worse.

I'm sure there's a girl out there whose daddy would love to bid on the Polly Pocket Tree.

Jenn

[rainbabies]

Who is Polly Pocket? She sounds sort of annoying. Is she?

she is this little soft plastic doll that you can *obviously* put in your pocket. you can change her rubbery clothes, they have houses and cars and little take along cases for them. so, yes....i guess for a thomas fan like your ds and my kids...it could be annoying.

[Stella]

I had Polly Pocket when I was a kid but it was a plastic case that opened up to be a "room" or something and the little "dolls" were only about a half inch big... Sounds like it has changed a little bit?

Polly Pocket from days of yore:


Polly Pocket today:




Personally, I prefer the former but they are nowhere to be found anymore.

[Sheherezade]

We got an itty-bitty Polly Pocket like thing a few years ago at a KB Toys. It was a little plastic fairy house. We've received lots of Polly presents. My daughter is NOT a fan. Funny thing happened last week. My daughter was "hired" to do one of those market research survey things at a local company. I took her in, she talked to the lady and answered questions for about an hour and got a toy gift. She refused to open it. Somehow, she'd gleaned from the questioning that it was going to be a Polly. Apparently, the questioning was all doll related. My daughter hates dolls. I told her she'd done her part to change the world. She suggested repeatedly to the company that they offer more horses. I ended up taking the Polly toy aside to save for a birthday or Christmad gift for someone - and bought her a stuffed horse for her "job".

But she really likes the little Fairy House.


BACK on topic.....I went to one of these tree things in Baltimore. The Thomas track tree sounds very appropriate and popular. My daughter would suggest a Western theme. With horses, saddles and boots. As for Polly....I could send you a lot of stuff for that tree.

Polly is annoying. So are most things pink, IMO. I'm pretty much w/Angie's daughter.

I really like the Thomas idea, but Jenn is right - there is some Daddy out there who would probably write a good check for something his little girl just HAD TO HAVE NOW!

[Stella]

Ok, so going with the Polly Pocket thing....

You could use a garland of pearls, pink lights, and for ornaments (instead of just sticking a bunch of dolls on the tree) you could buy (or make) mini hangers and "hang" the clothes on the tree. You could also "hang" earrings and shoes and things like that. For the "star" you could do one of the dolls or a doll car or something like that?

I guess my theme is more Polly Pocket's closet/vanity. That's a little less annoying than the doll itself, no?

We finally decided on a pirate theme for our tree. I know pirates are pretty popular right now so we're hoping there is a little one out there who just has to have our tree. :>

So far we have a wooden treasure chest that will sit beneath the tree and we plan on filling it with a few different pirate-themed books and movies, pirate action figures, a couple of costumes, a toy pirate ship, and a few other pirate-y things. We are also offering a pirate adventure weekend....2 nights accomodations in a coastal town where Blackbeard's ship is located just off shore. There is a museum there that houses some of the relics that have been recovered from his ship.

I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas for the actual tree decorations, though. For the garland, we are thinking of stringing a bunch of plastic gold coins together. I'm having a hard time finding pirate ornaments so I was thinking of stenciling a simple skull & crossbones on some glass ornaments. We're also having a hard time coming up with a tree topper....we've thought of maybe doing a parrot, but is that too cheesy? We've also thought of just topping the tree with a pirate hat. Any ideas?

[Stella]

How about topping the tree with a pirate flag?? For decorations, you could use little pirate ships, parrots, trunks, wheels, fish, stuff like that. I think the garland idea is perfect.
Great idea!!!

[Sheherezade]

I like a ship for the tree topper. You could get a cool one from a hobby shop. You could also make a star out of a few crossed cutlasses. (Cheesy, maybe? I don't have good taste. ) You could do little cannons along with the pirate flags and parrots on the tree. I love the garland of gold coins. You can probably get little skeletons write now from Oriental Trading company with Halloween around the corner.

[Vanquisher]

Some cool things:

http://www.orientaltrading.com/applicat ... +%282DZ%29

http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/page/DM/PROD/SK/PSB1

http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/page/DM/PROD/C2/PTCdb

http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/page/DM/PROD/C2/JewlB

http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/page/DM/PROD/C2/cRC38