Christmas Tree Decorating in Austin, Texas

There seems to be a new trend in the Texas Hill Country, even more so in Austin, Texas. The idea is to pick a suitable Cedar tree along the roadside and decorate it for Christmas. Each tree is different and has its own personality. Passing these trees, even during rush hour traffic, will bring a smile to your face.

Most of the trees have tinsel, Christmas balls and all types of glitter to reflect in your headlights. Even at dusk, the bright colors stand out against the dark green backgrounds of wooded areas. These trees are located in or near undeveloped areas. The contrast of a decorated tree against the natural background of a wooded area is cheerful and bright.

With only a week until Christmas, I decided that our family should decorate a tree in honor of this new local tradition. My Mother-in-Love joined me for a trip to the Dollar General Store to search for Christmas color for our tree decorating project. There were several items to choose from and the total cost of our purchases was less than ten dollars. I consider this inexpensive entertainment and lots of fun! We selected garlands, colored bells and a few varied Christmas ornaments for our tree. The anticipation was high as we left the parking lot to retrieve my husband from the house. Together, we headed out to find the perfect tree to decorate.

We passed through several areas before selecting a tree on a highway underpass near a major intersection. There were no other decorated trees in sight. Our viewers would enjoy the bright glimmer of our tree decorations. With ornaments in hand, we parked to decorate.

It was soon decided that our decorations were small on this rather large tree, but the color would still show well along the roadway. It took us only minutes to finish our tree decorating and pronounce it complete. The decorations from The Dollar Store were inexpensive and small, but nevertheless fun. We will most likely add some colored ornaments to our tree later in the week. Walgreens had a container of Christmas Balls for $3.00, already on sale for the season. I quickly grabbed one during an afternoon shopping trip.

We all agreed that this will become an annual tradition for our family. We especially enjoyed the sense of adventure in locating a tree and choosing ornaments. If you live in our area, I encourage you to jump on board with our new local tradition. If not, perhaps you could start one in your area. Christmas is a special time of the year. Let's enjoy it and decorate a local tree!

This year's tree was done in honor of my mother-in-love who sits in heavenly places today. The wind was very strong as we decorated carefully securing the garland and ornaments to ensure no future damage! Sitting on a hill, this tree can be seen from several major roadways! The sunlight reflects on the gold garland and ornaments while at night the car lights catch a glimmer of sparkle! When I pass a random Christmas tree, I smile! Hopefully this tree will touch lots of lives and bring many smiles during this Christmas season!