the (un)decorated tree

ALPINE MAGIC | The Decorated Tree's first tree, The Alpine Feather Tree is now for sale to the public. Sure to become your next family heirloom, you can purchase yours here.

I AM HAPPY to announce the first (and second) exclusively-marketed trees designed by yours truly at The Decorated Tree. I drew up the plans and the first trees that you see in this post were made-to-order by Dennis Bauer. The trees went live on the Hometraditions.com website just this weekend.

The front of the tag for the tree reads: THANK YOU for selecting The Decorated Tree’s Alpine Feather Tree. An artist’s unique vision and a craftman’s fine handiwork are united to create a museum-quality heirloom. Hometraditions is pleased to offer this feather tree designed by Darryl Moland, creator of The Decorated Tree blog. Each tree is handcrafted from real goose feathers by Dennis Bauer in Ohio, one of the best-known craftsmen stateside to uphold German tradition. www.hometraditions.com is proud to provide you with a fresh take on an old craft.—MANY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The back of the tag for the tree reads: EMBELLISH each season with The Decorated Tree—holiday fantasy intertwined with the rich symbolism of nature. A time-honored Yuletide ritual has become a modern tradition any time of year. This large (12"x 12") 144-page, hardbound and dust-jacketed coffee table book contains the best of the blog’s informative stories. Accompanied by 183 inspiring full-color images, this book will become your decorating resource for every holiday, every year.—CELEBRATING THE SEASONS 

FEATHER TREE TRADITION | The alternate version of The Alpine Feather tree is more traditional in shape. It is wider and features seven rows of snow-capped branches. You can purchase yours here.

HOMETRADITIONS.COM is known for their finely-crafted feather trees handmade by Dennis Bauer, who has also made many custom trees for the staff of Martha Stewart Living magazine, which are also available on the site. Ann Pummel, proprietor of Hometraditions contacted The Decorated Tree and in our conversations, we arrived at the idea that I could design a tree for them. I know all about decorating, but this was a first for me in thinking about an undecorated tree. For sure, I immediately knew I wanted a slender tree with a long trunk that would fit into a small space. I dubbed the tree "The Decorated Tree's Alpine Feather Tree." It was an amazing opportunity to have something made that I would like to see on the market. Now it is a reality—a dream come true—thanks to an amazing collaborationd between Ann Pummel, Dennis Bauer and I. Please place your orders early, as each tree is handcrafted individually by Dennis. Even though it's only September, the holiday season is closer than you think!

TAGGED AND READY | Your tree will arrive with this tag tied to its branches. You can see and order both versions here, available in your choice of two trunk colors. Whitewashing the trunk with thinned milk paint (instructions on the Hometraditions site) gives it a snowy effect. Order both versions here.

THE DECORATED VERSION of the slim profile tree at the top of this post will be featured in Matthew Mead's Christmas All Through the House. I can't reveal much about it until his publication hits the market, but let's just say the tree is transformed into a bright and modern take on an old tradition. I'm very excited about the unveiling of the final results in the magazine. A lot of collaboration between Matthew and I went into developing a plan for the overall color scheme and some of the details included in the story in which it is included.

YOU'LL HEAR MORE about Matthew's magazine/bookazine (two versions) on this site when it becomes available sometime in mid-to-late October on newsstands everywhere and on Amazon.com—so save the date! Right now Matthew has an amazing Halloween Spooktacular publication for sale. You'll also be able to check back on Matthew's site when it shifts gear as each holiday issue is published.

THE DECORATED TREE would also love to see how you decorate your tree purchased from Hometraditions. I plan to have my first decorating contest involving readers of this blog! Join me in the excitement of creating meaningful holiday decor for every season!

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

tree design, photography and styling by Darryl Moland
handcrafted tree by Dennis Bauer
 for Hometraditions.com

what's old is new . . . again

NOW THAT I'M finished with the first iteration of the book The Decorated Tree, what's next? Do I look to the future or to the past for inspiration? A lot of work has been done to create the book that a real bonafide publisher will want to buy into, but there is a lot of footwork involved in finding said publisher. But I'm happy I now have a self-published book in hand to show and tell about. Having been a designer my whole adult life, I've learned very well that even though I might be fairly articulate at telling someone what I see in my head, it's necessary for most people to literally see your design in a visual sense. You have to spell it out in the language of design, which involves type, photography, illustration and the magical elements involved in putting all of that together in a way that makes sense. Beyond just making literal sense, it also has to turn heads, as if saying "look at me!"

I'VE OFTEN SAID I feel like the blogger Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams) in the movie Julie & Julia, where Julie states "I could write a book, I have ideas." or "I am risking my well being for a deranged assignment." The original blog ran on Salon.com. I'm laughing out loud as I'm finding out her new blog is named "What Could Happen?" with the subtitle "musings from a "soiled and narcissistic whore." However, like Julie during the time of the Julia/Julia Project blog, I am currently working a day job as a graphic design contractor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which puts me in a position not unlike Julie in the movie. I work at a government job by day and blog by night and weekends, while working my way through my ornament collection, notes and photography I've compiled (instead of cooking my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking). The Decorated Tree book is a result of all of this.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN? Indeed! I have to say, that coming up with another tree to show so soon after finishing my book has surprised me. We are right smack in the middle of the holiday season though. I still know that even though I've created a book that I can be very proud of, this is only the beginning to finding the way to the future I envision. I need to spell it out in the visual language I'm so used to, but I also need to articulate it verbally and through the contacts I make. "What's old is new" is my mantra now, as I carry on and bring what I've created to the next level. Stay with me (and buy my book!). This should be a wild ride.

OLD & NEW | (above three photos) I found this cute wire tree at Homegoods early in the season ("handcrafted in the Philippines" is all I know about it). It had cheap gold plastic beads on the ends of each stem, but did have the really cool cardboard birdhouse ornaments glued to its branches with bright red silk thread. I took it apart and reconfigured it by adding vintage Shiny Brite® ornaments to the ends of the branches and a vintage finial tree topper. I also added the jewel-toned shatterproof ornaments (with proper metal caps) from the Jaclyn Smith Today Golden Heritage collection from Kmart. (I usually shy away from plastic ornaments because they also have cheap plastic caps. These were dressed up with beautiful metal caps). The gold krinkled wire balls were sold at Michaels as vase filler. The beautiful rusted metal door in the background is from the private collection of my friends Charlene Fisk and Maggie McBride.

OLD IS NEW | I'm always drawn to the old Shiny Brite® ornaments from my childhood, but I've been collecting the new versions now marketed by Christopher Radko. The large box are the new interpretations and the tiny box next to it is the box of old ornaments I bought that cap the branch ends on the tree above (if you look closely in the upper corner of the box, it says "a Shiny Brite® product"). I'm seeing a bawdy bright tree full of new Shiny Brite® ornaments in my future! Who knows, I might even use some colored lights (but I doubt it).

GREETINGS | I had to share my illustrator friend's gorgeous holiday card I received in the mail a few days ago. I gasped when I opened the envelope. Stanislawa Kodman is the talented artist behind it. I send my heartfelt well wishes to her and her family, as her mother just died. Stanis also designs illustrated jewelry and can be found here at her website. She can be hired professionally through her agent Alexander Pollard.

©2011 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography, styling and design by Darryl Moland,
card illustration by Stanislawa Kodman.

homeward bound

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS | A bound book is on the horizon.

WHEN I BEGAN writing this blog over two years ago with the short August 19, 2009 post, I already had a book in mind, Seeing that I needed a structure to force me to compile and create my vision, I began writing, photographing and obsessing over The Decorated Tree. This blog as a regular discipline gave me the impetus to keep things moving and to hone my writing skills. Before I knew it, I had more than enough material for a book. What you will see in the book that I'm almost finished with are the best ideas and photographs from The Decorated Tree blog (and a few new ones), edited and coaxed into bookish formality.

I'VE REALIZED in writing about what I love, that the best things I write are entirely personal. Although the book is a little less so than the blog, my life is integrally bound to what I create for this blog and now for the book. Even though I enlisted a few professional photographer friends to take photos of some of the more complex trees, I have photographed most of the images for the blog and book with only the natural light bounced around by a reflector, a pocket digital camera and tripod, and a mission to get a proper publisher to notice.

EXCERPTING one of my blog entries redesigned and edited for my book, here's a sneak peak of how the book is coming together, along with the cover image and a section opener. The book is divided into the four seasons:

SECTION OPENER | The opening spread of the fall section of the book.

AUTUMN TREES become a saturated blaze of earthy color after a spring and summer of growth. The first beliefs and rituals involving decorating a tree resonate at the core of who we are as part of the natural world and our visceral attachment to it. Reverent celebrations of birth and a hope for rebirth of man’s spirit begin each year with the autumnal equinox, when the weather cools and the leaves drop from the trees. If one were to meld the disparate belief systems of the world into one, all are symbolic of new life and rebirth in a profound way, while paying direct homage to our roots in nature. A realization that every living thing is connected and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts becomes a way to honor the gifts of life. Generations of friends and family migrate and join together to share celebratory meals together. These decorated gatherings simply celebrate life and abundance. And there is much to be thankful for, even as we witness the constant death and rebirth in nature’s changing seasons—even as we do in our own lives.

HOLIDAY MIGRATION | One of my blog entries redesigned for the book.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES are known in North America for their incredible autumn migration every year south and northward return home in the summer. This trip spans the life of three or four generations. Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains (most famously) are the ones believed to overwinter and roost in the forested mountaintops within central Mexico’s Transvolcanic Range. The ones east of the Rockies travel to small groves of trees along the southern California coast. They often return to the same trees every year creating an amazingly magical sight. This miracle of nature is expressed by the tree I’ve decorated with their facsimiles to celebrate the season.

JUST AS MANY species of birds migrate south for the winter, the Monarch does also. Unlike birds though, the lifespan of the butterfly during this migration is completed by children and grandchildren of the butterflies that start this incredible journey—done without their elders to show them the way. Unlike most insects, Monarchs cannot survive a long cold winter, so they migrate. Seasons change. But it might not be as simple as that.

DO THEY FOLLOW magnetic fields or use the sun to guide them? Are they following landforms (rivers, coastlines, mountain ranges) as their navigational tools? A lot of mystery lies behind this yearly event, having baffled and inspired researchers for decades. What are some of the other reasons for such a distinct migration? How long has this natural pattern been in place?

HOLIDAY MIGRATION | The second spread adapted from last year's Thanksgiving post.

AS SUCH, humans migrate and gather with friends and family during the holiday season every year. Generations travel and join together to share good times and celebratory meals. These gatherings are for celebrating life and abundance. And there is much to be thankful for, even as things change over the years for better or worse.

I’LL NEVER FORGET Thanksgiving day back in 1984, when I got the call confirming my first job out of college at Southern Living magazine. That day set me on my career path as a designer and forever linked it to a day of abundance. I give thanks for all the celebrations of life—family and friends alike. Even still, there is a part of me that feels the pull homeward.

BUT MAYBE you “Can’t Go Home Again.” That phrase comes from the finale of Thomas Wolfe’s novel of the same name. In the end its protagonist realizes, “You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time—back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

THIS TREE is a not-so-subtle reminder of the hope that all will come together again. One day we will realize our paths in life are for more than just survival. Our better instincts will inform us—just as it does with each generation of the peculiar Monarch.

I HOPE YOU have enjoyed this teaser and will buy the book when it is published. As I write this blog, I still have about 30 more pages to design and edit in preparing the book for printing on Blurb.com, where you can order a copy of your own, as well as be able to download an edition for your iPad. Thanks-giving is in order … a sincere thanks to all the special people in my life who have given me the moral support to keep things going. I couldn't have done it without your encouragement. My goal is to have the book available online at the latest in mid December, but it might be scheduled for what would have been my parents 66th wedding anniversary on December 23rd. Keep checking back here for the latest news. It feels like a real accomplishment now that there will be an actual book of the best of The Decorated Tree! 

©2011 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography, styling and design by Darryl Moland,
book cover photo by Harold Daniels