The 12 Trees of Christmas - Make that 13 Trees

On the weekend a friend and I went to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts to see the Twelve Trees of Christmas exhibit.  I've never been to the Gardiner Museum before, but it has been on my list of things I have wanted to do for years.  


Every year twelve Christmas trees are decorated by decorators and architects.  The trees are on view for a few weeks and are then auctioned as a fundraiser.  


After viewing all the trees I kept counting and re-counting them and coming up with thirteen.  I checked at the front counter and, in fact, they decorated a baker's dozen this year.  

The theme this year was "All Creatures Great and Small".  It was a great theme as it could be taken in so many directions.  Being a very decisive person I have narrowed my favourites down to just two trees.  I'm curious to know what ones you like the best so I'm not going to say which ones were my favourites in this post.  Let me know what one topped your list - we'll have our own little vote right here. 


So here are the trees in the order that we saw them in:

1)  IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

The first tree, that is actually in the museum's lobby, was decorated by Cobi Ladner.  She's a fellow-blogger (you can find her blog Cobistyle here), the former editor of House and Home magazine, and I kinda sorta met her (which you can read about here).  

Cobi's tree was festooned with Japanese lanterns, Chinese take out boxes, butterflies, and Geisha doll ornaments - and all done in bright and beautiful colours.

2)  NOAH'S ARK

The Noah's Ark tree was decorated with pairs of balsa wood animals, ramps to load the ark, a rainbow ribbon, the ark resting at the top of the tree, and a beautiful Japanese water scene covering the base of the tree.

3)  ECOSPHERE

This tree reminded me of a children's toy - with wooden animals linked together by metal rods.

4)  SHIPS OF THE DESERT

This tree was festooned with stars, including a huge glittering gold one on top.  There was a creamy net garland like a path of sand, along with a string of camels each decorated with a different saddle.  Nestled in the branches near the bottom of the tree was a nativity scene.

5)  ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

This tree sparkled with glittery balls in white, gold, and silver.   As you looked closer at the decorations you could see all manner of winged creatures including dragonflies, beetles, birds, and butterflies hidden in the branches and balancing on the ornaments.

6) ELEPHANT LOVE

This red tree was made into the elephant itself with the addition of a giant head, decorated feet, and a tail around the back.  The decorations on the tree were all elephants - everything from cookies to decorated ornaments.

7)  THE TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS

This tree was decorated from top to bottom in dogs and dog-related things like leashes, dog toys, and even a few cats for the dogs to chase.  Under the tree were some presents, including one that a naughty puppy had started to open.

8)  WE ARE ALL A TWITTER

There was a nest at the top of the tree and a huge nest at the base of the tree and literally hundreds of green and blue birds in between.

9)  CHRISTMAS MY DEER

This tree had painted branches that were supposed to resemble antlers and it was adorned with pink and white feathers.

10)  A TRIBUTE TO JAMES HERRIOT AND ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

There was everything farm related on this tree - from livestock to clear balls filled with animal feed to prize ribbons to bundles of hay and a weathervane on the top.  Under the tree was a pair of boots and a couple of farm animals and beside the tree stood a coat stand with a barn jacket, complete with a copy of James Herriot's book in the pocket and a stethoscope slung around the neck of the jacket.

11)  THE SNOW CREATURES

This tree was bedecked in owls, blue jays, and cardinals - all birds that stay in Canada over the winter.  Along with the birds the tree was decorated with red plaid ribbon and red and silver baubles.

12)  UCCELLI IN CIELO

This heavily flocked tree set off the greens, teals, and turquoises of the pears, birds, ribbon garland, and the angel at the top of the tree.

13)  A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

This tree was a study in green - everything from the cluster of sparkly partridges at the top of the tree to the glittering pears and baubles that covered the tree.

I'd love to know which tree turns your crank - was it the beautiful and sparkly or the sentimental or colourful?  

And so you can remember the choices, here's an overview of all the trees:

Linked to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House