A Special Christmas Tree

A friend surprised me one Christmas with a very special gift, a ceramic Christmas tree. She had heard me say several times over the years that I wished I could find a ceramic Christmas tree but never could even during the Christmas season. On this one very special Christmas, she gave me a gift-wrapped box that had a cross sticking out the top. I couldn't see what was below the cross.

But when opening the box, very much to my amazement and surprise was a beautiful ceramic Christmas tree.  My friend and her sister were shopping in an antique barn and found this ceramic tree. She replaced all the bulbs, added words of encouragement and put the cross on top. The tree sits on a separate white base that has a light bulb so that when the tree is placed on top of the base, the colored bulbs light up  when the electrical cord is plugged in.

Big surprises can come in gift-wrapped boxes. This certainly was a surprise that I am still amazed by today. The tree sits on a bookcase shelf in my living room all year round and turns on it beautiful lights at Christmastime.  If you click on the picture to make it larger, you can see some of the words on the tree and the careful detail of the ceramic finish. The word below the cross is "Love". My friend put a lot of love into redecorating this spectacular tree.