For more than 20 years, the spirit of Christmas and hundreds of ornaments have transformed the home of Don and Charlene Winters into a wonderland.
Typically, the Winterses deck the halls of their home with 12 Christmas trees, a porcelain village, a stuffed animal village and more. Every wall hanging and picture in the home is wrapped like presents and placed back on the wall. The lamp tables and lamps are decorated with festive Christmas wreaths used as centerpieces.But it's the Christmas trees that get the attention of visitors. Each tree follows a theme.
Among the trees is a very special one dedicated to Charlene Winters' grandmother, Mary Renberg. Until 1988 when she suffered a paralyzing stroke, Renberg tatted and crocheted snowflakes and Christmas ball ornaments. She also had a collection of silk poinsettias. Those poinsettias, along with new ones and the ornaments, adorn Grandma's red and white tree. At the top of the tree is a counted cross stitch made by Winters' mother that says, "You're never too old for Christmas."
One of the ornaments the Winterses inherited is more than 90 years old. Others are 60 to 80 years old. One tree displays those ornaments and several old-fashioned German blown-glass ornaments.
According to Winters, collecting Christmas ornaments can become a very fun tradition, and she recommends it to any family.
During their first year of marriage, the Winterses started collecting miniature toy ornaments for a toy tree. "The toy tree was started in hopes of having a big family," Winters said. And although they don't have a large family, the toy tree has continued to grow.
Perhaps the most creative tree is the Scrooge tree. The branches are black and the garland is paper clips formed as Marley's chains around and around the tree. One of the ornaments on the tree is from World War II. Although the ornaments depict Dickens' Christmas Carol and the tone is definitely dismal, Charlene says it's still too cheery. "Next year I'll have to get purple lights for it," she said.
One tradition the Winterses have carried throughout the years is purchasing Christmas-tree ornaments every time they travel to put on their memento tree. And that tree sits close to the angel trees, which feature lace angels and baby's breath.
"I also believe in putting on lots and lots of lights," Winters said. During the holidays, the tree lights keep the main rooms in their home light and bright.
If an ornament doesn't go along with a theme that year, it is placed on the "leftover" tree. Some trees don't have much on them at all. Such as the pioneer tree, which has paper chains, some lace ornaments, pine cones and apple candle holders.
This year has been busier than most for the Winters family. But Winters promises that next year the entire collection will be on display again. Her next project is decorations for the outside of their home.