Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Trees - Nova Scotia style!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. 
 ~Burton Hillis

It's interesting what kinds of Christmas trees you may find in Shelburne County! I want to share with you some great trees, designed and decorated in a unique way.

The first one is our Lobster Pot (Trap) Christmas Tree the Municipality of Barrington constructs each year at the Cape Sable Island Causeway. A tree very fitting for the Lobster Capital of Canada! The tree looks beautiful when lit during the Municipality's Festival of Lights (December 1-4, 2011).

Lobster Pot Christmas tree - Photo by Candace Nickerson

The Lobster Pot Christmas Tree lit up at night

The fireworks lighting up the night sky over the Cape Sable Island Causeway during the Festival of Lights
 - photo by Ken Chetwynd

This next tree was constructed by Clark's Harbour resident Paula Atkinson and Stephan Cunningham. Made from drift wood that they collected over the summer months on many of our wonderful white sandy beaches. They decorated it with great little buoys, lighthouses and shells for a complete nautical theme! 

Driftwood Christmas Tree by Paula Atkinson and Stephan Cunningham - photo by Bonnie Blades

The tree is topped with a lighthouse! - photo by Bonnie Blades

Lights and buoys help to decorate the tree - photo by Bonnie Blades

 This next tree was created by myself. My love of the beach shines through with this Christmas tree. I call it my "Colors of the Beach" tree. I used sand color garland and water color ribbon to wrap the tree in. It's decorated with sand dollars and seashells and glass balls, that I call my beach balls; filled with sand and seashells. I added a sand bucket, lobster trap and a beach towel under the tree, and used some Nova Scotia tartan for a tree skirt. The tree is topped with a star (fish!) and a scallop shell. Now I can dream of the beach all winter long!
My colors of the beach tree topped with a starfish and scallop shell

"Beach ball" ornament - filled with beach sand, seashells and a tiny starfish!

Nova Scotia tartan acts as a tree skirt. A sand bucket, lobster pot and beach towel are under my tree - So, when are you coming?!


Merry Christmas everyone, from all of us in Shelburne County