You’ve Gotta See This Upside-Down Christmas Tree
With handmade ornaments, each representing a part of 2020, this tree has a story that we know will raise spirits and spread smiles during a holiday season like none other.
The world is turned upside down, so why not have an upside-down Christmas tree?
It all started when Emme Simpkins saw her neighbors’ tree lit up through the window … and it was only November 2. “The more I thought about it, the more I realized that even if it were closer to December, something just felt so off and just somewhat of a disconnect. Something was preventing me from even the idea of pulling out my same familiar Christmas decorations,” Emme says. “This year, I hardly decorated for the 4th of July, I didn’t buy mums until the very end of September, and my skeleton didn’t make it down from the attic for Halloween either. I have a 10-year-old little boy, and I love to decorate for him (OK, for myself as well!), but this year … this whole world and year has been flipped upside down. And then it hit me! If the world was upside down, so would my Christmas tree! Yes! It was the perfect answer. I would still decorate for Christmas — but in a NEW way! A way only fitting for the year 2020!”
As Emme Googled away, thinking she had come up with an original idea, she found out that upside-down trees are — and have been — a thing for quite some time: “… some cultures even do upside-down trees regularly. And people in New York have been enjoying them for their space-saving capabilities. Who knew?!”
If you are wondering why they are space-saving, it’s because the shape allows you to set them up in a way where the bulk of the tree is up high, and thus, you hardly need to move any furniture. Emme says it’s easy to walk around the tree, and you can vacuum under it with ease. So, if space is tight, upside-down may be the way to go!
And, don’t try to hang a regular tree upside down. First off, this doesn’t work with real trees, as they’ll dry out and are too heavy. Secondly, faux trees are engineered to hang in only one way, so don’t try and hang your typical artificial tree upside down. If you want an upside-down tree, order one made to hang from the ceiling, or they even make some that stand on the floor (the star on top acts as the tree stand). Vickerman has a variety of options.
But, back to THIS YEAR and THIS TREE. The ornaments are akin to a scrapbook for 2020. With the exception of the gold and silver filler ornaments, Emme made each one — and they are all related to 2020. And, they’ve all been made in the past few weeks: “I started working on the tree a week before Thanksgiving. You could say that it’s still an on-going project. Just today, I stopped for gas and thought, ‘Oh! I need to make an ornament showing how low the gas prices dropped this year.’ I also recently added the COVID-19 vaccine ornament with a message of hope leading into 2021.”
RELATED: Create the Perfect Christmas Mantel With These Insider Tips
Unlike any other upside-down tree we’ve seen, this one has roots that extend onto the ceiling. Emme hid the hook and chain that attaches the tree to the ceiling stud with leftover butcher block paper from a move several years ago. She then attached the roots to the ceiling with tiny Command strip hooks and wire. “My favorite part of the tree that I made was the root structure on top of the tree … I bunched the moving paper together to form these root-like branch structures and wrapped them tightly with the plastic wrap and continued to build off of one and just continued to connect the various parts together,” Emme explains. “I then covered this structure with crunched up dark brown butcher paper adhered to the plastic wrap and then shaped — similar to paper maché — using Matte Mod Podge. The roots sort of just evolved on their own.”
RELATED: Craftiness NOT Needed: 10 Sentimental DIY Christmas Ornaments
Food for thought: Although this tree started as a humorous take on 2020, it ended up having far deeper symbolism. Emme shares how this thought evolved and moved her: “Sometimes [tree] roots can extend for almost a mile on all sides, making the entire root structure sometimes bigger than the actual tree that we see above the ground. I thought this was so significant for my 2020 Christmas tree! Trees can live for hundreds of years and outlast storms, harsh weather, droughts, and even pandemics. Sure, they might get damaged, but if the root structure is intact and healthy, they will most likely survive … Just like our 2020 upside-down world! Even though we might be going through a storm — actually, make that huge multiple storms — and we have definitely been damaged, our roots are still strong and they are extended — globally united!”
As we enter into this holiday season and look toward the new year, here’s to continued creativity and finding new ways to look at the familiar.
Thank you, Emme! When not crafting, Emme can be found making faces glow with skincare treatments and lasers as a medical aesthetician at DeLozier Cosmetic Surgery in Nashville, TN.
All photography by Emme Simpkins.
**********
For the best “me moment” of the day, subscribe to StyleBlueprint.
Liza Graves
As CEO of StyleBlueprint, Liza also regularly writes for SB. Most of her writing is now found in the recipe archives as cooking is her stress relief!