Post Season: LittleTrees from Big Trees

As the holiday season winds down, many of you are probably packing up the decorations, and taking down the tree. If so, consider this:

My best friends father in law is a master craftsman. He makes some of the most beautiful furniture you never heard of in his studio on an old farm in Western Massachusetts. He's pretty handy at wood turning, too.  I hear he makes a few bucks replicating bits of nineteenth century woodwork for use in the restoration of old buildings. He's also a swell guy.

He also turns these little Christmas trees out of the stumps of actual Christmas trees. If you send him your stump, he'll send you one back. Now that's some well curated authentic heritage Americana if ever I saw it. Seriously.

Chances are if you read this blog with any regularity you're the kind of person who appreciates handmade things and likes to collect stuff that is beautiful, if entirely unnecessary. $60 may be  pricey, but it's only once a year. And once you've accumulated about a dozen of them, it will really be a nice little group on the mantle in December, something to pass on to the kids. That's kind of worth it.

Before you toss the tree, consider sending Don a little piece of it.