And we are on to month two in my family's year round tree decoration project. This month has special significance in that the world celebrates love, in the general sense through the February 14th holiday known as none other than Valentine's Day. My family celebrates love more specifically during this month, however, through the birthdays of several family members, not least of which is my wife. And since my wife is also my valentine, this tree is largely dedicated to her.
The elements of the tree include red glitter heart-shaped ornaments, pink and red felt heart shaped ornaments, amethyst mini bottles, red flowers, red tinsel, stockings ornament, and a cross. The significance of each of these elements is described below.
Various Hearts
The hearts are pretty self explanatory. What would a Valentine's Day tree be without hearts?! In an effort to offer a little variety, however, different types and colored hearts are used. This includes glitter hearts and felt hearts, that sport the standard valentine colors: red and pink.
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Amethyst Mini Bottles
This element is what especially makes this tree a celebration of my wife, and there is a lot of symbolism here to discuss. A message in a bottle is a whimsical means of communication in which some sort of information is sealed in a bottle and released into the ocean. What makes it whimsical is that it may float across an entire ocean in a direction out of the senders control, ultimately reaching the other side where some random person finds the bottle and receives the message in a poetic, almost meant-to-be fashion.
For this tree, the 'message in a bottle' theme is employed using mini bottles that are filled with small amethyst stones and amethyst colored sand. Amethyst is the birthstone for the month of February. So the symbolism is that my wife floated across of sea of people here on earth to ultimately land on my shore, where I claimed her as my very own, and it was meant-to-be from the very start.
Tinsel & Red Lights
The red tinsel and lights wrap around the tree like it is giving the tree a big hug. Everybody loves hugs on Valentine's Day.
Red Flowers
The red flowers were a hold over from the January tree, but it holds a different significance this month. Flowers are often given out as gifts on the day set aside as a festival of love.
Stockings Ornament
This ornament has stockings for each of my family and represents us as a unit. This is also a hold over from the January tree, and will likely remain on the tree each month of this year as a representation of the consistent importance of family.
Cross
The final holdover from the previous month is the cross which is placed over the stockings ornament to symbolize God watching over my family.
See the other trees from this year by clicking the link(s) below:
