Results: Celebrating Christmas. With a Parrot.

After getting married, I wanted to keep my wedding dress, but shoving it in the attic in a box didn't appeal to me. And wearing it to work seemed inappropriate - especially as a bicycle commuter. I finally settled on cutting it up and making it into our Christmas Tree skirt so I could appreciate it regularly. Would you ever do something like this?

We had a picture perfect tree, with ornaments that were handmade, some glass ones from the Christmas festivals when we lived in Germany, so many nice things. And then we inherited our parrot, Bongo. First we couldn't have tinsel, then ornaments with glitter, and finally he started going after the electric light cords. Have you ever had to redesign your tree (or maybe some other holiday decorations) because of a pet?

On top of the other problems, we learned that commercial trees are sprayed with preservatives - or even green dye! That can be toxic for birds. And then we learned just eating the sharp needles can poke their digestive tract and cause problems. So we transitioned to no ornaments, and sadly, no needles. Behold our most recent tree! (right click and open in new tab for full effect). Do you love it?

We thought we had reached a compromise. But no; without tinsel, or ornaments, or lights, or pine needles, Bongo could still destroy things. His version of "trimming the tree" is trimming the fringe off my wedding dress tree skirt. We gave up on a tree this year. Would you do the same?