Welcome to the Home of the Christmas Tree Lady! **Click on images to see a larger view.**

The reaction is almost always the same. "What?! You have HOW many Christmas trees?!" - but Linda Werner doesn't mind. She just smiles - because this is her hobby - and she has been fondly dubbed "The Christmas Tree Lady".

Linda has always loved Christmas. When she and husband, Scott, moved into their first home in Northern Virginia, the family Christmas tree was downstairs. Since she spent most of her time upstairs, she wanted to be able to "see a little Christmas" there, too. So she put up a small, 4-foot tree.

Once her daughters grew, they wanted to help decorate the trees. If you've ever seen a toddler with tinsel you know what a scary sight that tree can be when the process is all over! So... Linda put a small 3-foot tree in each girl's room. Together they made paper chains and salt-dough ornaments to decorate those trees (satisfying the girls desire to decorate - and making sure Linda's trees didn't suffer in the process!)

The Crystal Tree	When Linda's mother died in 1985, Linda decided to put up another tree - this one in her mom's memory (her mother loved Christmas, too). Thus was born the Crystal Tree. It is a 6-foot tall slimline tree, standing in the corner of the formal dining room. It is decorated in white lights and crystal ornaments, with an accent of red displayed throughout - from red glass balls to red glass cardinals. A sparkling silver bow sits atop the tree with its ribbons cascading to the bottom. Linda describes this tree as "elegant".
The Santa Tree	Then one day Linda's oldest daughter joked that the sunroom needed a tree. Linda took that jab seriously and before you could say "ho, ho, ho" the Santa Tree was born! That tree now sits in the family room of the Werner home. It is a full-size 7 foot tree, decorated in all sorts of Santa ornaments. There are old-fashioned post-card type ornaments, figurines, and even whimsical Santas raiding the refridgerator for some milk to go with those cookies. A white garland wrapped in a red velvet ribbon encircles the tree - providing the perfect accent for the tree-topper...a Santa dressed in red velvet, trimmed with white fur. Below the Santa Tree is the Dickens Village (a Dept. 56 collection). The village lights up and if you get down on the floor, eye level with the figures, you can almost hear the people caroling as they go through the streets and smell the holiday scents wafting out of the bakery. There is also a large Santa that greets you when you enter this room.
The Angel Tree	The 4-foot tree that started out in the living room of the Werner's first home grew to a 6-foot slimline in their current house. It became the Angel Tree and as you've guessed by its name, is covered in all sorts of angels - angel lights, cow angels, even a few boy angels (most angel ornaments seem to be girls!). The living room also has numerous other angel decorations, including handmade angel wall hangings, angel dolls and even an angel finial. The Werner's have always placed the "Christ" in Christmas first - and in this room you can really see that. You will find a nativity and an Advent wreath as well.
The Family Tree	The Family Tree is located in the Library. It is a full size tree and still has many of the original ornaments on it - from back when the Werner's were married almost 40 years ago! This tree holds ornaments that their kids made, others received as gifts, and special ornaments that commemorate certain events. This is the tree where they gather on Christmas morning to open gifts. Linda also likes to call this the "gadget" tree because there are mechanical/moving ornaments on it. At one time it even had a "ski slope" on it...Santa and his friends would ride the lift up and then slide in a spiral down around the tree. Eventually it got too difficult to balance so the "ski slope" was "retired".
The Cow Tree	The Cow Tree came really as a joke. Linda had a small, 2 foot tree on the center island in the kitchen as a decoration. A friend brought over a small cow ornament (Linda's kitchen is full of cow decorations) and voila! (or should we say "Moo!") ... the cow tree was born.
The Victorian Tree	On the upper level of the Werner home, in the Guest Room, is the Victorian Tree. This room was already decorated with Victorian-style dolls so the idea for this theme tree came naturally. It is a 4-foot tree and has lots of rose-colored ornaments and ribbons with an accent of lace. A Victorian-style doll sits at the top. There are also Victorian-themed ornaments such as old gloves, hatboxes, etc. There are also Victorian dolls dressed in holiday attire - and one that moves as if she is putting on her fur muff and getting ready to go out caroling.
The Snowman Tree	This theme tree took Linda by surprise. Her oldest daughter asked if she could host her sorority alumnae holiday meeting at Linda's house, so her sorority sisters could see all of Linda's trees and decorations. Linda said yes, and as a thank you to her, each member of the group that attended surprised her with a gift of a snowman ornament. Of course Linda was tickeled with the idea and within a matter of days had purchased a 4-foot tree for her office area and had it decorated. This tree is topped with a smiling snowman and features snowflake garland. There are snowman figurines throughout the room and a snowman couple greets you as you enter.
The Toy Tree	Ever the kid at heart, Linda created the Toy Tree for the top of the staircase on the 2nd level. It is a 6-foot slimline and has "candy" garland. A panda bear sporting a red bow sits atop this tree. All the ornaments are toys or things that children would like. There is a toy box, a sailboat, a tricycle, a gumball machine and more. "Fun" would definitely describe this tree!
The Music/Golf Tree	Linda's husband, Scott, is a musician and a golfer so it made sense that he'd have a "double-themed" tree. Scott is active in his church choir as the Chancel Choir director and he is also the musical director for the Alexandria Harmonizers (4-time International Gold Medalist Barbershop Chorus). Scott has also sung in various quartets, including Vaudeville, the 1985 International Silver Medalist Quartet. On this tree is a replica of each member of that quartet - right down to the stripes on the vest and spats on the shoes. If you look REALLY close at the photo, you will see the replica ornaments in the front, center of the tree, and a photo of the quartet hanging in the background on the left. (Shameless plug: Check out Vaudeville's website to see how to get their latest CD!) Other musical instruments and symbols are on this tree as well as numerous golf balls, golfing Santa's, etc. There is also a "bar-bear-shop" quartet waiting to perform holiday arrangements in four part harmony. Looks like they got Santa to join in!
The Teddy Bear Tree	Spawned by an idea she saw in a toy store, this tree is a full 6 feet - and has actually stuffed bears "stuffed" into the tree! There are bears that belonged to her girls when they were little - and even Scott's first Teddy Bear is there. Small bear ornaments fill in the spaces around the stuffed animals and bears in a sleigh and wagon circle the bottom of the tree. There is even a bear dressed as Santa. An animated bear welcomes you into this room. This is a favorite among the kids.

As you can see, there are many trees in Linda's home - and lots more decorations too. She gets a lot of enjoyment from her hobby and would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have - or help give you ideas on how you can create theme trees, too! You can email Linda at treeladylinda@aol.com. Thanks for visiting!