By KRISTI MAYFIELD
Walking into Toni Trask’s home in Oakdale is like walking into the North Pole. The greens, reds and golds of Christmas are on full display in every room of her house. Trask said that it is a labor of love for her and that even though it takes a while to put up, it is worth it. Her husband of more than 40 years, Paul, is on board with her decorating and even likes her to start early sometimes – like when Hallmark launches their Christmas in July television programming.
With 33 trees spread throughout the Trask home, she has just about every kind of Christmas item you can imagine and they go together beautifully. She enjoys using different themes such as her Wizard of Oz and Under the Sea trees because she appreciates the variations in colors and textures. In this particular home for more than 28 years, Trask said that many of her ornaments and decorations have been gifted to her from friends and relatives.
“I like to mix things up and put lots of different things together and I like it sparkly,” Trask said of her elaborate decorations.
Though she is a big fan of Hallmark, incorporating many decorations from designer Ken Crow, she likes to use decorations from many different designers including Christmas Fairies from Mark Roberts, which are both whimsical and festive. Trask has met both designers and had many of her ornaments and fairies signed by their respective designers.
Trask said that she got her inspiration for sharing the love of Christmas from her mother and father, noting that for years they used to get the same white flocked tree and decorate it with some blue ornaments until one year her father wanted to do something different and it opened her whole world up. Her family started purchasing fresh green trees and her mother started making ornaments to decorate it and that showed her a whole new way of crafting your own unique Christmas tree and she hasn’t stopped since.
“Our tree was very homemade with cranberries and popcorn and little handmade ornaments,” said Trask.
Inspired by her parents, she has continued to make and use items that have special significance to her to decorate her house and she has even collected ornaments throughout her children’s lives and has amassed quite a collection for both her son and daughter.
Within the past five years, she has started a new tradition with her sister and a close cousin that involves an ugly ornament tree, also known as a misfit ornament tree. Her cousin kicked it off when she gifted Trask with an ornament that was a little underwhelming one year and they got such a kick out of it, they have continued to exchange ugly or misfit ornaments every year since.
When Trask is hosting visitors, she even brews a special cinnamon tea that fills the kitchen with a cozy holiday scent. Friends and family including her Bunco group love to attend events at her house sharing that they want an opportunity to take in the whimsy and wonder of it all. It culminates in a very festive and welcoming home and Trask said that she plans to continue to decorate with her 33 trees and other Christmas delights for many years to come.
