Nancye and John Pikciunas have multiple Christmas trees in their Soddy-Daisy home.Nancye Pikciunas gets into the Christmas spirit.
“I start thinking about next year now,” said Pikciunas, who has 13 elaborately decorated trees in the Soddy-Daisy house she shares with her husband, John. “I get into a real fantasy world when Christmas comes around.”
She begins with the upstairs in September, she said, and coordinates each tree with the room it’s in. Pikciunas eschews the standard balls and tinsel decor in favor of flowers, feathers and finery. She said she enjoys getting wrapped up in the fantasy of the season. Decorating each tree takes about half a day.
“My grandchildren (two boys, ages 18 and 21) say, ‘Nana, why?’ But they enjoy it,” she said.
Her husband enjoys the finished result but leaves the creative process to his wife, he said.
“It’s her hobby, and she doesn’t complain about my hobbies,” said John Pikciunas, “She enjoys it, and that’s all that matters. I enjoy it when she’s finished with it. It looks like a construction site around here for two months.”
LIVING ROOM
The tree in the Pikciunases’ living room continues the theme of winter splendor featured throughout the space, which also boasts crystal toy-soldiers and long, white tapers. Here, Nancye Pikciunas has carefully draped her tree in pearl and crystal strands and dotted it with white silk roses, including a spray of flowers at the top.
Hanging among the roses and pearls is a picture frame ornament with the inscription “Forever in Our Hearts.” A photograph of Pikciunas’ late mother is in the frame.
MASTER BEDROOM
“I love hydrangeas, but I don’t do well with growing them,” said Pikciunas, who decorated the tree in her master bedroom with silk hydrangeas and shoe-themed ornaments, many of which are gifts from friends. “I love shoes,” she said.
The tree also features crystal strands, silver feathers and netting. A friend gave her a dancing girl ornament, which twirls among the flowers and finery.
“When (my friends) see things that sparkle and glitter,” she said, “they always bring them to me.”
KITCHEN
“We have so many birds around here, and we enjoy them,” said Pikciunas, so she decorated a Christmas tree to honor her, feathered friends. She collected fake birds and nests, adding flowers and pine cones to some of them, and placed the avian-themed decorations in a tree in front of the kitchen window.
She often has to sacrifice other recreation to create the winter wonderland her home becomes each December. “While people are out on the lake having a good time, I’m in here making Christmas decorations,” she said.
DEN
Nancy Pikciunas’ two grandsons refer to the upstairs of her home as their condo. In the upstairs den, she decorated a tree in more woodsy, masculine colors to complement the feather accents in the sconces and wildcat-themed art. The tree skirt is leopard print.
Pikciunas said the last time her 18-year-old grandson, Zane, came to visit, he made no mention of the elaborately decorated tree.
“You didn’t notice this?” she asked him.
“Nana,” he told her, “I’ve seen it all my life.”
PORCH
John Pikciunas is a boating enthusiast. He is even building a boat in the basement of his house, so his wife decorated this potted Christmas tree in honor of her husband’s beloved hobby. It also features gardening tools, birdhouses and lighthouses. The tree sits on their screened-in porch, which offers a perfect view of the private dock.
“I’m not as nuts about boating as he is,” she confessed.
