The Making Of Christmas Magic By LINDA L. AUSTIN
T
he holiday gene is deeply embedded in Coronadan Teresa Alley. Ride by her house the week after Thanksgiving, and you will see the fully decorated front yard, but that is only a minuscule snapshot of what lies elsewhere. The backyard is also ready for December festivities with lighted candy canes and two 18-inch mice figures, each wearing their Santa cap and a striped suit jacket. Inside, the entire two-story house is festooned with Christmas decorations occupying each flat surface and every nook and cranny. The house transforms into a magical Christmas land. Full-out decorating followed her mother’s example and started when she was a teenager using her own allowance to buy ornaments to decorate her bedroom tree. With a few ornaments donated by Mom and her great-aunt, Alley proudly opened the blinds to allow her tree to shine for all who passed. The passion for decorating mushroomed with a Good Housekeeping craft article for an outdoor nativity. With Dad’s help, she scavenged scrap plywood and drew the figures freehand. Woodworking was Dad’s hobby, so cutting the figures out and giving them a white base coat with leftover house paint was all the help she needed. “I drew the detail on it and
painted it with acrylics that I bought with my allowance. I was in high school in Coronado… This manger scene out front has been added to, so there were nine original pieces, and then I have made some after I totally refinished the ones that were there, plus finished one of the pieces that was cut out but never done.” Inside, the Christmas tree takes center stage and deserves every awed comment. Holding court in the same spot her mother had always placed it, the tree sparkles, which is not by chance. Alley meticulously decorates it last with mostly vintage ornaments.
Some ornaments have their permanent place each year. “The tree has the guardian of the tree. That’s the Ice Fairy, and she sits about 2/3 of the way up.” She is hung last, right after the first officer, the Mistletoe Fairy, who resides nearby. “I mean, I just make this stuff up, but I’ve always felt that way.” Both fairies are Hallmark, over 40 years old, and retain their original names. Alley talks to the ornaments as she hangs them. They have become friends. Asked about her favorite ornament, she said she has no favorite of anything. “So even if it’s an inanimate object, it’s something almost living to me, so
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