Rockford Woman Has Been Decorating an Upside Down Tree for Ten Years

'You do you,' is a phrase we've bee using a lot in 2020 to justify whatever makes us happy, but for Joan, doing the un-traditional, has been a tradition for ten years.

Every morning on Eyewitness News I ask viewers to send me photos of whatever makes them happy, and now that we're in the holiday season, we've been looking for decor photos.

We've seen a ton of great Christmas trees and table settings, even holiday shower curtains but over the weekend I got a message from Joan and a picture of her upside down Christmas tree.

I LOVE IT.

I'm not sure if you've ever read the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books, but her entire house was upside down. I was a very imaginative little kid and I used to dream that one day I would build an upside house. I'm not sure if I still have that dream but when Joan sent me the photo, it made me think back and wonder if Mrs. Piggle Wiggle had an upside down tree, too.

Joan told me:

I saw it in a Christmas store in Door County over ten years ago. I thought about it for a few weeks, then called the store and said I was interested in purchasing one. They said unfortunately, the only one they had was the display tree, but they sold it to me at a discount...Bonus! When my kids saw it, they actually thought is was a little sacrilegious...but I looked up upside trees, and found several historical facts...it was used in the 7th century to explain the holy trinity, also to recall Jesus' crucifixion . Other explanations are that in the 19th century, poorer families hung their tree upside down from the rafters because they had no space in their small homes. I did it because it was so unique, the ornaments hang beautifully straight up and down, and my grandkids like it because you can put more presents under the tree.

I would love to see your holiday decor too! Send me a message anytime on Facebook.

Catch Midday Michelle on 97 ZOK from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.