After Hours with Michelle Andresen

There is a great debate over when you can start putting up Christmas decorations. Some argue decorating should wait until all the Halloween candy is gone. Others insist it must wait until the Thanksgiving turkey is cold. Still others wonder why we take down decorations at all—after all, wouldn’t it just be easier to leave them up year-round?

We asked Michelle Andresen, ESH safety coordinator and resident Christmas decorator extraordinaire, to weigh in on the debate. 

“I’ve heard that putting up your decorations early makes you happier,” said Andresen. “So, I won’t argue with that!” 

After all, when you have as much decorating to do every year as Andresen does, you’d better get started as soon as possible. 

Q: What typically fills your “after hours"?

A: I’ve always kept busy with projects around the house and reading. Recently, I’ve become more interested in golfing. My husband and I live right across from Boulder Canyon, so we’ve been doing a lot of that! 

Q: What keeps you busy around Christmas time?

A: Christmas has always been a fun time for me to decorate. It’s become something I enjoy in my own home—I have anywhere from four to six trees in my house each year. But I also have been able to help family and friends decorate their homes over the years. Eventually, it spilled into my community. You can’t help it, it just grows on you!

I decorated the Historic Homestake Opera House for two years, decorating trees and the grand staircases. I have two friends who work for non-profit organizations, Relator for Kids and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), so I’ll donate a few hours of decorating for them to auction off during their holiday fundraisers. 

I’ve also decorated trees for the Festival of Trees in Deadwood. People decorate the trees to be auctioned off. It’s a benefit turned one-stop shopping for Christmas!

Q: What is the biggest decorating project you’ve taken on?

A: For eight years, I’ve helped my sister, who runs a decorating company, decorate a house just outside of Kansas City each Christmas. She has a 10,000-square-foot home in a gated community. Between the two levels of the home, we put up roughly twenty-five full size trees—each one seven feet or taller. The main tree is 18 feet tall, standing on a 3-foot-tall box—so 21 feet in total! Each tree has a theme—one is the Kansas City Royals, another has a wine bottle theme, and there are four Disney trees. Each tree has a pair of Mickey Mouse ears that the owner’s grandkids try to find each year. 

Each tree is loaded with filler. They are beautiful, department store trees by the time we are done. It takes working eight to ten hours each day for five days to complete the entire home. And the trees keep getting larger and more numerous each year! 

Q: What’s your favorite part?

A: I guess just seeing it all come together is what I enjoy. Around here, it’s a family tradition to decorate Christmas trees. I like to let families have that tradition and donating my time instead to these local organizations, because I really do enjoy it! 

Q: What is your least favorite part?

A: The worst part is the glitter. There’s so much glitter you just end up blowing it out of your nose!

Q: What’s the latest for you in Christmas décor?

A: I’ve been loving what’s called Rebar Christmas trees. I’d like to learn how to weld so I can create them myself. A couple of guys here at work have said they’d teach me how, so I might be able to try that for next year.