Jewelry trees make Christmas sparkle for Hastings woman | News ... - Hastings Tribune
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, how lovely are thy brooches.
After more than 40 years of amassing a sizable stash of costume jewelry collected from thrift stores, garage sales and other sources, Ruth Cermak of Hastings is finally seeing her collection put to its intended use as Christmas tree material.
For the 81-year-old, the trees have been on her to-do list ever since she fashioned her first framed Christmas tree decoration from old pieces of jewelry back in the late 1960s or early 70s.
Aided by the helping hands of longtime family friend Briggette Bliska of Connecticut, daughters Julie Sittner of Juniata, and Teresa Wood of Colorado, and daughter-in-law Kara Cermak of Hastings, she has helped create some 10 decorative jewelry trees this holiday season.
A star adorns the top of a Christmas tree made of costume jewelry.
Still, more are on the way.
As one in the early stages of memory loss, Cermak has found sorting through her massive collection of jewelry a fascinating journey, one that has brought her great joy as she examines each sparkly piece with newfound wonder, Sittner said.
Though different in form from her initial jewelry tree, the newly fashioned trees being pieced together over Styrofoam have become the embodiment of her dream, one that drove her to collect choice finery through the years for this very purpose.
“She’s been collecting this jewelry from anywhere she could get her hands on it,” Sittner said. “Now that she’s homebound a little more, we’ve got her jewelry out and are dealing with it. We’ve found it everywhere, under the bed, in closets, everywhere.
An old watch is the centerpiece of a Christmas tree made by Ruth Cermak.
“How many trees will we make? We’ll make them until we run out of jewelry, which doesn’t seem like it’ll be anytime soon! They’re really making us all very happy.”
Specialty creations have included a pink tree made by Wood and pearl and gold design by Kara.
“The other day I brought her one I’d been working on and she actually started crying and said to me, ‘I can see you put a lot of love in this one, Julie!’ ” Sittner said. “I said, ‘Mom, we’re putting a lot of love in all of them!’ I have a feeling they’re going to become family keepsakes.”
That this Project Christmas Tree has taken so long to reach fruition is a testament to the kind of mother Cermak has been to her four children, Sittner said.
In addition to running the household, she and her husband, Alex, owned and operated Sporting Goods Inc. at 232 N. Lincoln from the mid-1970s through 1990s. The store specialized in fishing equipment and gun sales and repair.
“Mom has always loved to do crafts, but she always put everybody else first,” Sittner said. “For that reason, she never really had time to do them. That’s really it in a nutshell.
“It’s amazing that we’re finally getting to do this now. It’s finally time for us to give her what she wants. She can’t glue the stuff on anymore, but she’s there and is part of the fun.”
Though specific memories of her bejeweled acquisitions have blurred through the years, the enjoyment they continue to bring Cermak remains as vital as the day she first laid eyes on them, Sittner said.
Conversations sparked by favorite pieces have made their assembling parties all the more momentous.
“She’ll pick up a piece and say, ‘Where did I get this?’ Do I have more like it?’ ” Sittner said. “It’s all new to her. She’s like a little kid; every time we start playing with it, it makes her happy.
“It’s therapeutic for her at this point. She’d been saying she’s going to make these trees for some time now. Her liveliness and zest for this has opened something up inside her. She has a purpose.”
