A new Christmas tradition: Decorate a pineapple with tiny ornaments

Are you looking for a unique Christmas decoration? Consider decorating a Christmas pineapple.

Just a few days before Christmas, a tall pineapple stood on our kitchen counter. A little unusual to see a pineapple at Christmas. Peak pineapple season lasts from March until July. Why was this out-of-season fruit sitting on our counter? I don’t know. My wife was out running errands, so this was a mystery pineapple.

Perhaps this pineapple just magically appeared on our counter. With this magical fruit making a bold appearance in December, I declared it the “CHRISTMAS PINEAPPLE” to my kids. Yes. In all caps. You shout out “CHRISTMAS PINEAPPLE” as a regal proclamation.

Pineapples could be considered a Christmas fruit. There are a few ways in which pineapples and Christmas may be connected.

The green plumage on a pineapple looks a bit like a Christmas tree. The spiky green leaves make for the perfect stand-in for traditional tree branches.

Even the body of the pineapple has little hooks on its scales which make nice places to hang an ornament.

We just so happened to have some tiny dog ornaments sitting around the house. I like to decorate Christmas presents with a little extra flair. This year I took the kids to Hobby Lobby to pick out some tiny little items to add to our gift wrapping. We found tiny dogs wearing Christmas hats.

These tiny dogs do a howling-great job decorating a Christmas pineapple. (they are also great for decorating the wrapping on Christmas presents)

The trick to decorating a pineapple is to use very tiny ornaments. Anything too large, and your ornaments will fall off the pineapple. Keep it small. Keep it cute.

As you trim the pineapple with cute ornaments, the sweet, tropical aroma of pineapples will fill the air. We hung the tiny dog ornaments on the pineapple as a surprise for Sarah when she got home.

Now this will become our annual tradition. Buy a pineapple. Christen it as the CHRISTMAS PINEAPPLE. Decorate the pineapple with tiny ornaments.

Six reasons why pineapples are a Christmas fruit

1. Similar names

It’s amazing how much pineapples are like evergreen trees. Evergreen trees come with PINE cones, sharing the same PINE word in PINEapples.

2. Spiral patterns

Both pine cones and pineapples have a distinct spiral pattern. Look at the bottom of pine cone, and you’ll count 13 spirals going clockwise, and 8 spirals going counter-clockwise. Pineapples have 8-13-21 rows of fruitlets, with a few smaller ones at 5-8-13. These numbers are the Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34).

3. Rough texture

Another similarity between pine cones and pineapples is their texture. Both pine cones and pineapples have a rough, spiky exterior that is covered in small, hard protuberances. In the case of pine cones, these protuberances are scales, while in pineapples they are called “eyes.”

4. Symbolism

The use of pineapples during the holiday season can carry symbolic meaning as well. Pineapples are often used as a symbol of hospitality and welcoming, and as such, they may be incorporated into Christmas decorations as a way to symbolize the warmth and generosity of the holiday season.

5. Pineapple as holiday food

Pineapples also make for the most delightful addition to any holiday feast. Imagine slicing into a golden, glistening ham glazed with a spicy pineapple sauce, or indulging in a slice of rich, fruity pineapple fruitcake. And let’s not forget about the ultimate tropical treat – a refreshing, juicy pineapple smoothie to sip on as you open presents by the fireplace.

6. #ChristmasPineapple

The Christmas pineapple seems to already be a “thing.” I wrote this blog post thinking that nobody has ever really seriously decorated a pineapple as a Christmas tree. I posted a few photos on Instagram with the hashtag #ChristmasPineapple.

Just being curious, I clicked the #ChristmasPineapple hashtag expecting to see maybe a few photos of people eating pineapples at Christmastime. Instead, there are hundreds of pineapples decorated like a Christmas tree! Most of the pineapples are also wearing sunglasses—to bring out the tropical flair. Seems like there would be some sort of origin story behind this look. Who made the first pineapple-wearing sunglasses with Christmas ornaments?

This holiday season, don’t be afraid to mix things up and add a little tropical flair to your celebrations. Embrace the pineapple, and make it a part of your holiday traditions!

Bonus: “O Christmas tree” using pineapples

Now that the pineapple is an item to hang ornaments upon, the pineapple now needs a Christmas song. Every Christmas tradition needs a song to embed itself into Christmas culture.

I asked Chat GPT: Write lyrics to the song “O Christmas tree”, but make the song about pineapples instead of Christmas trees.

Here’s the response from Chat GPT:

Chorus:
O pineapple, O pineapple
You bring us joy and cheer
O pineapple, O pineapple
You’re the best of the year

Verse 1:
O pineapple bright, how sweet and round you are
Your spiky green leaves and golden fruit so far
You bring a touch of tropical warmth to the cold
O pineapple bright, we love you to behold

Chorus:
O pineapple, O pineapple
You bring us joy and cheer
O pineapple, O pineapple
You’re the best of the year

Verse 2:
Your juicy flesh is like a taste of paradise
We slice and dice you up and add you to our pies
Your tropical flavor is a perfect Christmas treat
O pineapple bright, you can’t be beat

Chorus:
O pineapple, O pineapple
You bring us joy and cheer
O pineapple, O pineapple
You’re the best of the year

Bridge:
You may not be a traditional holiday symbol
But to us, you are just as dear
With your spiky leaves and golden fruit
You bring us joy and cheer

Chorus:
O pineapple, O pineapple
You bring us joy and cheer
O pineapple, O pineapple
You’re the best of the year

I’m printing this song to keep handy for us to sing every year while we decorate the Christmas pineapple. It is indeed the golden fruit that brings us joy and cheer.