Dead tree returns as holiday elf

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A Downers Grove, Ill., man says he dresses a dead tree in his yard with costumes of the season to make people smile.

For the last four years, Sam Orticelli, 55, has costumed the 15-foot stump he named "Treesa" as a snow woman, an Easter bunny and a Halloween witch, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

Orticelli, a real estate lawyer, says he knows it embarrasses his children but delights many others, including travelers he met in Italy in 2005 who said they knew where he lived because they'd see Treesa's costumes, the newspaper reported.

This season, Treesa is an elf wearing a green dress lined with fur and ornaments, Orticelli said to the Tribune, noting it's not unusual for people to pull over in their cars and photograph his creations.