"I'm really excited," said Arlene Cloutier, day care provider and Sunnyvale resident for the past 34 years.

Having tried to get into Christmas in the Park several times before, Cloutier said she was surprised when she was able to this year through her son's San Jose­based event-planning company.

"This year we will have more than 400 trees for the community to decorate," said Ed Bautista, event manager for Christmas in the Park.

Every year community groups, businesses and schools decorate the trees any way they want, he explained. Groups from all over Santa Clara County can participate and decorate a tree, he said. However, they have to call as early as August of that year to be able to reserve a tree.

As soon as she received confirmation six weeks ago, Cloutier got to work.

Cloutier's excitement spread quickly to Diana Savastio, her ardent helper who has been with her since June, and the 14 children they take care of during the day. A lot of details went into planning what type of ornaments the children could make, Cloutier said. Since the trees are outside for a long period of time, the ornaments have to be carefully selected and suitable for outdoor trees, she said.

"The ornaments have to stand the elements—the wind and the rain," Cloutier said. "So we had to rule out a lot of the usual delicate stuff."

Cloutier planned on each child making six different pieces: a reindeer out of popsicle sticks, yarn ornaments of different colors, stone-studded Christmas trees out of sticks, wooden gingerbread men, Hama bead ornaments and candy canes. The younger children made two or three, she said.

"I loved making all the ornaments," said Alex Davis, 8. "It was a lot of fun."

Before the fun stage, however, Cloutier and Savastio did a lot of elimination to ensure the materials they would use were appropriate. They laid out the wood sticks in the backyard and turned the sprinklers on to simulate rain. They even tested different types of paint and glue under the sprinklers. Although they didn't want to use a glue gun with so many young children, they had no choice but to use one.

And some children actually thought that was the best part of the whole project.

"My favorite part was when my finger got burned by the hot glue gun," said Krish Nandkeshwar, 10.

Although Cloutier and Savastio directed and guided them, they let the children be as creative as they wanted with each ornament.

"Whereas the other trees might have a theme, ours will be different," Cloutier said.

The children chose their own colors and patterns for some of the decorations.

The very first ornament—which used colored yarn—took the longest time, Cloutier said. The children wove their own designs, which included bells, Christmas trees and angels.

The children were ready for the challenge, though. Competing with one another to see who finished first helped the whole group move along quickly, Cloutier said.

"The reindeer was my favorite because I like wood," said Nikola Klier, 4.

All the ornaments have to be wired onto the tree so they don't drop off, Cloutier said.

No Christmas tree is complete without an angel at the top, and Savastio took that matter into her own hands. With different-colored yarn and a pattern of her own creation, Savastio created the angel for their tree. Skilled in macramé, Savastio wove yellow and blue yarn for the angel's body and white for the wings through small rings to make the figure stand erect. The angel has folded hands with bells hanging from them.

"Diana has such natural talent," Cloutier said. "She is so good with children."

Cloutier said she considers herself very fortunate to have Savastio, who moved to the United States from Russia a few months ago.

Cloutier said she has had several helpers since she started her business almost 34 years ago, when her oldest son, David, was 2 years old. What began as a small day-care facility with just a few neighbors' children has turned into a stable and loving home away from home for young children ages 1­12.

Cloutier, Savastio and the children trooped down to San Jose on Dec. 7 to decorate their 5-foot tree and proudly display it at Christmas in the Park.

Christmas in the Park runs from Dec. 6 to Jan. 1.