While I admire these gorgeous, artistic works of art I still prefer our homespun, memory filled, Charlie Brownesque tree. I love our tree because it has meaning. Our tree is filled with a stories and memories captured in the many ornaments that gingerly hang from its branches.
Each December, the kids and I love rooting through our ornament boxes looking for our favorites. We jockey for the prime branches to proudly display the ones that hold a special place in our hearts.
For example, the ornament pictured below, that my husband likes to call "The Grim Reaper," is one I made with my dear friend and roommate when I lived in San Francisco, Kathy. We spent an afternoon crafting these adorable old-fashioned Santas.
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| The "Grim Reaper" |
Here is one example of some very special ornaments that hang on our tree. My mother-in-law, who sadly passed away too soon, painted an ornament each year for my kids. Unfortunately, my twins who are almost 10, only have one.
This is another favorite of mine. My mom made it out of the lace from my wedding dress (which she also made--yes she is AWESOME).
And of course our tree is filled with ornaments made by the kids (which tend to drag down the branches which try to hold them). We have salt dough ornaments, ornaments made from those Oriental Trading Co. kits and glass balls full of glitter.
However, the one thing that gives our tree some semblance of being "pulled together" are the dozens of hand-crocheted snowflakes made by my soon to be 91 year old grandmother.
Yes, our tree is full of love and amazing memories and each year it grows. What ornaments on your tree bring back special memories?
I love this post so much and I agree with you, I always admire those beautiful trees in the store, but would always stick with my own "theme". I call it, "Memory Tree". When we were growing up, my family did not have much money for ornaments. However, my mom was (she still is!) a great bargain hunter. Every year, she'd take me and my sister to the local flea market. We'd spend hours scouring through random things people may consider junk. But to us, it was a treasure hunt! My sister and I would each choose a couple of ornaments and it felt absolutely special! Most of them did not last throughout the years, but the ones that did, we still fight over who gets to put them up in our own houses! My favorite ornament is a blinking angel doll. She is super scary looking and I have no idea why I love her so much. But I remember my sister and I would lie in front of the tree just watching her blink and move. When I bought my house 4 years ago, that was my house warming present from my sister!
ReplyDeleteNow looking back, I loved that tradition of being able to choose one or two ornaments as a family. Every ornament on our tree has a memory and I feel loved every time I look at them.