I'm only a little embarrassed to say that I have been decorated for Christmas since November 6th. I needed some cheering up. Although I LOVE my mini elephant tree and my "sweets" tree, the tree I grew up with is the one that I will always cherish in my heart. It's tradition that my Momma lights and garlands the tree. I hang the first ornament, usually a baby rattle with a clear covering on the rattle part where you see a miniature baby sleeping in her crib and a stocking hanging on the crib's post. It reads "Baby's First Christmas." I like this ornament because its my very first. I also like the Santa Claus who has miniature cookies in his see-through belly. It's so cute. I enjoy looking at the rocking horses and the houses--two collections my Momma started for me from Hallmark (and probably regrets now... they are lengthy series). It's fun to see how different each is.
There are also those special ornaments of the handmade sort with construction paper and glitter. There's my mom's favorite from her little brother, my Uncle Wally, a glitter star, and my parents tree topper for the first years of their marriage. And there's the cute photo ornament I made, and the corn husk angel tree topper handmade for our elementary school's Christmas boutique. Handmade ornaments are funny... but so sentimental.
I have always loved Christmas trees and their ornaments. When you look at someone's ornaments, you get a glimpse of them. My Momma's trees are always gorgeous!
There are also those special ornaments of the handmade sort with construction paper and glitter. There's my mom's favorite from her little brother, my Uncle Wally, a glitter star, and my parents tree topper for the first years of their marriage. And there's the cute photo ornament I made, and the corn husk angel tree topper handmade for our elementary school's Christmas boutique. Handmade ornaments are funny... but so sentimental.
I have always loved Christmas trees and their ornaments. When you look at someone's ornaments, you get a glimpse of them. My Momma's trees are always gorgeous!
Merry Christmas,
Lindsay
Will you be posting pictures of your Christmas decor? And your mama's too? Pretty please!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite ornament, because I love all Christmas decorations too much! However, I'll tell you about our tree-decorating traditions instead.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Mom has had a fake tree for years, because she says the sap from real trees ruined too many ornaments. The lights are already on the tree, so Mom and I start by hanging all the ornaments. Mom always saves one for last - her tiny fuzzy elephant that doesn't hang from a limb, but "grabs" the top of the tree (the part going straight up that you put the star on) with it's arms. Then, I put on the star.
Mom also has a great little red ladder that she leans up against the tree, and she has a stuffed Grinch that hangs on to the ladder. That's my favorite part!
After we decorate inside, I help Dad hang the Christmas lights outside. Dad doesn't like doing it very much, yet each year I try to convince him to hang more - it took me ten years to convince him to add more lights at their old house, but he finally succumbed to the pressure!!
I put up my tree and decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. I can't ever decorate before that, because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I feel like it's cheating Thanksgiving out of it's fair share if I do anything Christmasy.
My coworker, though, is worse than you. She put up her decorations the day after Halloween, and has already begun listening to Christmas music at her desk!
Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane!
My sister and I look forward to decorating the Christmas tree each year, not only because of the joy of the holiday season, but also because of the annual ballerina competition. We grew up attending the Nutcracker each Christmas season, and one very special year when I was 4 and Corey 2, my mom rewarded us each with a beautiful ballerina - Corey's a sparkling silver and mine a shimmering pink. We cherish those ballerinas, and each year we compete to see who can get theirs higher on the tree to be closest to the angel at the top. While I have 4 inches on CoCo, she has an amazing vertical, and it's always an epic battle...yes even twenty years later...
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