We
set up
our tree up a
while ago. I pulled
all the boxes
of ornaments outs and got all
the lights on. And then we had an
idea. Rather than put on all the ornaments,
lets just put on the ones with special meaningto us. Every time we visit someplace we tend to buy a Christmas
ornament or two. They make nice inexpensive
souvenirsand someone has to keep all those tacky tourist Christmas shops
in business. We were otherwise distracted during our honeymoon and
didn’t think of
buying any then. But while still newlyweds,we went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and found an ornament in the
shape of a jester head and colored purple and green. Hence a tradition
started. We have a couple of dozen
of these things withsomething kitschy about the place. For Hawaii, we have some hula
dancers. San Francisco is represented by a trolley car. New York City is
an apple and upstate New York is an Adirondack chair. For Myrtle Beach
it’s a golf club on a sand dollar even though
we don’t golf.A lot of them seem to have an ocean theme. Charleston is a shrimp with
a Santa hat. Maine is a lobster trap. Orcas Island is a ferry boat. Some
are less kitschy than others. A gorgeous brass cutout of Ryman
Auditorium
represents Nashville. The Space Needle fromSeattle is also classy. Sometimes we end up with more than
one.
Amish Country in Pennsylvania is represented by ahorse and buggy as well as a hand made “plain” doll.
Wealso have a few ornaments for special occasions like the crystal
“Baby’s First Christmas.” There is also a cocker spaniel to represent
my dog, and my wife even repainted it
to make it lookmore like him. The tree isn’t as gaudy as it is some years, but it’s
nice to just stand in front of it and bask in the warm memories
on each
branch.
For more of my ornaments you can see this Flickr set.
Let me know about special memories you have on your tree.
12 comments:
I'm sorry I won't be able to partake in tree decorating this year. We didn't end up getting a tree at my apartment and I won't be getting to my parents' until two days before Christmas.
Ok, first, I'm just marveling that you got all that to line up in the shape of a tree! Excellent!
Second, we have a similar thing going with our ornaments. The majority of what's up there respresents some memory - our first Christmas together, our first one married, our children, etc. Each year I buy my son a new Santa ornament. This year he picked out his own. When he moves out on his own all those Santa's will go with him. My daughter gets angels. Every year I also buy an ornament that represents something each child is really 'into' over the past 12 months. Those will stay with me as a way to recount pieces of their childhood.
I think it makes for a beautiful tree.
Here via Michele tonight.
Michele sent me!
This is one of the COOLEST posts I have ever seen. Excellent work, Yellowjkt!!
Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
Bhakti
I started a tradition with my niece's first Christmas that I have continued with my nephew. I purchase an ornament for them each year. That way, when they go off on their own, they will have ornaments that belong to them that have a history behind them. Here from Michele's.
Very good post!
Here via Michele.
what a fabulously arranged post! I'm so inspired by you now!
Michele sent me...
i love it! we buy a special ornament each year. time to pick out this year's.
here via michele's
My most special is an angel made out of pearl beads. My great aunt Ligia (who was a grandmother to my sisters and I) made it for me and gave it to me when I got married. When she died, we were cleaning out her house, and found 2 more of them--one for each of my sisters.
It's the first ornament on the tree every year, and I always tell her merry Christmas when I hang it. My sister Cat has to hang it on my mother's tree.
This year the tree is done in ornaments that we don't car if they'll get broken...just in case the youngest cat decides to go bonkers, which is likely before next Sunday...
Love how you set up the pictures - very festive!
I have an ornament tradition from when I was a child; we always bought a new ornament every year with the year on it, so now Mom has some dating back to the 70's. I started this when I moved out of my parents house in 1990 - in fact my 1990 ornament was the only thing to survive my divorce-momento purge! So now I've got 15 years worth of dated ornaments, plus some from my childhood, plus the ones my own kids have made me over the years. One of the things I love about Christmas is my tree - even if I had to give up the real ones since my move Down Under.
I love that idea, where each ornamentum has a special story with it. About six years ago, I decided to buy one special ornament a year. I ended up throwing out many of my ornaments as they were picked out by KJ's father. I'm starting all over again and it's off to a good start.
I've got a Santa Claus I made from pink felt when I was about seven. He's pink because we ran out of red, and ever since the Pink Santa has pride of place on the tree.
LC
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