I love decking out our living room with all sorts of holiday swag, but the decorations that bring me the most joy are our Christmas tree ornaments. I think themed trees are beautiful, but for me the best ornaments are sentimental. I’ve been collecting our ornaments little by little for years and I try to select each one for a specific reason. A wagon for Wyatt because he loved his Radio Flyer so much. A trike for Augie the year he learned to ride. That sort of thing.
It makes me so happy to unpack each ornament and remember a little something about our family as I hold it in my hand. I like to tell my kids the stories as we work on the tree and I think they enjoy hearing them too. Here are a few of my favorites:
Fimo Santa
Back when I was single and living by myself, I had lots and lots of time for crafting. In 1996 I made everyone in my family Santa ornaments out of Fimo. The face was cut from a carefully assembled millefiori face cane and then I added the hat and beard. I made something like 15 of these and it took me weeks!
Sparkly Pyramid
This is one of the ornaments I made for my very first Christmas tree. I bought a four foot tree from the drugstore near my house and dragged it home across a super busy street because I didn’t have a car to strap it to! This ornament is modeled after a similar one that my parents have on their Christmas tree that they made for their first Christmas together.
Paper Clay Hand-prints
I made these hand-print ornaments for the boys’ first Christmases. I made quarter inch thick rounds out of paper clay, inked each kid’s hand up with red ink and then pressed them into the clay. After they were set, I stamped their names and the dates with tiny little letter stamps. These make me feel all gushy inside.
Spock Ornament
Zach and I bought this Spock ornament at the Star Trek exhibit in Las Vegas shortly before we were married. We went with a big group of our friends and had an excellent fun time. To say that Zach likes Spock is an understatement, so the choice to get this one was a no-brainer.
Tin Toy Flying Saucer
This is one from our very first married Christmas! Again we chose this one because of Zach’s love of aliens. The legs retract when you pull on the string to hang it up.
Camel Ornament
I bought this one a few years after my trip to Egypt to remind me of…er…my trip to Egypt. Yeah, it would have probably had a little more sentimental value if I’d actually bought it in the market in Cairo, but not every ornament has to has to be purchased in the time associated with it. I’ve decided I can assign sentiment to objects after the fact too. 🙂
Now I’d love to know, how do you spread real cheer with your holiday decorating? Show me with your photos! Click “Add me” in the Cheer Tree below to upload your holiday decorating photos and share them with your Twitter followers and Facebook friends. Be sure to click on “Special Offers” to unwrap the hidden coupons and deals exclusively from Sears. Keep checking throughout the holidays–new deals are unlocked every day! For all your holiday decorating needs and solutions, don’t forget to visit Sears and discover real deals, real cheer!
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