Showing posts with label Christmas tree decorations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas tree decorations. Show all posts

Friday, September 13, 2013

Our Family Tradition of Picking Out Our New Christmas Ornaments



Here it is already September.  Christmas is going to be here before I know it.  Now that I live in Florida, it kind of creeps up on me, because it doesn’t get cold here. I don’t have the leaves falling from the trees and the frost on the ground.  I often forget what season it is. It is always summer here.  Time has really flown by lately; soon I will be getting my Christmas tree and ornaments out, and decorating my home in the traditional Sheilacakes family décor.  I love getting all the decorations out and sharing stories with Noah about the Christmas tree decorations we have collected over the years. I am a little picky about where certain ornaments go, The Nutcracker and The Sugar Plum Fairy always have to be together with The Nutcracker Storybook.  I also make sure that Raggedy Ann and Andy have to be together.  My sister and I used to put our first Christmas ornaments up on the very top so, I still do that.

Noah has some ornaments that we got at the apple orchard for his first Christmas. They aren’t as special as the frame ornament we have. It has a picture of me and him on his first Christmas morning.  He is even wearing a little Santa hat.  Some of them are ones we made when I was Noah’s age.  We must store our ornaments well because they are still whole. They have some cracks but what do expect for ornaments that are 25 years old?  Every year we pick out a couple new ornaments.   I can’t wait to see what Noah picks. I am willing to bet that they will be either Lego or Star Wars or a combo. I think he has his eye on an R2-D2 ornament already. You can find really cool ornaments any time of the year if you know where to look.  I have considered doing an ornament exchange with my friends that live in my apartment complex.  I have never participated in one before but, know people who do it every year. I have received ornaments as gifts before, and even though I am no longer in contact with them, I think of them when I hang that particular ornament.  It makes me smile. I remember I received a beautiful butterfly ornament from my speech therapist in elementary school. I had trouble saying the s sound. I would make the sh sound.  Thankfully that is no longer an issue and that Noah didn’t inherit it from me.  

I really want to organize a Christmas ornament swap.   It would be so much fun, especially using the internet to find unique ornaments from Lakeside Collection.  My question is do you get all the same ornament or do you pick different ones for different people? I think I would prefer to personalize it.  That way everyone knows that we took the time to think of them and didn’t just run to the local store and grab ornaments to share.  It’s easier to remember who you received it from if there is a story behind it and if it’s neat.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Our Unique and Beautiful Christmas Tree


It’s no secret that Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love everything about Christmas from making our traditional goodies to caroling to decorating our house.  Our house is a combination of old items from my childhood I received for Christmas such as my Lamb chop Angel to newer things that we have purchased throughout the years. Most people decorate a Christmas tree. I have seen beautiful trees that are perfectly color coordinated to match their décor. I have also seen trees that have all matching ornaments with colored balls and bows. All of those trees are beautiful of course but I personally love our Christmas tree the best. We always have a real tree that we buy each year. Everyone in my family loves the smell of fresh Christmas trees.  Decorating it is always a family affair.  Our ornaments are not the same, they don’t match the décor, but they are ones we have had for years.

With every ornament we place on the tree, there is a story and a memory. I like to look at them and remember when we got it and why.  Some of them are ones my sister and I got when we were born. We used to try and place ours higher than the other.  Others we made when we were very young like the star ones we made with glitter on them.  We have ornaments that were gifts from friends and teachers.  

When I was in 7th grade, we did secret Santa, and I got an ornament that was made out of a dog biscuit. I remember how upset I was because I thought I was being called a dog. I didn’t particularly like the girl who gave it to me, but I think our homeroom teacher did that on purpose, maybe to make us become friends. It didn’t really work. I still have the ornament and it is still on my tree every year.  We have beach themed ornaments. I got my mom an angel made out of seashells in the Bahamas that now goes on our tree.  I also have Noah’s first Christmas ornaments and a frame of him and me as a baby.  My mom made some stuffed ornaments when I was a baby that always goes on the bottom of our tree.  I love that we have a variety of Christmas tree decorations vs. a standard tree with meaningless ornaments.  When I look at them I remember all the Christmases of the past. Decorating the tree while my Grandma Rose was there, dancing around wearing the Christmas tree skirt and all the happy memories each Christmas brings.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?