We have had our tree up for a few weeks now. My daughters did the decorating. They enjoy pulling out the ornaments from past years and asking me about them. It was fun to see some of the ones I had forgotten about. It was also nice to remember the person who had given me the ornament or the meaning of it. I’ll share a few of those with you today.
This is an ornament that my mother-in-law gave us when we got married. We look so young! Such babies.
I received this one in 1994 from my paternal grandmother, who died this year. She gave me many similar ornaments over the years, a simple flat cut out with a gold sheen and my name and date engraved on them. I am afraid that I’ve lost a few of them over the years, but below are a few of the others she has gotten me. I treasure them now, and they remind me of her and the love she always showed me.
Here’s a local one:
This is a snowflake made from the salt of the Great Salt Lake. I love it!
I bought this one, and the one below, in Salzburg, Austria. I visited there a few years ago for an academic conference, and I couldn’t leave without taking these with me.
This is Maria from The Sound of Music. She is painted on a hollowed out egg shell. So delicate!
I love this porcelain one given to me by a neighbor many years ago. Her name is Brenda and she has impacted my life in many positive ways, by helping me through postpartum depression and by being my daughter’s piano teacher. I love that this reminds me of her and her kindness, but it also reminds me of the true reason we celebrate Christmas.
These are the homemade ornaments my children have made for me over the years. I cherish these the most. I also have a few wonky glitter-covered snowflakes that they have made. When hanging them, they asked why I keep them. “Why didn’t you throw these away? They are scary!” I will never throw them out. They remind me of the sweet little people in my home who are growing up much too quickly.
What are some of your favorite Christmas tree ornaments or holiday decorations?
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 
Happy Holidays and Here’s to 2016!!!
On to New Year’s! (I usually go to bed early that night. ha ha.)
I wrote a similar post about our nerdy Christmas tree.
I must say, your pictures turned out much better; next year I’ll try some things differently.
Happy Christmas!
Thanks for sharing!
And since the link doesn’t appear to work, here it is again: http://wp.me/p3pOZt-2uf
Emily, thanks for the memories of your Christmases past. Merry Christmas. Keith
Merry Christmas to you!
Your ornaments are lovely, Emily. 🙂 They are so unique and I like the simplicity of the engraved ones from your grandmother. What a special way to remember her at this time of the year.
I hope you have a very happy Christmas and enjoy the festive season.
Thanks! I hope you had a lovely Christmas!
I love Christmas ornaments! Good on you for remembering who gave which because although I love my ornament gifts I can’t remember who gave them to me. My favorites are the little woodsy animals and pine cone ornaments. I like a natural tree with natural critters in it. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
I love how your favorite ornaments sound. That would make a really cute and magical tree!
Beautiful post, Emily! I love hearing the stories behind other people’s ornaments. Our favourites are also the ones with memories attached to them.
I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday!
Thank you! I hope you are having a good holiday as well. 🙂
We are. 🙂
This is a nice idea for a holiday posting! I collected all of my ornaments one at a time–have very few duplicates. When I first started, I decorated my tree with food, popcorn and cranberry strings, candy canes and popcorn balls and Christmas cookies, while I collected my ornaments a few every year. It took about 10 years before I could stop using the food!
That’s fantastic, Kay! I love the idea of doing with what you have and can make and then slowly building up decor. I tend to buy decor after Christmas on discount, but now that I have enough, I’ve stopped. I don’t need more to store!
I can relate to that, although I sometimes find myself buying something more, but I generally only buy one or two things at a time. However, I have more than enough decorations now to fill a 7 to 8-foot tree. I’ve been collecting for 40 years!