We put up our big, beautiful Christmas tree this past weekend, listening to Elvis, George Strait and Charlie Brown while we did so (it’s tradition).
My husband picked up takeout from our favorite Indian restaurant, while I unraveled and strung the lights.
I am my mother’s daughter – I love small white lights, lots of them – and also my father’s daughter, because I love the mismatched, heirloom, handmade, funky ornaments on my tree.
Most of our ornaments have stories, and every year, I snap a few photos to share with you. Here are this year’s gems:
I bought this ornament for J the first year we lived in Boston, from a handmade craft market downtown. It makes me smile, especially in light of this year’s World Series win. (Hanging above it is an apple that I think came from my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Drake.)
This angel also came from a teacher – Mrs. Hicks, who directed a pull-out program called Project Challenge at the school I went to in first grade. My name and the year are on the back.
My mom gave me this suitcase last year. Three of the four cities (Rome, Paris and New York) are places I’ve visited and love.
During my year in Oxford as a graduate student, I had an American friend whose nickname was Moose. I found these silver moose ornaments at Northlight, a Scandinavian housewares shop on the High Street, and bought one for him and one for myself. (They’re difficult to photograph, because they reflect everything.)
This ornament came from a Christmas shop in my West Texas hometown, but it represents my love for the UK (and its red phone boxes).
Do your ornaments have stories? I’d love to hear them.
cakes, tea and dreams 
Oooh, your tree is lovely! Our family tree has lots of ornaments we’ve collected over the years including an angels I made in school, some yellow sock thing my brother made which he claims is a stocking, and a beautiful knitted angel a friend of the family made. My mum always buys my brother and I a new ornament every year now that we have our own places.
I’m all about funky, mismatched ornaments with stories to tell! Your tree is lovely 🙂
This year, my tree is mostly unbreakable ornaments (like felt, straw and wood) since my new kitten thinks the tree is his personal playground! Hopefully he will calm down by next Christmas…
We have two trees: a sentimental one of our travels and another “pretty one” with cool ornaments we have found. Lovely pictures of your ornaments and tree. Happy Christmas!
Your tree looks beautiful!
A lot of our ornaments and decorations have stories. We like to try to find something when we travel for our tree, so a lot of them are from various trips and such. I love getting them out and remembering!
Lovely! I especially like the suitcase. Oh, and I too am a “small white lights” girl, which caused a little bit of friction the first Christmas Steve and I were married, because Steve grew up with big colorful lights and both of us claimed “It’s not Christmas!” to do things the other’s way. Clearly, he came around, because we have white lights.
Also, just for you:
Chandler: “Let me ask you, why do people use these tiny little lights nowadays? I remember when people used to use big, big lights.”
Rachel: “That’s a good story, Grandpa.”
Ha! Yes – I thought of that scene when I was stringing my tiny little lights. At least I didn’t hide J’s decorating efforts, like Monica does.
Oh, I love this. I’m inspired to write out some of the stories behind our own ornaments. I, too, am an explosion of tiny white lights + mismatched ornaments, girl. And, I, too, have an apple with my name (first grade teacher) and a red British phonebox. Ornaments with stories and histories are the best.
Love the stories behind ornaments! My parents have been giving me an ornament every year since I was born, so I have quite a collection. Love adding to it with my husband now!
My kind of tree, and, yes, all our ornaments have a story to tell, from a few that sat on my mom’s tree, to new ones commemorating grandchildren. Keep collecting them, Katie, and telling their stories, for they are a combination of your parents, you, friends and everyone else. Love this (and especially loved Moose).
My husband prefers the small white lights. My son prefers the colored bulbs and we all love the hodgepodge ornaments that we’ve acquired through the years. I’m just happy to have people to enjoy a tree with. From the moment my son could consciously visit a holiday store, we’ve let him pick out an ornament at the beginning of the season. We never had a tree before him, so we had to start somewhere. We have one ornament my husband made when he was a little kid. That is our favorite. Now we are pretty set, and are just trying to avoid the holiday hoarding 🙂 Happy Holidays.