Christmas Cheer

As is tradition in our family, the Christmas tree goes up on Thanksgiving. I put my mom’s up for her while she was making our Thanksgiving feast. Yesterday was finally the day to put our tree up. Here it is… I love the soft glow of the lights in our family room.

When hubby and I got our first Christmas tree, we started a tradition of buying a new ornament every year. Some had themes (wedding, anniversary, new house, etc….). Others were fun or added a nice touch to our growing collection. Over the years, our tree has become and mix of old and new, and I love it. Our Just Married ornaments is one of my favorites and it’s hard to believe it’s not been on our tree for 11 years! The snow globe ornament with the burgundy bow is the one we bought this year at Downtown Disney. It’s so pretty and old fashioned…

There are some people who redo their ornaments and decorations every few years, or even every year. Not us. Each ornament hold special meaning, no matter how simple it may be. I enjoy the process of unpacking the ornaments and the tree topper, and remembering when we got each one and the memories that go with it.

There are the ornaments I made last year with pictures of our niece and nephews. I made one for my mom, and my brothers and sisters-in-law as well. It was a fun (and inexpensive!) little project and it’s a joy having them on our tree.

I found a 2010 dog ornament last year on clearance (thank you Hallmark) and finally put a picture of Blue when he was a puppy in 2010. Last year I had a glass ornament made with Blue and Ozzie on it.

Some ornaments are a tribute. When we said goodbye to our sweet Sammi in September 2009, I bought a special ornament for her picture so she would be a part of our tree every year. It seemed the perfect thing to do because when the tree went up, she would lay under it.

When my dad passed away two years ago, at his favorite time of year, I knew I had to do an ornament for him and it would be the center of the tree every year. I have never known anyone who loved Christmas as much as my dad and he is the reason I have my love for Christmas. My dad has now become every little detail of Christmas.

I love our tree. It’s just the right height and I love the white lights. We put it in our family room and it can be seen from the living room and the front door when you walk in. At night, when the lights are off in the rest of the house and we are all curled up on the couch watching TV, it creates a wonderful soft light that I find very comforting.

In the living room, I have other decorations. I love snowmen. And metal decorations. And our stockings. And I have a metal Christmas card holder that hangs on the wall that I love and can’t wait for it to fill up every year. Come Christmas, it will be overflowing with cards and I love that.

Once again, I am very happy with how the tree came out and how cozy our living room looks with the decorations. it’s not too much and it’s not too little. It’s just right and it’s all ours.

When do you put up your tree? Do you have any special traditions for ornaments?