One of the things I look forward to at Christmas time every year is looking at the decorations. Years and years of handcrafted, personalized, delightful little treasures hanging from the branches. It’s just a beautiful site!
The memories of those that lovingly created them and have since passed away. Leaving behind little trinkets to unlock pictures in our minds during the Christmas season.
The hand crafted little needlepoint mini stockings with the name and the date. Often times painstakingly created by nimble arthritic fingers and eyesight long ago at it’s prime.
Messy little painted ornaments of a wee child in preschool and a tattered, yellowing piece of paper crudely cut with safety scissors into a stocking. Glittery pine cones hanging from ribbon. All these little delicates hauled out of storage by those who fashioned them…now a decade or so older. Memories twinkling in their eyes as they hang their treasures.
This last thumbnail includes a very simple ornament to make.
It consists of a wooden baby block, a piece of ribbon and a picture.
Drill a small hole through the baby block. Cut your desired photo to the size of one side of the block and glue. Put both ends of your ribbon through and tie in a knot to secure. Great gifts!
I'm Sheila. In addition to raising 1 husband and 3 teens, I've founded 
I do the same thing! Sometimes I just wander over to the tree and walk around looking at all of the ornaments, enjoying the flood of memories that come with each one.
I love the ornaments… My mom has each of my kids draw a picture in November and then sends them to a man who transfers them to a glass ornament which he inscribes the picture onto. I forsee a Christmas when my kids are all grown up and my tree is covered in nothing but beautiful drawings from years gone by…
.-= Tracey´s last blog ..Ketchup on the weekend =-.
My favorite kind of tree too. Makes it so special.
.-= jen@OurDailyBigTop´s last blog ..believe =-.
i love my tree for that exact reason. i tried doing themed trees a couple of times, but it was never the same, or as meaningful as having all of my treasures on it.
I agree, decoration time is more fulfilling, you set the mood by making small and awesome ornaments to hang in the tree, by admiring your own inventions, and by being praised for the diligence given…
Happiness is in the process!
.-= jingle´s last blog ..The Romance of “A Little” and “A Lot” =-.
Me Too! I have all of the ornaments from my childhood as my mom doesn’t do a tree anymore and my brothers continue to be single. I love looking at all of the different ornaments every year. Such a fun tradition! I am planning to write about this same thing soon with photos of my favorite ornaments!
I love the block ornament idea. That would be a fun craft for my girls.
.-= Aliceson´s last blog ..Holiday Honest Scrap =-.
nice. our tree is sucha mish mosh. first ornaments, superheroes, monster trucks, some of the more traditional…but my boys do tend to dominte…just the way i like it..
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It’s one of my favorite parts of Christmas!
.-= Susie’s Homemade´s last blog ..Taking a Break =-.
Beautiful tree and ornaments.
.-= Secret Mom Thoughts´s last blog ..More Advent Activities =-.
Great gift idea! Love your ornaments. Those are my favorite kinds of trees now that I am a Mama of a little person.
.-= Marie´s last blog ..Magic Marker Monday and Awesome Preschool Teacher =-.
I also do the same thing! Not only do we have the old traditioanl ornaments (from my childhood), the handmade ornaments (from my children), we also started collecting ornaments when we would go on vacation. Now when we pull out the ornamnets the memories come flodding back.
My daughter had a few friends over yesterday, before we started trimming the tree I was laying the ornaments out on the kitchen table and one boy asked if we planned to put ALL the ornaments on the tree and I said of course, they all have special meanings. He seemed surprised and started picking them up and one by one asking for the meaning or memory, it was so fun and he seemed to be amazed that each and every ornament no matter how small had it’s very own story.
I love Christmas, all it brings and all it signifies!
Blessing to all.
.-= Alisae´s last blog ..Wednesday Day 512 (I think??) =-.
this is such a lovely post! I was just telling my husband the other day that I’m so glad we didn’t toss out some of the ornaments we thought were ugly in the beginning of our marriage because they hold so many memories now.
.-= jenny´s last blog ..what is YOUR Christmas tradition? =-.
Oh, I am the same way. In fact, I keep the ornaments I treasure in a box at my fireplace all year around. Thanks for the tip on the handmade ornament.
.-= Lynn´s last blog ..The Attic Girl: Meet ‘n Greet Monday =-.
Nice tree! I like the block ornament idea too. We decided against having a tree this year (living room is small and awkward shaped) but we hung lights and put stuff up anyway. And I commented on your comment about the recipe, it’s an experiment and we’ll see how it works!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
.-= purple moose´s last blog ..MPM: December 13 =-.
I love Christmas trees too and all the personal ornaments that accumilate over the years. Your’s looks lovely.
.-= Alyson (New England Living)´s last blog ..Snow Day =-.
I love that block ornament idea. Homemade decorations are the best!
.-= debbie´s last blog ..Southern Criminals =-.
lights and ornaments make the holiday right and festive. : ) just want to share i have a x-mas ladies watch giveawaay on my blog.
.-= savvygal´s last blog ..BF’s Grill Cod with Risotto & Update on Nine West Bags =-.
Decorating the tree is definitely my favorite part of Christmas. I love all the ornaments that my boys have made. I have a few photo ornaments, ones I’ve made and ones that my sister made for us, this year we’re making ornaments again. I am definitely filing your ornament away for future use!
.-= Julia @ Easy Eco To Go´s last blog ..Pump Up The Volume With TerraCycle – Giveaway =-.
I look forward to a tree full of memories. My parents have one and it warms my heart to see all of the old ornaments.
.-= Cara´s last blog ..Sunday Afternoon =-.
Sheila, I love the tree… It looks like it’s filled with love. I love the story you told b/c that’s what makes looking at the tree so special, the memories.
.-= VeRonda´s last blog ..You Tell Me… =-.
such a great Christmas tree!
.-= Iva´s last blog ..Word Association… =-.
I love Christmas trees, too! Your photos and ornaments are beautiful.
.-= DaisyDeadhead´s last blog ..DEAD AIR supports Cecil Bothwell! =-.
My Christmas tree is covered in memories also!
Little ones, big ones, funny ones and those that came from my parent’s tree, when I was growing up. It’s interesting that for some of us, our trees are an anthology of pretty pieces of our stories wrapped in a ribbon.
Thanks for the pretty pics and a good reminder!
.-= Alissa Collins´s last blog ..ICMT Mondays! More tomorrow! =-.
I couldn’t agree with you more! What a beautiful, poetic post
.-= Serendipity is Sweet´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – In Memory of Bryson Ross =-.
Great post and beautiful tree.
.-= Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy´s last blog ..JCPenney’s Stay Out of The Doghouse $100 Gift Card Giveaway =-.