Ornament Stories

We have finally finished decorating our 2008 Christmas tree! Every ornament on our tree has a story on its own. These memories really started back in Christmas 1989, the year we moved from the city and got out of town. Benjamin was a baby, in fact it was his first Christmas. This was about the time that we started our annual tradition of cutting our own tree. The tree cutting looked like this (this is our 1990 tree), with Levi helping his daddy and cutting the "twee"....Little did we know, until it was way too late....that when we had made our nearly 200 mile move, we failed to get our Christmas boxes from the attic at the old house. Every ornament, light strand, garland, icicle, and decoration....except for one box, got left behind. The one box that we managed to bring with us contained our most sentimental decoration, a bell that was from 1986 (our first Christmas as a married couple). But every ornament was gone.

So that year, especially since we had no money, we began making ornaments. Levi and I made several ornaments, we bought a couple of very cheap light strands for the tree....and we had our first home made Christmas. The tradition has continued since. Even though some years we could afford to buy ornaments, we make them every year. Here are a few of our favorites, and the stories behind them.

The candy cane ornaments were made by me and Levi that year. They are made from colored pipe cleaners and red and white beads. Another candy cane ornament we make each year is candy cane reindeer. I don't have a picture of them yet, since we haven't made them this year....but you take an ordinary candy cane, wrap a pipe cleaner around it's bend and form into antlers. Then you put a google eye on each side of the short end and a pompom on the very tip (for the nose). Anyway, that's one that has to be made each year because they get eaten...

We have an abundance of pinecones in this area, and that first year we used a LOT of them as ornaments. This was one of our favorites to make, it's a teddy bear. The pine cone ornaments become fragile after nearly 20 years, so we don't have many of our originals left.The pinecone reindeer are another favorite, we have made these several times over the years.

The craft stick icicle.....Ben's favorite. He LOVED to use the glitter paint, and that was his job when we made these. I think we made at least 4 dozen of these that year. We still have many of them since they hold up well year after year.

Stephanie loved angels when she was little, and she made this clothespin angel when she was 5. It is still one of my favorites!Last but not least, is Rebekah's pinecone cheerleader bear. She made this when she was 10, that was the year that all she wanted was to be was a cheerleader.

As you can see, our Christmas tree and it's ornaments are very special to me. A couple of years ago I was shopping at a garage sale that had only Christmas stuff. I was able to get a neat set of Christmas dishes and glassware for like $10.....and off on one table was a box marked "ornaments $1". I couldn't resist a buck for a whole box of ornaments....and was SHOCKED when I got home and found these beauties! The box was packed full of vintage ornaments and decorations. Many of them were broken, but to me it was a treasure to find ornaments that date back to my childhood. This is one of my favorites....he is in very good condition and not missing any of his felt.

I love these paper doll type ornaments! There were 4 of them in the box, all in great condition.

This little guy is missing a lot of his felt, but isn't he adorable? The wear on him makes me wonder about all the trees he's been on over the years.

Anyway, these are just a few of the precious memories we have displayed on our tree each year. The branches are more full as each year passes, as are our hearts. Here is our finished 2008 tree.