I know that themed Christmas trees are all the rage right now. I have seen some really beautiful trees and admire the attention and detail that goes into them. I have thought about doing a tree with coordinating garlands and ornaments, but the truth is, I LOVE my eclectic Christmas tree! I love all the memories that come with each and every ornament we place upon the tree. I love that as we unwrap each one to hang, the kids can reminisce about special memories in our family.
Decorating our Christmas tree is a ceremony of sorts. We gather all together, listening to Christmas music as Jeff and I bring every ornament out of it’s box, handing them over to the children to place on the tree. They each have their favorites that they want to hang! With every ornament comes a discussion and memory.
Like our family trip ornaments; every year, we choose a special ornament from places we have visited/vacationed. Our trip to the Bahamas, the year we spent at Disneyland with our season passes (the kids will agree those passes were the best Christmas gift ever!), our camping trips through Utah and Colorado, our vacations to Florida and the Keys. It is like unlocking a special moment in time when we come across each one. We share our favorite stories and memories of each trip.
We started this tradition with our very first trip: our honeymoon in Hawaii. This ornament is so special to me!
I absolutely love my homemade ornaments from my children. They are priceless to me. It brings me joy to see the sweet faces and handprints of my babies hanging on my tree.
Every year, I put an ornament in each kid’s stocking for Christmas. They usually reflect their interest from that year (Star Wars, Disney princesses, etc) but I’ve also gotten them birthstone ornaments and even had years where I’ve made their ornaments. My mom did this when we were kids and when I grew up and got married, I had a good collection of ornaments to adorn our first Christmas tree!
When I was a teenager, I was super into Precious Moments. Avon had come out with a collector’s series so every year, my mom bought me the Precious Moments ornament of the year. I have the complete collection and every time I look at them, I think of my dear mom. This is my first Christmas without her here (physically); she passed away a few months ago. These ornaments are more special than ever!
My tree may not have coordinating tinsel and ribbons and bows, but in my eyes it is the most beautiful tree because it represents my family. It represents who we are, where we’ve been and the memories we’ve made. And isn’t that [partly] what Christmas time is about? It’s about family, about togetherness and love. What better reminder than our special tree, filled with memories and love?
Maybe one day I will have a second tree, with a beautiful theme. But no matter what, I will always have my eclectic tree.
That looks just like our tree! I have all of my childhood ornaments and my husband has his and we get new ones for our kids each year. Your tree decorating sounds a lot like my childhood and how we do it now with our kids. It’s such a special time to talk about all the ornaments and where they came from. My papa used to make beaded ornaments for us each year and my Great grandma made us lots of neat ceramic ones. I could never have a year where I don’t put those ornaments up!
I love it! There is nothing more precious than memories of our loved ones and the time we’ve spent with them! <3