Thursday, December 3, 2009

What's important to you?

I am a very big fan of ornaments.  Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed them.  When I was able to drive, I would go to my grandma's every year to help her decorate her tree.  She had a story behind every ornament and remembered exactly where they came from.  I thought I would share a few of them with you.

Let me first explain, we set up two trees.  One in the breeze way:

And one in the living room:

Sorry for the blurry picture.  I was trying to capture the mood lighting. Notice the weights on the base of the tree.  That is to make sure the cats do not tip the tree when they decide to climb it.  They have actually been good about it this year!  We just got a new tree skirt that covers them up. 

The tree in the breeze way is very personal to me.  When my grandma passed, the only thing I wanted were her ornaments and village.  I display them proudly.

There is a tradition of putting apples on a tree for polish people.  It is suppose to bring good fortune.


 
I have a few of these.  They were my great grandma's.


I started collecting bird ornaments when I was little.  I have several, but this is my favorite.

My grandma had a theme of green and gold ornaments.  Here are a few:

For our living room tree, there is no theme.  They are just childhood ornaments and ones we have purchased over the years.

I am huge fan of finding vintage or antique ornaments.  They just don't make em like they use to.

I hope you enjoyed taking a closer look at my trees! 

So I ask, what is important to you during the holiday season?

6 comments:

Jen @ homeinthecountry said...

Aww! So pretty - I love your fun vintage-y ornaments! We're all about hanging personal ornaments on the tree, too - even if there's no theme. Each year, my mom bought all of us ornaments about what happened in our lives that year (for example, the year I started piano lessons, I got a piano ornament) and we collected ornaments on family vacation. It's so fun to pull them out and remember where I was and what I did each year! I've been doing the same with my hubby, and plan to do the same with my kiddos. So even if our tree isn't perfect and theme-y, it's all about the memories!

micah said...

That is awesome that your ornaments have sentimental value. Both of your trees are very pretty!

elizabeth said...

love your trees -
this year instead of dragging every decoration out I displayed only the ones that have personal meaning - doesn't it feel so much better??? And it's funny how looking at an ornament or decoration can bring you back to a place in time so long ago -
have a great weekend!!!
start those christmas cards!!

Danielle and Clint said...

Awww...that is a GREAT idea Elizabeth! Personal meaning just makes it all worth while :-)

Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog said...

I love that you were able to keep your grandmother's ornaments. I feel like the holidays are all about family and tradition. I'd rather have a tree full of memories than one straight out of a PB catalog any day!

Boxcar Goods said...

i'm so jealous you have two trees!! just kidding...they look beautiful!

i'm a huge fan of vintage as well!!!

i would say the most important thing to me this holiday is spending time with family...i'm especialy loving the idea of cooking/baking with and for family....

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