Putting Ornaments On The Tree

Yesterday I shared with you putting up our Christmas tree including the lights and bead garland. All that’s left is the fun part, the ornaments.  The first year after I had moved out of my Mom’s house, money was tight, so I couldn’t afford to buy all the ornaments it would have taken to fill up this tree, so I decided to improvise.  I’ve always liked pinecones, and thought they would look nice on the tree.  The only place I knew of where there was a free supply was our church cemetery.

So I went there to collect some, and while there I visited my Dad as well. He had died a few years earlier from cancer. I didn’t think he’d mind me stealing creatively aquiring pinecones from the cemetery. I came back home, attached hooks to the cones,

and filled my tree with them. And even though today I have plenty of ornaments, I still put up all the pinecones. They remind me of my dad, and also a time when money was tighter than now.

The pincones shared space that first year with this wooden horse and rider,

and wooden nutcracker,

both of which I had bought in my teens. Look, when you pull his string his arms and legs go up and down.  

Each year I’ve bought more and more until today I have too many for this tree and rotate them out from year to year. This quilted ball I made a couple years ago.

I made about a dozen of these that year and gave them as Christmas gifts.

This beaded one I made years and years ago from a kit as one of a pair.

The other one I gave to a loser boyfriend at the time. I wish I could get it back ’cause he sure didn’t deserve the love I put into making it. Grrr…  Sorry, that’s not very Christmas-minded of me.

This golden angel was another gift from my mom.

She had a set of these and every year when I was growing up they looked down at me from our tree. I think they were bought by my mom and dad shortly after they married, so this angel must be about 50 years old now.

Every Christmas I used to go to the local Ben Franklin store to add more ornaments to my growing collection. They had such a wide variety, anything you could think of, and I would wait until they went on sale to stock up.

That’s were I got several of these icicles,

stuffed gingerbread man hanging from a wooden spoon,

and a tiny birdfeeder with real birdseed.

My aunt Clare gave me this decoupage one.

My cousin Laura from Florida made this fabric bell for me.

 

These birds with clip-on feet, perfect for perching on the branches, came from the craft department at Walmart.

But the most important ornaments are these two,

always hung at the top and most prominant part of the tree. I bought them when I was a kid from our church. They sold Christmas ornaments from the back of the church every December. 

Last to go on the tree is the star,

a delicate metal frame with thin shell decoration, bought on clearance of course from Walmart. 

And so there you have it.  

A lifetime of memories on a tree. Oh and look, one of the first gifts is already under the tree….

Kitty, the gift that keeps on giving all year round.

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