Christmas Treasures

It really looks like Christmas around here.  The house is almost decorated.  I keep finding things to put out, and I pretty much have to edit because over the years I've collect a lot of decorations.  Can't put them all up or it will look overly-festive.  Yes, there is such a thing as overly-festive.  While decorating the tree, I realized that we have quite a few ornaments that are very special to me.  Ornaments collected on various trips, ones from Christmas trees of my childhood, gifts from dear friends, very old ones (circa WW II, and two dating back to the 20's).  But the ones I love most are the handmade ones that I've collected over the years.

What an assortment!  You can see wooden ones that Mark made on the lathe, a cute snowman that Matt made in elementary school, and a funny macrame reindeer.  Then there are the clay ornaments that Matt and I made in a workshop when he was all of three years old.  When Mark and I were newlyweds, Sheila presented us with some beautiful handmade ornaments for our first Christmas tree.  Years later, she made us some pretty ornaments crafted from sand - yes, sand.  There are some little Christmas animals that I painted during my college years, along with some beaded bells and sputniks.  

These macrame snowflakes were fun to make, as was the Just Nan Santa and turkey that I stitched a few years back.

All of these wonderful treasures make the Christmas season special because they bring up so many memories.  I can't remember when the water bill is due, but I remember where I got each one of these little ornaments.  And, by the way, the tree looks so festive!  A photo of it will surely be coming up in the next couple of weeks.  So stay tuned.  Happy decorating!