Photo ornaments, the stars of the tree

Every year the tree gets a few new ornaments.

I've added a photo ornament of both girls to the tree every year since they were born. That box of ornaments does not get put downstairs with the Christmas decorations. It's kept in the top of the bedroom closet for safe keeping. It is that box of photo ornaments, of the girls and other loved ones, that is the most fun to open each year.

Here are this year's ornaments, both recent photos of the girls. Their baby days were long ago as they are now in their twenties.
(That makes for a LOT of ornaments!
Probably not the wisest decision to go to a SLIM tree this year!)

 

The ornaments from Wal Mart were originally black. I wanted to lighten them up a bit so I painted them blue, letting some of the black show through in the crevices. I like them much better now. Before I hang them next year I'll give them a coat of high gloss polyurethane and maybe some glitter, but I was anxious to get them on the tree this year.

 

It seems like yesterday that their newborn ornaments were put on the tree...

 

...followed by their First Christmas ornaments.

 

This locket ornament is one of my favorites. I got it back in the early 90's (I think from Lillian Vernon) when the girls were little.

 

Of course I keep the locket open when it's hanging on the tree.

 

There's a picture of hubby from the 60's when he was in the Marines.

 

And photos of loved ones no longer with us, but whose memories we always hold close to our hearts.

(Late 1940's era photos of my mom and dad).

 Our four legged family is also represented on the tree...

those who are with us and those who no longer are.

(These are photos of some of our loyal companions who have crossed the rainbow bridge.)

I have to share these adorable tinsel ornaments I purchased a few years ago. If you are an animal lover, you must check out one of my FAVORITE Etsy shops, OldWorldPrimitives. I purchased a set of 3 different CAT ornaments...

 

...and 3 different DOG ornaments! Are they not the cutest things ever?

(Yet another photo oranment in the background... My sister and I visiting Santa back in 1958 at the Boston Jordan Marsh Department Store.)

 

And what tree is complete without at least one celebrity photo ornament?

Years ago the girls met Fred Savage of The Wonder Years when he was appearing in a play.

The NICEST, most down-to-earth celebrity you will ever meet!!!!

(Taken at the Cape Cod Playhouse in Dennis, MA, summer of 1998.

Santa Caps, moon, other embellishments added by me, of course.

I hope he doesn't mind that he's part of our cherished Christmas tree decor!)

 

Wishing you all a peace filled, Merry Christmas.

 

Donna

Before Christmas is totally packed away...

I wanted to share the newest ornaments to grace our tree... Every year since the girls were born, I've added a photo ornament of each of them to the tree. And since they're now 20 and 24 years old, that's a lot of ornaments!!


Last year's ornaments were photos of the girls wearing the cloche hats they got that Christmas.


This year Court's ornament features a sweet photo of her with her handsome Spotty, who we lost in November. I just love this picture of the two of them...

Amanda's ornament features a photo of her planting a kiss on her sweet Tiger. I love this picture, too. This year the theme was obviously kitty love. Both of these photos were also part of their handmade gifts this year and I'll show you those projects soon.

In addition to the photo ornaments, I buy an ornament for each of the girls every year. Someday when they have their own places (with room for a tree), they'll take all their ornaments, and the memories attached to them, to their new homes. This year I fell in love with these crown ornaments from pinkbuttercreme's ETSY shop.

I gave Amanda the white bird adorned with a sparkly princess crown, lace ruffles, and a rosette...

... and I gave Courtney the same ornament in pink. Aren't they GORGEOUS? Be sure to visit PinkButterCreme's shop - she'll be reopening January 15th with lots of new Valentine's goodies!

And then I came across another ETSY shop with the most adorable vintage styled tinsel ornaments - just look at these sweet kitties...

...and handsome hounds!!! They are the unique creations of Stephanie at Old World Primitives and they're just the cutest things ever!

Here they are, out of the package, so you can see them better. I couldn't decide between the kitties...

...or the doggies, so I had to get both!

Be sure to visit Stephanie's ETSY shop where you'll find more of her kitty and doggy ornaments as well as Valentine and Easter ornaments in this same style!

I also want to mention that both of these shops offer EXCELLENT customer service - quick shipping, friendly correspondence - the works! I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Hope you're all enjoying the start to the new year. We're surviving the weekend's snow, but longing for spring!!

Donna

Can you lend a paw?

Spotty is thinking, "I could just sit and look at this tree for hours... But it really is time for it to come down now..."


"You're right, Spotty. It needs to come down today. So I see you've decided to give me a hand (paw) sorting through these photo ornaments that need to be packed away."


"Hmmm... maybe if I look away and pretend I don't hear her she'll leave me alone..."


Uh oh... The eyes are getting heavy... the head is nodding...

And he's gone... "Sleep tight, sweet Spotty... I'll try to be very quiet packing things away so I don't disturb your cat nap."

Oh, the things we do for the cats who own us...

I finally got around to taking down our tree today. I had intended to do it right after New Year's but I came down with the nastiest cold... So everything had to be put on hold. Yesterday I packed up the few decorations I had put around the house and today I 'undecorated' the tree. It's definitely not as much fun taking the tree down as putting it up, but it is nice having the house back in order... Wishing you all a wonderful week...

Donna

Hold on! I think there's still some tree showing...

Amanda and I spent Saturday, from late afternoon to late evening, decorating our tree -finally!! (Court is still at college and said she's looking forward to coming home to a fully decorated tree!) So here's how the evening went down...


(FROM THIS...)
First we got out all the special ornaments (photos, handmade, memory items). Most of our Christmas decor gets stored in the basement, but these sentimental favorites go in the top of my bedroom closet.


Next we put in our Little Women video to watch/listen to while we decorated.


(TO THIS...)
Hubby likes it with just the lights on it... Are you kidding? We've only just begun! Ribbons and bead garland were put on first...


(TO THIS...)
Then Amanda and I spent lots of time carefully putting all the photo, handmade, and sentimental ornaments on the tree. Now to most people, this would look done (dare I say even over done??)... But we forged ahead and put lots more on the tree...


... until it looked like this! We're done now, but only because there isn't a single branch left to hang anything from! (Did I mention I have a hard time coming to terms with Christmas minimalism??) Now to most people this probably looks way over the top (which it is!), but I can't help myself! I figure there's no right or wrong way to decorate a tree as long as we love the end result, right? When the girls eventually have their own places, Amanda says she will also have a tree with lots of special ornaments whereas Courtney says she will definitely opt for a decorator/themed tree. And I'm sure they will both be BEAUTIFUL!!


This is one of the photo ornament boxes. Every year I add a new photo ornament of each of the girls to the tree (that's over 40 ornaments alone between both of them!!)...

Add to that our loved ones and our sweet furry family members... And before you know it, the tree is full!

I have these two vintage tree toppers...

We decided to go with the white one for the tree this year.

Here are a few close up shots of the various items that go on our tree...

There are lots of handmade ornaments from Amanda's and Courtney's nursery school and kindergarten years, as well as some they made at home...

Here are some of Amanda's...

A sweet little crayon-colored bird (who never got his wings apparently!)...

A scotch-taped fabric holly and berry ornament...

A glittery little egg carton bell...

A hapy little gingerbread man...

...and a colorful stocking....

And here are some of Courtney's...

A sweet painted kitty..

A marker colored Christmas tree with pinking shear edges...

A glittery sandpaper gingerbread man...

A reindeer with antlers made from the traced outline of her hands...

... and a beautiful sequined Christmas tree...

There are also lots of personal ornaments on the tree. Here are just a few...

A duck for hubby because he loves ducks (his love for ducks is so cute!)

A pink flamingo for Courtney to remember her trip to Florida...

An Empire State Building ornament for Amanda to remember her trip to New York City.

A loon ornament to remember a 1999 family vacation on a lake in New Hampshire (our first time seeing and hearing loons - so magical!!)

My mom bought this ornament for me when the girls were little. I had seen it in a store and loved it, but thought it was too expensive. Mom surprised me with it later (she'd been with me when I originally saw it and knew how much I loved it!)...

And then there are the store bought ornaments that always appeal to Amanda because she's certain no one will ever buy them since they're broken (so she wants to give them a good home on our tree)... A few examples...

The soaring bird without a beak...

...and the one antlered reindeer...

And finally, our tree just wouldn't be complete if it didn't have....

... Fred Savage (Kevin, The Wonder Years) hanging from a branch. We met him on the Cape back in 1998 and he was such a sweetheart, talking to the girls and posing for pictures with them... (Needless to say, they weren't wearing Santa hats - that was my little photoshop job!)... This photo serves as a reminder of that fun time on the Cape...

So I hope you all are enjoying your Christmas trees as much as we are enjoying ours... Whether your tree holds family photos or shiny new baubles, whether it's green or silver, pink or white, whether it's real or fake, tall or short, skinny or fat... Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!

Donna