Monday, December 2, 2013

My Favorite Ornaments

by Julia Buckley
Yesterday we decorated our Christmas tree. Nothing new there, as probably millions of people did the same thing on the same day.  But what I treasure more now than I ever did before are the memories connected to each ornament that I take out of the box.

This Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim combination is a wonderful reminder of Dickens' classic tale, as well as the good will represented by little Tim Cratchit.  I have very few literary ornaments, so I treasure this one.

This King (I know, he resembles the Burger King mascot) has always reminded me of something from The Nutcracker or from a fairy tale.  I always put him in the center of the tree so that I can see him from my reading chair.  :)

This ornament was the first one made by my oldest son in pre-school.  It's a gingerbread man (can't you tell?) with his face on it--his first school portrait.  


Some ornaments were gifts or stocking stuffers from Christmases past, which makes them special because I remember the person who gifted me.

This little wall gnome was a gift from relatives in Germany, so he hangs there all year long in their honor.

I love these gold snowflakes even better than the white ones, because they reflect all of the lights in a beautiful way.

This was a gift from my Kris Kringle at work a few years ago. 

I could list many more ornaments here, but hopefully this small list will make you want to share something about your own favorite ornaments (and memories).

Happy December, everyone!




3 comments:

Elizabeth Zelvin said...

I consider the tree our gallery of portable art. We have many beautiful hand blown glass ornaments in a variety of shapes, animals, birds, musical instruments, and on a feminist note, angels, mermaids, and other interesting women. We've tried to stick with natural materials--no resin and certainly no plastic. We put a dove of peace at the top of our tree. My best literary ornament is a wooden desk with drawers and cubbies. And we finish the tree with tinsel icicles applied one strand at a time with great restraint so the tree shimmers but the ornaments are fully visible.

Elizabeth Zelvin said...

Oh, and bells, some cloisonne and some millefiori.

Julia Buckley said...

That sounds lovely, Liz! The tree really does become the artistic centerpiece in this season.