O Christmas Tree

Lovely, isn't it? It's the first time I've had a full-sized tree of my own. I've been using my old American Girl doll Christmas tree for the last 3 years. (It's about 2.5 feet tall.) This is much better. We got it from Freecycle!

Apparently I decorate a Christmas tree like a lazy person. I was explaining my strategy to the Husband, and he was very confused. I decided to just take a couple strings of lights and drape them back and forth across the front of the tree. He did not understand -- apparently in his family, you wrap a string of lights tight around the whole trunk, and then wrap more lights around the tree in the branches (all the way around, even if you can't see the whole tree). No. Too much work. All you want is for the tree to have lights, right? Okay then.

He was equally confused by my tinsel-applying technique.
1.) Take some tinsel.
2.) Throw it at the tree.
3.) If it's too clumpy for your taste, spread it out a little.

Yep.


I've been collecting full-sized ornaments since high school, in anticipation of having my own tree. One year I even hung a bunch of them on the curtain rod in our living room. (Can't seem to find the photo of that...)

Anyway, here are some of my ornaments. They have stories.


This is my favorite. Isn't she gorgeous? My mom gave this one and the next one to me last year. I thought she'd have to be dead before I'd get these. Really. I had no hope. But they downsized, so here we are. Yay!



This is also from my mom. I think her grandmother made it. It's the same style as my mom's stocking. I love it! So many sequins!


This one I made with the campus Mormon missionary sisters my senior year of college. One day they were hanging out outside the library and approached me as I was leaving to ask if we could talk. I have no idea why I said yes, but I'm so glad I did. We had some good talks, and the "sitters" (as they called each other) were so fun! One of the times they came over, we made these ornaments out of strips of wrapping paper.


And here we have Our Lady of Guadeloupe. She was a gift in high school (because I was taking Spanish, I think). I brought her to our AP Spanish test senior year of high school and set her at the front of the classroom on a podium, for luck. I guess it worked -- I got a 3 and tested out of 3 semesters of college Spanish!






Assorted other vintage ornaments, from my mom and my grandmother.


Um... We don't have a Christmas tree topper. Oops. I'm looking to remedy this with something classy and non-angelic. I'm considering this. Any other suggestion will be taken under consideration.

UPDATE: I found this tree topper at the thrift store on Wednesday! Classy and non-angelic... and only $1.99! It's lovely, and it'll have to do until we can justify spending $50 on a nicer one from Etsy.


What's your favorite family Christmas ornament? Any photos to share?