Skip to main content

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I must say, I get a little giddy when the tree is up and all decorated. It just makes me feel like a kid again. In the evenings when all is quiet, I like to sit by it for a few minutes and look at the ornaments and remember where and when we bought them or think about who gave them to us (this drives my husband crazy because if he's anywhere near he has to hear the story of each ornament for the 100th time!).
I am not a color-coordinated-fancy-Christmas tree kind of person. I love a tree full of memories and sentimental ornaments. So with all that said, I'd love to share my tree with you today...(and be forewarned--it's picture overload today. I sort of got carried away. Sort of.)


my tree



I love my huge star!



And, look! I even have some presents underneath!


Now, on to some favorite ornaments......



Joseph, Jesus and Mary



a tiny stocking from a great-aunt when I was three years old



Vince gave me this cottage the first Christmas in our first house
(that house also had a red door!)



a memento from the beach this past summer



a NYC taxi cab from our first trip there together



an ornament from my parents' trip to England this past summer



Razorback Santa--Whoo Pig Sooie!!



(Vince's) Darth Vader



a giant peppermint handcrafted by my sister



a favorite Father Christmas--I love that he's wearing a blue coat!



this is one of several *vintage postcard* ornaments on the tree



a souvenir from a vacation in DC



a Blue Willow teacup


Well, I could go on and on (don't tempt me--I have more pictures!), but I'll be kind and let you go visit some more blogs today (hehe).


Visit There Is No Place Like Home for some more fun show & tell!

Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
No such thing as too many photos on a blog, especially of lovely christmas decorations. I love to hear the stories behind them.

I love to see other people's Christmas goodies. Thanks for sharing yours.

I am blogging daily until Christmas Eve about my decor, traditions and food here in Northern Ireland.
December 12, 2008 at 1:57 AM
Heather and Reese said…
Beautiful, Lora! Thank you for sharing. I miss not putting a tree up (not this year or last). It's so much fun and I love sitting by it after the kids go to sleep, while I sip a tea and reminisce.

Cheers!

~Reese
December 12, 2008 at 4:31 AM
Lois Christensen said…
Love Santa flying in an airplane instead of his sled. Very nice ornaments and your tree looks great!
December 12, 2008 at 5:58 AM
A Hint of Home said…
Your tree and ornaments are gorgeous with all the presents ready for Christmas morning.
December 12, 2008 at 6:47 AM
Hootin Anni said…
Oh oh....my dear son would love the Darth Vader ornament. I love all the warmth and glow of your photos!!!

My show n tell this week is a holiday story...come by if you can find some time, won't you? Happy weekend.
December 12, 2008 at 6:56 AM
Betsy Brock said…
Lora, you do your tree like I do mine...overflowing with ornaments and lights...you just can't have a skimpy looking tree! LOL. Beautiful...it looks great against the paint on your walls, too!
December 12, 2008 at 7:26 AM
Trixi said…
I too love that huge star. I love all the decorations. So pretty.
December 12, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Jamie said…
Absolutely beautiful!!! Love all the ornaments. I too love to sit by the tree with the lights on.
December 12, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Heidi Pocketbook said…
Your tree is a feast for the eyes! One can never have too many pictures of a special tree like yours.

Christmas blessings to you!
December 12, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Rechelle ~Walnuthaven Cottage~ said…
What a wonderful tree! I love all your ornaments and how they have a story :0)
Thanks for sharing and have a fantastic day!
December 12, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Anonymous said…
What a beautiful christmas tree. I love your ornaments and how they each have a special memory. That's exactly what we do also.
December 12, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Linda C said…
I love all your photos! Beautiful tree and ornaments! My kids would especially like your Darth Vader ornament- what says Christmas more than Darth Vader:) anything StarWars!
Linda C
December 12, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Kari said…
Too bad I'm not there to talk about the ornaments with you. Mom and I have already had several memory sessions with ours. =) I am proud, though, that one of "my" ornaments made it to the blog. haha
December 12, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Lora @ my blessed life said…
Y'all, thanks for all the wonderful comments about my tree! My hubby is loving that some of you are commenting on his Darth Vader ornament:)

And, yes, Betsy, I am of the *the more ornaments, the better* school when it comes to Christmas:) There's hardly a bare branch!
December 12, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Julieann said…
OHHH--Just glorious!!! I love your beautiful star too--and that peppermint ornament is darling!

Julieann
December 12, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Anonymous said…
That's a beautiful tree! I enjoyed seeing your ornaments too! We don't have a color coordinated tree either. My daughter and I go shopping for a new ornament each every year. So we have quite mish mash of things on our tree!

Manuela
December 12, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Anonymous said…
Looks like a pretty fancy Christmas tree to me. I think you've combed fancy with sentiment. It's all very lovely. Love the pictures of the kids playing in the snow. They look like they're having such fun.
Christmas hugs,
Charlotte
December 12, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Nana Trish is Living the Dream said…
Your ornaments are fabulous! I love the glass ones, especially the cottage. Your tree looks beautiful.
December 12, 2008 at 5:54 PM
JudyBug said…
Everything is so pretty! I just love "visiting' the homes and seeing your pretties!
December 12, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Being Mrs Miles said…
I think your tree would be elegant enough to grace a shopping mall LOL!

My favorite ornament on your tree is the seashell - now THATS unique.

Thanks for sharing with all of us!
December 12, 2008 at 7:02 PM
Musings of a Homeschooling Mom said…
I love the pictures of your tree. You have some beautiful ornaments! I love sentimental ornaments that give you a reason to remember something! Our tree is full of sentimental ornaments. I let the kids decorate our's, so it's not perfect, but we think it's beautiful!
December 12, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Lisa Cobler said…
Your tree and ornaments are beautiful!
December 12, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Alice said…
Your tree is lovely! I think the nativity hand blown pieces are my favorites. I like that each ornament has a story. And, I like the Shakespeare one also, being partial to him :). Great post and you can never show too many photographs for me :)!.

Please feel free to stop by my blog and visit anytime.
December 13, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Michelle M. said…
Your tree looks beautiful. It makes my little tree look pathetic :) We bought a tiny two-foot potted tree that we are going to replant on Christmas Day. I let Punky pick the ornaments to put on it; so it looks a little off. But I love it because Punky picked out the tree and helped decorate.
December 14, 2008 at 10:02 PM
annies home said…
I love that star at the top of the tree just makes me wonder what the shepherds thought so many years ago when they saw the star that led them to bethleham
December 18, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat
23 comments
Read more

1st Day Back to {home}School, Among Other Things

We did it! We finally got unpacked enough and got our new learning room organized enough to start back to school! Frankly, I was starting to get worried...ha Today went very well though. So far I am extremely pleased with our new curriculum choices for math and language arts. Now, if I could just actually get some lesson planning done... And get the finishing touches done in the learning room, so I can blog it! In other news, it has been a bit of a traumatic week...pet-wise. Last weekend a sweet friend (who had asked my permission beforehand) brought the kiddos their very own little fish tank with two goldfish. Well, on Sunday we noticed that The Princess' fish was pretty lethargic...dead, actually. She was sad, but she handled it fairly well. And we went to the store that evening and let her pick out a new goldfish. Well, today during our school time~the fish tank is in our learning room~we noticed Mr. B's fish was acting funny. And then he was dead. It was a
10 comments
Read more

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while.  It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it.  However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it.  Plus it's a little bulky.   When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it!  It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make.   I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course.  They  have these little wooden door hangers for .79.  I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each.  I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing.   I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had).  Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will clip on the right direction.   The left
17 comments
Read more