Nostalgic Ornaments, Old and New (Warning: Sentimental Stories Ahead!)

I hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving! And now... Happy December and there's 25 days til CHRISTMAS!!! For as long as I can remember, we decorate the tree either Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday... except for this year. This year I decorated early, and from what I can tell on social media, a lot of you did the same!

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Maybe we all felt like we could use some extra cheer this year? Maybe some folks missed events in 2020 and want to make up for it in 2021. Maybe we just want to start enjoying life more every day because one thing the last two years have taught us is that we don't know the future and we want to appreciate the present as much as possible!

Speaking of "present" - back to the Christmas tree. See what I did there? Because... presents under the tree... Haha okay I'm done. Scroll down for a photographic "tour" of some of my favorite ornaments collected over the decades. Some are one-of-a-kind, some handmade, some store-bought, and some you can custom order as the perfect thoughtful gift this season! (Holiday emotion trigger alert: There may be a few sentimental stories in this post.)

Our 2021 Tree: black and white with pops of blue and teal, and a theme of butterflies and birds.

The "Blue Tree" and the Penny in the Box

Growing up, we always decorated the tree the day after Thanksgiving. There's only one Black Friday when I remember getting up at 4 am and doing the whole stand-in-line-for-door-buster-sales thing and that's the year I stayed with my grandmother. This was perhaps 25 years ago in western Pennsylvania in the mountains. I was maybe 10 or 12 years old. It was freezing cold. She wrapped me up in layers of clothes. But I wanted to experience the traditional Black Friday craziness and there was no one better to show me the ropes than my Dad's mom. She loved shopping. Well, she loved GIVING. It was probably one of her favorite things - she would carefully and painstakingly search all year to gather Christmas gifts for her family and friends, and then she could barely wait until December 25 to give them to us.

My grandmother wanted to be called "granny" but we couldn't say "Rs" as kids so she was "Nanny." I remember one year Nanny gave one of us kids a pair of shoes and there was a penny in the box. That's because she had spent $49.99 on gifts for one and apparently $50.00 on the other, and so she put a penny in the box to make it fair. She told us she always spent EXACTLY the same on all the kids and she wasn't kidding. I learned a lot from her when it comes to gifts. Gifts don't have to be expensive but a thoughtful one sure can make someone feel special and important. The thought and love behind them is what I remember the most.

If you love blue like my grandmother (and me) here is a great starter kit by Valery Madelyn.

Nanny's Christmas tree was at the most 3 feet tall. She set it up on a table each year and my Pappy set up a train set around it along with a mini Christmas village. ALL the ornaments were blue. Nanny loved blue. She told me once that she read an article that said blue is the most universally appealing house decor color. Her walls were blue and that includes the wood trim. The doors. The baseboards. All light blue and in semi-gloss because it's easy to clean. She was from the generation that washed their walls. The entire house was carpeted - in blue. All the bed's comforters and quilts - blue. So yes, their little Christmas tree was decorated in pastel blue every year complete with a blue tinsel garland. I always thought it looked perfect.

This beaded beauty is front and center on our tree this year and our daughter is LOVING it!

Set of two 7" beaded butterflies similar to mine. This is about the same price I paid at the local shop. FYI Walmart has a version I also bought to fill in the tree's empty spaces even cheaper!

The "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree

While our family may have ventured to the mall on Black Friday at some point to enjoy the decorations and hustle bustle of the holidays, normally we didn't make an all-day event of it. For us, Black Friday was a cozy staying-in kind of day when we decorated for Christmas. My mom was a traditionalist who likes to let one holiday pass before decorating for the next. I did the same until this year. Like I mentioned above, it seems I'm not alone in decorating "early" for 2021. (However, I did wait until after Thanksgiving to change out my pumpkin wreath for my winter wreath.:)

Decorating our tree was always a fun memory growing up. We had a lot of handmade ornaments and decor collected over the years. My dad was allergic to pine so we had a faux tree that bought we bought used from someone who advertised in the newspaper, if memory serves. It's funny, I actually remember what the house looked like where we bought the tree and the couple who sold it to us. We had multi-color strings of lights because the tree was not pre-lit. My mom liked lots of lights. She couldn't abide when someone would take a single lonely strand and wrap it around half the tree and call it a day. OUR lights were always perfectly spaced, haha! We did not have a particular color theme or many new ornaments, but we loved our tree and it represented good times. Mom would often give us kids an ornament as a gift each year. I still have some of them. You don't have to spend a lot of money to give a lot of love.

I just adore this pom pom garland - maybe next year! It reminds me of something homemade and cozy.

My parents kept that second-hand tree for decades. So many needles fell off they started calling it their "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree, as the branches looked skinnier and more worn every year. Finally two years ago, at an after-Christmas sale I bought them a new, gold-flecked, taller tree for 90% off. $30.00 for a $300.00 tree! (That shopping gene must come from Nanny.:) Last year they set it up for the first time. My dad had to restring lights as the pre-lit lights didn't turn on (maybe that's why it was on clearance.) It's a beautiful tree. It's looks great. But I think in a way we were all a little sad not to have the ol' Charlie Brown tree set up!

Last year I couldn't find a silver ribbon tree topper to save my life, so I handmade this one. I still have PTSD from the hot glue burns on my hands. Of course, now I found one conveniently available on Amazon.

If you like the ribbon bow but you don't feel like crafting this year, here's the link. :)

The "Fancy" Christmas Tree

On the other hand, there was my maternal grandfather. My mom's Dad was a career CIA agent and retired young, having already done 27 years in the Secret Service by the time he was in his late forties. His "cover" was being an art dealer in Asia - and the agency actually sent him to art classes so he would know what he was talking about. His home was fill with beautiful paintings he collected in China and Hong Kong. We called him Grandad. I remember as a child being in awe of Grandad's perfectly-decorated townhouse and just staring at the art on the walls in various styles: oil paintings of beautiful Chinese women, impressionist style of busy streets in Hong Kong, and water colors of daily Chinese life throughout history.

Speaking of fancy, here a gorgeous Swarovski initial ornament that makes a great gift for almost anyone on your list.

Well, you can imagine Grandad's Christmas tree. He would pick a color each year and deck out the tree in opulent silk poinsettias and glass balls that all coordinated with the theme - and white lights only, of course. I always thought it was beautiful. It wasn't the kind you were allowed to touch as a kid, but a work of art in the living room. I remember making a mental note as a child that his tree was what "fancy" Christmas trees looked like.

I loved Grandad's perfectly gilded tree.

I loved our own colorful, family-friendly tree.

I loved Nanny's miniature blue tree with Pappy's train set around it.

I loved it all!

And to this day I love Christmas however it's celebrated... and however it's decorated.

My new owl ornament. I bought mine at Walmart but if you don't feel like braving the check out lines, check out the affordable set in the link below.

My Christmas Tree

2021 is the first holiday season without any of our grandparents all at. Nanny went to heaven when I was only 14 years old. Pappy lived until 2020 when he went to be with her after all those years. Grandad died just this year. My husband lost his last remaining grandparent, his beloved Grandma, last year also.

My other grandmother died when I was 16. We called her "Mum" - maybe we heard my mom calling her "Mom" and that's where we got it? Little kids do their best but grandparent names don't always go as planned, do they? Well, Mum loved birds. Does anyone remember those cards and tchotchkes by Marjolein Bastin? Mum loved those. She sent us many a thinking-of-you Marjolein Bastin card and she also had teacups with birds on them. She also had some pretty cool pieces from Asia she kept in the divorce (this was Grandad's ex) and so she had an eclectic collection of nature-themed collectibles and Chinese antiques. She also had a beautiful set of dishes from Japan that I still have and use daily. I believe we should use our things versus storing them in dusty boxes but that's a topic for another day... I don't particularly recall Mum's Christmas decor specifically, but her home was always charming and filled with sweet little things all year round.

If you like birds like my maternal grandmother, check out these cute owl ornaments by Kurt Adler.

Approaching my 37th Christmas, I think that holiday memories are some of the best I have and I try to give those memories a place on my tree each year. I have birds for Mum. I have blue for Nanny. I have a different color scheme almost every year; Grandad would be proud. And next year in our new house, I hope to put a train set on the floor around the tree - that'll be for you, Pappy! (Our daughter will love it too, I'm guessing.:) Finally, I like to collect ornaments on our travels; we have some pretty special ones from our honeymoon in Ireland - that was a trip of a lifetime! BIG thanks to my Hubby for making that lifelong dream come true!

This sheep ornament is one I picked up in Ireland, handmade from Aran wool. I must have bought at least a dozen and gave most of them away as gifts that year. Now I wish I had more! You can't buy the exact Aran wool yarn sheep online (I looked) but you can buy the cute one below.

Adorable sheep ornament for those of us who find this cute (me) by the Shamrock Gift Co.

I still have handmade ornaments from my cousins and ornaments my mom gave me when I was a kid. I buy my daughter a new ornament every year, too. I have hand-beaded ornaments from a local shop here in Central Florida and I have ornaments from the Dollar Store. We have ornaments that friends and family gifted us, such as the custom snowmen family from my mother-in-law. They all have a place on my tree. And of course, no surprise, I have plenty of Christmas decor from Amazon! I did attach links as much as possible in case you see anything you want to replicate. As you can tell, I love looking at other people's trees and getting ideas; maybe you do, too.

I bought this "Hundred Thousand Welcomes" ornament in Ireland but you can order the exact same ornament by the same company online! See my link below.

Here is the exact same ornament that we bought in Ireland available on Amazon. I couldn't believe it when I saw this link!

The following ornaments are NOT available on Amazon BUT I still have to share because they are steals of deals!!!

These black and white ornaments are from Walmart and for only $3.98 for a set of 3 (as of the time of posting.) What a steal! Bonus, they're plastic and won't shatter.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Holiday-Time-Black-and-White-Stripe-Christmas-Tree-Ornaments-7-68-3-Pack/139510881?wl13=705&selectedSellerId=0

I'll be honest... normally, I avoid Walmart like the plague. Don't get me wrong, I love the prices. But if I started telling you stories of the horrible online ordering experiences I've had there, you'd know why I don't relish attempting to do business at Walmart. (And I'm guessing after these comment, they probably aren't vying to be my next affiliate anyway, haha.) That said, when I saw the price on those B&W ornaments and noticed they were in stock at our local Walmart, I had to venture out. Of course, I looked for 30 minutes and couldn't find them anywhere. Finally, not to be deterred, I got on my hands and knees and crawled down the lowest shelf and ta-dah! Lo and behold, there they were, having rolled back behind everything else in an effort to make it harder for me to spot them, no doubt. Is that what roll-back pricing means?!?! Okay, I'm done (again.)

This cute, metal "Merry Christmas" sign is also from Walmart.

I can't believe I'm still promoting this joint! Haha seriously, if I told you the stories... I can't though, because, blood pressure. But here is an adorable little ornament complete with a black & white buffalo plaid ribbon and yep, it's $1.98. Hmmn, for someone whose arch nemesis is Walmart, I seem to have bought a number of things there. :) Actually, it's their online ordering system that has messed up several times in row. Buying in store is great, if you can don't mind searching for things yourself. For instance, the ornaments I went in there for originally were for all intents and purposes on the ground out in the lawn and garden section. But the important thing is, they're on the tree now!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Holiday-Time-White-Square-Merry-Christmas-Decorative-Accent-Christmas-Tree-Hanging-Ornament-5-3-H/789069001?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=800&adid=22222222277789069001_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-293946777986&wl5=9012406&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=789069001&wl13=800&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5tWExq3D9AIVhcqGCh1msAdbEAkYAyABEgJIHfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

WHY is that link so long?? By the way, if you go to Walmart's own site and enter the key words for the ornament above, it does not come up, at least not readily. I searched 15 pages and then gave up. Yet another reason I don't recommend shopping online there. Going into the store is probably faster in this case. But there is the link, nonetheless, in case you want to risk it. May the force be with you.

One of my favorite ornaments - and there's a story, too!

Finally, I have to share this photo and a funny story: My husband's brother and family gave this (above) to me the year I was pregnant. Wow, the figurine even has short red hair, like me! I was so touched by this gift especially as, for those who don't know, I had a horribly painful and complicated pregnancy, pretty much the whole way through. I was in the hospital a few times and the worst of it was the month of December. All our Christmas / my birthday / New Year's Eve plans were canceled. Show tickets, wasted. Hotel reservations, thankfully refunded. Party plans with friends, nope, because it's hard to say "Happy New Year!" when you're puking and writhing in pain. So when my husband's family gave me this ornament, it brought a tear to my eye. It made me happy to hang something cheerful on the tree as related to pregnancy. That's when it slipped off the hook and crashed to the floor and my head fell off. I was heartbroken for about 3 seconds then I started laughing out loud. Looking at the poor broken mommy on the floor with no head felt exactly right that year. A little super glue and we were back in business! It turns out that even the ornament needed surgery to get through that pregnancy! I chuckle whenever I see the little glue line, but it's not noticeable to anyone else, and that's how it goes, am I right, fellow Mommies?

And that's our tree, folks - somewhat homemade, somewhat fancy, and overall full of good memories and LOVE! However you decorate and however you celebrate the season, I hope you have good memories, good cheer, and perhaps a few new (or old) pretty things to deck your halls this year. Post pictures and share your trees, please?!

With Love,

Molly

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