Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Ornamental Highlights of Christmas

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall ~Larry Wilde

It's Party Time! I'm joining the Holiday Fun at Centsational Girl and Southern Hospitality.

This year's Christmas has been very exciting for me and Hubby. It's the first time, since becoming parents, that we've stayed home and attempted to go ALL out decorating for the little ones on a modest budget.

So, while Hubby took care of the outside, I was in charge of decorating inside...particularly the Christmas tree. Sounds easy enough?

Not exactly...

First lesson learned, pre-school children do not like it when they are NOT the center of their parent's attention. Second lesson, when you buy a new ornament, put it with the rest of the Christmas "stuff" so you don't spend valuable time searching for it.

Once I resolved the first issue with naptime, I was given two hours of partially uninterrupted time to work on the second issue.

It took me a week, but I am proud to say my Christmas tree is almost finished. Here are the ornamental highlights of my search.

Family Heirlooms. My grandmother bought these ornaments in 1988 to decorate a special tree...just for her grandchildren. They've been handed down through the family and now I am priviledge to share them with my children.








In our travels. Hubby and I love to travel. These are some of my favorite ornaments that we've picked up along the way.
  • Nassau, Bahamas (Dec 2008). This starfish is by far my prettiest bauble! Covered with iridescent glitter, this picture does not do it justice.

  • Isle of Palms, SC (Aug 2009). Where Hubby and I hope to retire!

  • Hawaii (Dec 2006). Picked this up for my MIL (pictured off her tree). This was a special vacation to restore my soul.

  • Massachusetts (Sept 2008). Nothing prettier than autumn in New England.

  • Disneyworld (Dec 2008). Where Hubby and I went on our first vacation together. Fifteen years later, it's still a magical place!

Thanks for dropping by! Please come back soon so you can see the rest of our Christmas tree and Hubby's version of a Griswald Christmas.

Sincerely, Lisa

13 comments:

  1. Ha, someone else who collects ornaments while on vacation! I think that is such a great tradition. I love seeing my ornaments each year and remembering those wonderful times.
    Love the tree your grandmother made. I am sure those ornaments got their own memories attached to them.

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  2. Your tree looks like so much fun! Love it!

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  3. I loved seeing your ornaments from your travels!

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  4. I love collecting ornaments on vacation too. :) Thanks for the visit!!

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  5. Hey Lisa,

    That was fun...can't wait to see some more. We don't have our tree yet...perhaps this weekend, but the house is decorated and I've started to bake so after having surgery, I think I'm a little ahead...at least I hope so. I have family in Hawaii and we've been to Disney World and I acually live 10 minutes from Disney Land...and yes those places are magical...

    tootles,
    bunny

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  6. Oh how I remember the days of trying to decorate with a little one! Now he's 18 and doesn't have any problem with me doing all the decorating :-)
    How wonderful to have the ornaments your Grandmother used on a special tree, to me those are the best kind of ornaments. I also like your idea of collecting ornaments from where you have vacationed. Brings back good memories every year.
    Look forward to seeing more.
    Jane

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  7. My favorite ornament is your starfish! Beautiful. Isn't it fun to see all the memories attached to each ornament? Putting memories on the tree is so meaningful. Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Hi, Lisa! Awesome to meet you, thanks for stopping by my blog. Loove all your ornaments. I'm such a fan of an eclectic tree with ornaments that have meaning. I have a ton that my mom made for us when we were little, they are so special. So I love your heirloom ornaments, and of course the New England one:)

    PS. We loooooove PEI! I don't think its for everyone, but it is definitely for us. We sit on the beach, have bonfires, play games in the yard, play games inside, read, watch movies. Explore the beautiful countryside. There's not alot of "in town" things to do, but that's ok cause we go to get away. Let me know if you have any more questions:)

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  9. Fun ornaments! And Isle of Palms, SC sounds like a nice place to retire...., I hope to live South (and in a warmer climate) too some day! Love your header with the saying.

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  10. I so wish I would have had the mind to buy ornaments everywhere we've gone! I love how your tree is decorated with so many memories :)

    rue

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  11. i love your quote at the beginning. and how true it is. we have ornaments from everywhere. i love that they are NOT all matchey matchey.
    happy weekend!

    kellie

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  12. We are collectors of ornaments from our travels too...most of them come from the US! So I just love your beautiful ornaments to bits!

    I love that quote you used too-I used it in one of my posts also-Great minds!

    Hope you are having a great weekend.
    Best wishes, Natasha.

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  13. Wow! And that is just a sampling! I am so happy I get the full experience.

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