Friday, December 3, 2010

Advent Calendar - December 3 - Christmas Ornaments

I talked a little about our special ornaments on my December 1st post, but the most cherished ones I have are the 2 glass ornaments that my parents got their first Christmas in 1948, and of course, the First Christmas Together ornament my husband and I got in 1995.

As a child, I remember stringing popcorn and cranberries with my Girl Scout troop, but I'm not really sure they ever actually made it onto our tree! One special time I can recall, Mom and I used cookie cutters to trace on Christmas sheet music, laminated the cut outs and put ribbon through a hole punched at the top. I still have 2 of those, as well.

Another very special ornament I have is a toy soldier bread dough ornament handpainted by my sister, Melba. The first in my special collection of soldiers (mostly nutcrackers) that have a place of honor on our mantle every year.

Through the years, my sisters and I have collected many many Hallmark ornaments to commemorate Family events. Some of my favorites are: Our First Home, Baby's first Christmas (yes, both of them), and Disney vacation.
We also collect special interest ornaments for different family members, like
Dad: Mickey Mouse, Denver Broncos, Boston Red Sox and Starbucks.
Mom: Unicorns, Star Trek, Precious Moments, Coca Cola and nativity scenes
Son: Sesame Street, Legos, Scooby Doo, Star Wars, Guitar Hero
Daughter: Princesses, Fairies, Wizard of Oz and many crystals

A very fun annual event used to be the 50% ornament sale the day after Christmas.
My sisters and I would get up really really early to be at the Hallmark store before they opened to rush through the door, sometimes even driving as much as an hour to get to the best places, or staking out different stores and calling each other to see what we still needed. It was a sweet time and great fun, usually ending up at Olive Garden for lunch afterwards. Its something I miss now that we live so far away from each other.

This year, we plan to make some ornaments and memories of our own. Taking clear ornament balls, we're going to drip and drizzle paint inside and swirl it to make patterns. I have a very artistic young lady in the house to help me with this!!

What a great "Advent"ure of celebrating Christ's birth this season is!

1 comment:

  1. This year I got back into the ornament swing and bought my first new ones in a few years. It's funny how many ornaments we have that are cartoon-themed, such as Mickey Mouse. I like the way that ornaments are really a family activity for you - that's the best way to enjoy them.

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