Thursday, December 10, 2009

Oh Christmas Tree...

I love real Christmas trees, but I don't love the cost, clean up, or disposal. So call me a sell out, but we have a cheapy artificial.


If you saw the tree in real life you may describe it as sparse. You can definitely see the metal pole through the scarcity of the fake branches and the the glowing gold star on top is made out the type of glittery fringe you would see on decorations at a middle school dance. It goes with the theme of house though which is that it may not be fancy, but it means a lot to us.

Almost all of the ornaments that we own were given to us and they all have a special meaning or memory. One of my favorites is this one that we got as a wedding gift. It says "Our First Christmas Together, 2000" Then inside there is a little scroll where you can fill out some tidbits from that year. One was about the weather which was snowy (in Kentucky) and another was news to which I put "the delayed controversial election between Bush and Gore."



Speaking of first Christmases, this ornament of "baby's first Christmas" is also a very cherished piece in our collection.


I will say though that it was a big headache when we bought for Z the year he was born. It was from a engraving shop in the mall called "Things Remembered". The ornament itself was around $20, which is steep, but I figured for a nice silver ornament that can hold an engraved message and photo inside it was worth it. That was when I thought the price including the engraving. Come to find out we got a separate bill for another $20 making the ornament $40 total! I can tell you one thing for sure we will be spending a heck of lot less on this next baby's first Christmas ornament.

There is one other tree in our house and this year it sits on top of Z's dresser.


It was our first Christmas tree. We lived in a 500 square foot apartment for the first 4 years of our marriage so this little tree with an aluminum foil star was the best we could do at the time, and now our kids will get to enjoy it.

What about your tree? Do you have any favorite traditions or decorations? Some people have multiple trees with different themes. What I love about Christmas trees is that each one can be as special and unique as the family's who own them.

1 comment:

Michele R said...

I have been wanting to get an artificial tree, but the Hubs is very pro real tree and then I stress about keeping it watered. When we moved into this house 4 yrs ago I got an artificial one for our back screened porch and put orange and blue ornaments on it and have some that the kids made. It is a lot more work though having two trees.
For some reason we only have a baby's 1st ornament for the middle child. I do get them each a new one most years and they put it on the tree.