Ornaments with sentiments

When I was 7 years old, my family moved to England for a year and half. I have amazing memories of my time there: a little foggy (both in clarity and weather), but great. (Funny fact: the town we lived in was called Crapstone. No joke. Here is where we lived.)

Every December, I remember our one Christmas spent there. We sat around the dining room table and cut out felt stockings and bells. We stuffed them with cotton balls and stitched them shut using a blanket stitch. The top of the stockings were further detailed with cotton, and the bells got a pretty little bow. Dustin has a similar story with popcorn garland.

The reason I remember this particular Christmas craft session in England is because we still have the ornaments. When I moved to Toronto, I inherited all the old Christmas ornaments, including the (very old) Christmas tree (with built-in tinsel!)

Every year when we put up the tree (and listen to 98 degrees Christmas album) we have a laugh at all the old Christmas ornaments, contemplate replacing them with nicer, newer ornaments and then decide that there are just too many memories to be replaced.

Here are some of my other favourites:

1. Ziggy (does anyone remember Ziggy?!)

2. Sequin Snowman/Clown (I think this looks more like a clown, but a Christmas clown just doesn't make sense, so it must actually be a snowman, non? but snowmen don't wear clothes or a party hat... thoughts?)

3. Indian Canoe Boy (who just chopped down his own tree and is bringing it home to decorate with homemade stockings and bells.)

We also went to my in-laws to decorate their Christmas tree. Quite a bit more sophisticated, with several really beautiful ornaments such as this hand-painted ornament from Budapest:

But every tree has its less beautiful ornaments that share an equal spot on the tree due to years of sentimental value. These are my two favourites:

1. Elf-headed Pine Cone

2. ...??... I dont even know how to describe this one. But I love putting him/her on the tree every year.

I dedicate this post to all the less-beautiful ornaments out there that still hang with pride next to the newer, dazzling ornaments. May they teach the New Ornaments a thing or two about fostering Christmas memories so that one day, when the new become old, they, too, will hang with pride and remind us of all the great memories during this wonderful time of year!