It was before the
collectable ornaments period in our lives. It was also before a camera was anything
more than an item on my wish list. This was when my favorite Christmas tree
stood in the middle of the large picture window in our living room.
Our best ever tree was not
decorated with ornaments taken from boxes that had been stored in the attic for
the better part of the year. Rather, it was decorated with ornaments that
required planning, designing, and lots of family time together.
One of our children had
learned about a recipe for making ornaments from dough. That was all of the
inspiration we needed. So, for many evenings, family times were spent making
dough, rolling the dough, and using cookie cutters to cut out Christmas shapes.
Before being put into the oven to bake, holes big enough for ribbons to go
through were carefully punched at the top of each ornament in progress.
Our creations included Santas,
gingerbread men, snowflakes, stars, stockings, trees, angels, candy canes, and
wreaths. Each person in our family became an “artist”, painting the shapes they
selected and, finally, threading ribbon through the holes and hanging them on
the tree amid the large, colored lights.
The resulting Christmas
tree was beyond cute, nice, impressive, or even spectacular. It was family. It
was four beautiful children. It was the best tree ever. It was my favorite
tree.
Now we have a tree we take
from a box and put together. We cover it with ornaments that include Hallmark
and Waterford collectibles. It has tiny clear lights and is accented with
ribbon. I enjoy my tree, but it will never be the special family tree lovingly
created by our four beautiful children.
Merry Christmas…
…from Colorado!
Beautiful tree, lovely display. But true that your memory recalls a tree built in the spirit of family at Christmastime. That is true loveliness.
ReplyDeleteVanilla, I don't dwell on "old times," but some memories are very special. This evening the Purdue Christmas performance was on Colorado Public TV. It was spectacular and took me back to my teen years when I was on campus for the Christmas performance. This show was just as great as I remembered it in 1954.
DeleteWhen we were at CFOT, all our Christmas tree decorations were in your basement so we made gingerbread ornaments, strung popcorn, and enjoyed a simular family tree!
ReplyDeleteCaptain Nan, I remember that you made gingerbread ornaments while you were at CFOT. The times in our lives when necessity demands that we improvise are often times that create some of the most special memories.
DeleteI had one of those gingerbread ornaments on my tree until just about 10 years ago when it finally fell apart.
ReplyDeleteColeen, amazing that it lasted that long! I still have some ornaments made by some of you kids, but I did not mark who made them. One is a drum that has a toilet paper roll base, another is a gingerbread man made from a sawdust mixture. I also have some made by grandchildren, and then I have pictures of each of the grandchildren in hanging frames. Very special ornaments!
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