Saturday, December 26, 2009

Telling a story

That's what the Christmas ornaments on my tree do. This is the very first one I ever received on my very first Christmas back in 1966. I haven't always found her to be a favorite, but the more I realize that she is almost "antique", the more I realize her value in my life!!!

My mother was a wonderful artist and had enormous amounts of creativity insider her. She designed and then hand-painted hundreds and hundreds of these "Door" ornaments among her many handmade projects. Then she would personalize them for for each person who bought them from her. I am fortunate to have 2 of them, one from before I was married and one from after! It is one of my favorites among all the ornaments she made year after year.

My sister inherited some of out mother's talent and she made and gave away her creations for years as well. Among my favorites from her are the crocheted snowflakes. She made me dozens in different shapes and I just love to add them all over the tree.
During the 90's, I too used my creativity to create and sell ornaments. This angel was one of my best sellers and I made hundreds of them. I have several hanging on my tree. There was also a larger version that was made as a tree topper. My daughter does not like that much, so we don't use it very often.

My tree is full of handmade ornaments made by family and friends and lots of very talented people. In recent years we only add a few ornaments each year. They either are snowmen (my favorite symbol of the season) or from trips we have taken. This Santa is from Australia and reminds me of my favorite vacation so far!

Melanie believes that there is no more room on our tree, but I beg to differ... there is always room for one more memory and one more story to tell!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!