I'm often asked why I use so many old ornaments and decorations in my holiday decor. I prefer the term vintage as opposed to old, but hey, I'm not the one doing the asking.
Shiny Brite ornaments, kitschy plastic deer, raggedy little putz houses. They all have a special place in my home. And in my heart.
I think I like them so much for the tradition aspect of them. The tying together of generations with a strand of tinsel. A strand of tinsel that's knotted and tangled and maybe a bit discolored, but still amazingly strong and in one piece.
You see, most of my vintage ornaments hung on my grandmother's tree when my mother was just a child. She would chew on the celluloid Santa's boots. And, just like any toddler, stand in front of the tree mesmerized by the lights bouncing off the shiny ornaments.
When my mom grew up and got married, the ornaments were passed on to her and hung on the trees of my childhood. No chewing on ornaments for me though. I preferred candy canes.
Fast forward many many years and the ornaments have come home to my house where they now hang on my own tree for my son to see.
And hands down, my very most favorite part of the holiday season is the trimming of the tree with those old ornaments. It brings back memories of my mom trimming the tree when I was little.
The pulling out of the boxes. The unwrapping of the delicate ornaments. The oohing and aahing over each ornament. The ever important placement of each ornament in exactly the right spot.
My mom did it back then and I do it now. I treasure those memories and I try to decorate my tree with the same excitement, reflection, and tradition.
I hope I'm doing as good of a job of instilling a sense of holiday tradition in my son as my mom did with me.
BTW, I do find a lot of vintage ornaments at thrift stores and yard sales, but those are always packed away in separate boxes from my cherished family ornaments. Don't want to be mixing up my childhood memories with Maggie Sullivan's childhood memories!
Kristen
We get a Douglas Fir and decorate with white lights and our own vintage ornaments. 🙂
One Frugal Girl
Picking out Christmas trees at a local farm and cutting them down together.
onefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
erika
Our traditions include getting out the Christmas tree a little early, singing lots of Christmas songs, and baking cookies! Love it all.
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
Shara
One of our traditions is to wrap up one oddball thing we had lying around the house for each person. We mix it in with the "good stuff" and then each person has to figure out what the oddball thing is - sometimes they get it really wrong since I am such a thrifter I usually have a LOT of oddball stuff.
Nadya
We decorate a real tree, celebrate Advent each day as we prepare for the coming of a Savior in a new fresh way each year. We go to my mom's for Christmas and decorate cookies with my nieces.
Lorraine Connelly
This family of ours has had fun traditions. As the mother, I shopped and purchased a product, perhaps a kitchen gadget that is strange looking and hard to identify what it was. Each of our four children and spouses, opened their gifts and then I opened the mystery gift and the first one who could identify what it was and what it was used for, received a dinner for two at a local restaurant plus babysitting from grandma and grandpa for the evening. Lots of laughs and we were able to watch them all struggle figuring out what the item was and merrily say "You kids think you know everything, but you don't." Ha Ha All the grandkids are grown now so we are waiting for a reverse dinner invitation. No sitting necessary. Did I mention waiting? .
Jane@Cottage at the Crossroads
Our whole family gathers at our home on Christmas Eve. It's surprising how many people we can fit in our little house! We make homemade eggnog following my husband's father's recipe. This tradition has been occurring in this house for over 60 years!
freebiequeen15
We hide a pickle ornament on our tree every year & then that person wins a $10 gift card
Amanda Bumgarner
We're trying to figure out new traditions now that my siblings are starting to get married, but we always exchange names for presents on Christmas Eve! ([email protected])
Melinda
Mr. Ken and I start off the holiday by celebrating our
wedding anniversary.
We usually have a theme, put up the tree, we have a village
that we alternate with the other decorations, we go out looking
at the holiday lights any many other fun things.
M : )
DeniseL
We have a tradition of the youngest child in the family placing the baby Jesus in the Nativity scene on Christmas Eve. It's one of my favorites!
dmarie824 at aol dot com
Brynne Delerson
My favorite holiday tradition is heading over to my parents house and helping them decorate for Christmas - all the while wearing my favorite childhood knit Santa hat! It's not the same unless I'm wearing it 😉
Nikki @ Tikkido
We make gingerbread houses. Real ones. More than 100 each year. For each kid in the classroom, the girl scout troops, friends and family... it adds up, and it's a huge job, but I love it! My parents used to do it for me when I was a kid, and they're some of my fondest memories. I'm so grateful that I now get to do it for my girls.
Julie Wood
We love Listening to Christmas Music! We all love getting together making hot chocolate and driving to the Tree Farm to pick up our Christmas tree. We love driving around our town looking at all the light displays-and we have so much fun making our Holiday Cutout Cookies!
gadawn57
Growing up, my family's traditions is a blend of two cultures, Italian (Dad) and French-Canadian (Mom). First week of Dec, Mom would decorate the house while we kids were at school and we would all help with the tree. Second week of Dec the baking frenzy would begin, with we kids doing all the rolling, sprinkling, etc. She baked both Italian cookies, French inspired and lots of cakes and pies. Once school was out, my Mom would take us downtown to have breakfast with Santa and we kids would shop the mini-store set up in the downtown department store for our parents' presents. We would go to the Christmas parade, see Santa, and enjoy ice skating and sledding leading up to Chrismas Eve. Most years, my parents had a big Christmas Eve party with Italian meal of fish/seafood on Xmas Eve. Our family tradition was for the adults (after we kids snuggly in bed) to open their gifts that evening, usually after midnight mass. Chrismas morning was for the kids! and of course, finishing the day with turkey dinner, dessert and enjoying all the family.
Dawn Pinnataro
Kristen @ Pursuing Vintage
It's so special that you have ornaments with memories - I think that's the way it should be!
Our family traditions include the "elves" leaving a set of new Christmas PJ's under the tree to opened on Christmas Eve - that way everyone has new PJs for Christmas morning photos!