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!
Whitney
Eating chinese food and decorating the tree
wlbellows at gmail dot com
HilLesha O'Nan
Our tradition is decorating the tree. Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
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clc408
We like to watch holiday movies and get together for festive dinners.
Thomas Murphy
We love to bake Christmas cookies every year.
rounder9834 @yahoo.com
Linda
We attend Chistmas Eve church service together, than family comes Christmas day to eat and open presents
Denise S.
We enjoy decorating the tree and baking lots of cookies.
Tabathia B
One thing we do every year is build a gingerbread house and spend Thanksgiving and Christmas evening with family andplay board games
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
angie lilly
One of my family holiday traditions is to bake and decorate sugar cookies. I did this with my mom when I was growing up and it is one of my fav childhood memories. They are my fav cookie for this very reason. I now make them with my partner. I love it.
Angie
14earth at gmail dot com
Melissa Shirley
Ever year we go to my grandmothers on Thanksgiving and everyone brings something for the dinner. We choose names for the Christmas gift exchange. On Christmas we all contribute to the dinner and exchange our gifts.
Deborah Wellenstein
We usually have our Christmas two to three days early, as our sons travel to other relatives on Christmas Day. My husband and I go out to dinner on Christmas eve.
Lisa Pecora
We bake cookies on Christmas Eve and watch Christmas movies and then have family get togethers Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day.
motioncitycutie(at)aol(dot)com
Anastasia Falling
One of my favorite holiday traditions is when we pack up in the car close to Christmas and drive around town, looking at all the lights and decorations that people have put up 🙂
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Amanda Sakovitz
We have a yankee swap on Christmas Eve!
POKERGRL8 at gmail.com
Buddy Garrett
We cut down and decorate the tree, We watch Christmas movies and have Christmas dinner together.
A Martin
Family has no holiday traditions =/
smilekisses
On Christmas morning, we put a lit candle in a cupcake and we place it in front of the manger and sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus.