I heart Christmas trees

I love checking out people's Christmas trees.  Please invite me over.  I want to see all of your quirky ornaments and treasures.  Now that I have lived the "what would you grab out of your house if it was on fire" scenario that is just an abstract question for most, I realize that the box of Christmas ornaments is on the top of the list.  Nothing can replace the box of crumpled tissue paper that wraps up years of memories.  Here is a tip though:  wrap them really well.  Even if you think they will sit in your basement closet all year and not move - they may move to a moving truck, into an ozone room, into a crate, on a forklift, to another moving truck, and back to the basement closet. Otherwise, a few may be broken.

Aside from the needlepoint, which I talked about here, these are some of our favorite treasures - that mean so much to us, but no one else!

Raggedy Ann and Andy - a gift from the Lauer family in the height of Raggedy mania - 1974.  One of several ornaments on our tree that celebrates my love of Annie - but this is my favorite.

A wooden gift tag made by Bart.  I don't remember the year, or the gift which I'm sure I loved because Bart is great at gift-giving - but the tag is very much Bart.  Of course, its perfectly sanded.

Baby Jesus- given to me by my Nana.  Don't remember the year - sometime in the 80s.  I think my sister has one too.

Ceramic Brownie - 1975.  Made for me by the very eccentric artist mother of my childhood best friend.  Love that she is wearing the full Brownie uniform + beanie (as we wore in the day!).

Soldier made by my parents for their first Christmas tree, 1961.  They made a set.  Now, they have one and my siblings and I each have one.  I love that they were so crafty and I love picturing them making their first ornaments as newlyweds.

FAO ornaments by Christopher Radko.  I worked for FAO for 8 years and loved these beautiful ornaments that were made each year. 

Fisher Price ornaments.  I LOVE these ornaments.  I've already declared my love for vintage Fisher Price on my blog.  Kudos to whoever designed these perfect little replicas.  They just make me smile.

What can I say about this beauty?  I guess I've always been crafty.   Tutorial:  take an oyster shell, spray it with gold paint,  glue poinsettia wrapping paper in shell, glue on kindergarten picture in which you are wearing your favorite strawberry dress and blouse with large lapels, tie yarn at top, present to parents proudly in 1975.  Returned to me a few years ago to hang on my own tree.  We always had a real tree when I was little and the weight of the oyster shell always had to be anchored near the trunk for fear it would pull the whole tree over!

Hmm....just now realized that we have no ornaments from Bart's childhood.  Add to to-do list:  steal ornament from my mother-in-law's tree!   

Here's a first on my little blog.  A link up - show me (and the other 6 readers of this blog) your favorite ornaments.  Wait, let me grab some cocoa and put on the Christmas music.......okay, I'm back.  Go!