Friday Favorites - Christmas Ornaments

One of our family traditions is adding a Christmas ornament to the tree every year. Jason and I started doing this back in 2000 for our first Christmas together, and we've had fun finding an ornament that reflects what's happening in our life each year. In 2008, we started the same tradition for Brennan for his first Christmas. We also have a large assortment of ornaments we've gotten as gifts from friends and family, as well as several ornaments I have made over the years.

Here are a few of my favorites.


The Ornament That Started it All - Our first Christmas ornament, back from when we were engaged and living with my parents. We hung our ornament on a tiny tree that sat on top of the television in our room. We've come a long way!




Brennan's First Christmas




Santa Moon - One of the crafty ornaments painted by me. I don't remember what year it was, but we were living in North Carolina at the time. I painted a lot of ornaments that year! I used them as gift tags, and I also made one for each of my co-workers.




Paper Quilled Snowflakes - There are several of these on the tree. Another handmade goody by me. A dear childhood neighbor made beautiful framed and quilled memory frames, and gave me one for my high school graduation. I was inspired to learn how to paper quill, and taught myself how to do it. Most of the time I quill flowers and leaves to use as borders around wedding invitations or pictures, but quilled snowflakes are pretty too.




Our 2009 Ornament - We wanted something to signify our move to Utah. I found this one at Northwest Jewelry, and thought it was perfect.




2007 - A souvenir from our trip to the Biltmore estate. It's a miniature reproduction of the Vanderbilt china.




Flying Pigs - There's no "When Pigs Fly" story, Jason just likes pigs, and they were a gift from his Mom.




The Cardinal - Redbirds are significant in my family. They were a favorite of my grandparents, and we grew up watching them at the bird feeders in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard. Grandma and Grandpa have since passed on, and redbirds have become more like guardian angels. If you see one, you know Grandma and Grandpa are watching over you, and you are sure to have a good day. He's a must on our Christmas tree.




2001 - A Ne'Qwa Handpainted Ornament - This was our second ornament. A lot happened in 2001; Jason and I had gotten married, he finished basic training and tech school, and we moved to North Carolina. We found this one in a little boutique and both thought it was perfect. Ne'Qwa is an art technique of reverse painting. It's painted in reverse, on the inside of the ornament. I can't imagine painting the whole ornament in reverse through the tiny hole at the top. I tried to reverse paint an acrylic keychain back in high school, and let's just say it wasn't pretty.




The Brass Heart - This "ornament" is from 2004. I know it's hard to see in the picture, but that's how it is on the tree, tucked inside and hard to see. We get a big laugh out of the brass heart every year. Of course it has a story. I ordered it online that year, I loved how it looked in the picture, but I didn't pay attention to the dimensions. It was described as an ornament, so I just assumed it was regular ornament size. It's actually about 12" wide! I was not happy when it came in, but Jason wouldn't let me send it back. He said that's the one we picked, so that's the one we're keeping. It took me a couple years, but I'm glad we kept it. It gives our tree some heart, ha ha.




Apples - Gotta have apples. Mom always had them on the tree when we were growing up, and a Christmas tree is just not complete without them.




Bells - Same reason as the apples. Apples and Bells go together like peas and carrots.




Hand-sewn hearts and stars - Some more ornaments made by me. Back in 2003 we bought a new Christmas tree, and there was a lot of empty space to fill up on that big ol' tree. I bought a couple yards of different Christmas-y fabrics and made these.




Military Branches Ornament - A gift to Jason from his great aunt after he joined the Air Force.

So there you have it. I love that each ornament has a history and reminds us of special times in our lives, and I look forward to all the ornaments of our future.