Advent Calendar – Christmas Tree Ornaments

Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?

Ornaments are big in my family. We have very few of the generic round color ones, and most of those are old (or at least older than me). Each member of the family has "their" ornaments that they hang every year. These are things that person has made, a "first birthday/Christmas," or a wacky something. Usually we get one ornament a year per person that represents something that happened during that year. We have a lot of homemade ornaments, but they don't look like it; my mom used to have a craft company and made a lot of things. We have my maternal grandmother's glass bells and lanterns. One tradition that she started and that my mom carried on was the bells. Different bells are hung around the tree on the lowest branches. This alerts my parents to when my sister or I were getting into the presents. Or when the dog decided to sleep under the tree.

Decorating the tree this year.