Christmas Tree Ornaments

Christmas, for many of us, is a time for traditions. Traditional foods, traditional activities, and, the subject of this post, traditional gifts.

In my family, one of the traditional gifts has always been a Christmas ornament. Each of us gets one every year, and they often reflect the recipient's personality, interests, etc. I love this tradition for a number of reasons. First, it produces a very eclectic tree that's full of personality, and is very specific to our family. You can learn any number of things about us from looking at our tree. If one has more than one offspring who might be inclined to squabble over ornaments, this also minimizes that, because each of them gets their own box of stuff to put on the tree every year. And, perhaps the best part, when the kids in question grow up and move out, they already have a pretty decent collection of ornaments for their own trees. Some lights, a garland, a few generic Christmas balls, and a topper, and they're good to go. It's brilliant, and I highly endorse the institution of this tradition for everyone.

And to give you just a taste of the things I have on my tree, here are some of the ornaments I've amassed over the years. First, here's the first one:

I know it's the first because:

I was 2 1/2 months old when I got this one.

These ones aren't dated,

so I don't know exactly how old they are, but I don't remember them ever not being around. I'm a little surprised they haven't fallen apart yet. They're not very sturdy. I suspect they may have had eyes at some point, but I wouldn't swear to that.

My family's very crafty (I come by it honestly), so a number of them have been made for me, including these two, from my sister and brother-in-law:

I was an enormous baby, so I was referred to as an elephant when I was very young, and as such, have a number of elephant items. My sister harkened back to that when she made me this awesome beaded guy.

And my brother-in-law turned this one. Gorgeous, isn't it?

I also have a selection of bunnies and unicorns, a few My Little Ponies, some Winnie the Pooh ones, a Bumblelion, and some dance/music ones.

And then there's the topper:

My mom and brother found this for us, and it's perfect. We're not angel or Santa people, so a star was definitely the right choice for us, and it's silver and sparkly. And we both just really like the design of it.

And last, but certainly not least, Pretzel Jesus:

I made this guy in Sunday school long enough ago that I have no memory whatsoever of having done so. But somewhere along the way, I got extremely attached to this little scrap of tissue paper attached to half a silver-painted pretzel. He broke once, and I actually cried until my mom fixed him (Yes, I was an adult at the time.), and now he has his own special box to live in for the rest of the year. After witnessing the trauma caused by his breakage, my mom got him an Altoids box, added some padding and a sparkly label, and now he is safely stored in there until it's time to put him in his place of honour on the tree. He always goes on last, right before the star, in a spot front and centre reserved specifically for him. And he comes with me when we go to my parents' place for Christmas day, and I'm not above moving other things so he gets a front-and-centre spot there too.

I truly cannot explain my attachment to this twenty-five-year-old pretzel, but there it is. He's Pretzel Jesus, and it's not Christmas without Pretzel Jesus.

Happy Christmas! May yours be full of love, your favourite people, and the traditions that make your Christmas special for you.