When you were growing up, when did your family put up and decorate the Christmas tree? Was it real or artificial? Who usually decorated it? Were there special decorations? What was on the top? White lights or colored, blinking or steady? How much did your family decorate for the holiday other than the tree (wreaths, dishes, snowglobes, miniature villages, etc.)? Did y'all do outdoor lights? White or colored, blinking or not? Are there special memories associated with decorating for Christmas?
Christmas decorations varied at my house. Sometimes the den was the only room to receive a holiday touch, and other times the front of the house sported decorations as well. My mom and dad tried to put a tree up pretty early in the month of December, but sometime it was only two weeks prior to Christmas. Most of the time we had a live tree, and going to pick it out was an adventure. I recall some hilarious pictures that were made the year I announced my engagement, because my then fiancé was along for the fun.
Photo albums are FILLED with pictures around and in front of the tree – ranging from the time I was little enough to fall asleep beneath its branches to pictures with college friends and my fiancé. Sometimes my dad put up the word “Noel” in HUGE cut out wooden letter and would then place spot lights in the front yard to light them up. I also remember a couple of years that we put electric candles in the window.
Lights on the tree varied from colored to white from year to year and the decorations were a hodg- podge of homemade ornaments and bought ornaments. The thing I remember most are the memories we shared as we hung them on the tree. Once everything was finished we’d turn out the lights and oooh and ahhh over how pretty it was. Untangling lights and ornament hangers added a bit of vim and vigor to our efforts, but I do have many pleasant memories surrounding this event in our home.
4 comments:
Every year our Christmas decorations were pretty much the same. The tree always went in the same place. The nativity scene always went in the same place. However, like you I have warm, wonderful memories of twinkling lights, love and laughter.
Oh, the tangled lights what memories. lol. Thanks for sharing.
until next time... nel
My dad was too meticulous to have tangled lights, but there was no way to keep the ornament hangers from tangling! LOL
Enjoyed reading these sweet memories.
That's the thing I enjoyed most about trimming the tree back then, putting on the ornaments. Aside from bickering with my siblings as to who puts what on and where, it was just a fun time to be all there at once having fun creating a pretty tree.
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