Ornament Extravaganza

Our holiday/Christmas/Chanukah tree went up this past weekend. The kids did a great job hanging everything. I hung just my special photo ornaments of the kids at different ages. Jack was tall enough to do the lights on his own. Doug, of course, put the six-pointed star (blue on one side for Chanukah, red on the other) on the top. Then Jack set up his train. A tree fits very nicely in our new family room. Note the snow out the picture window. It seems likely we will have a white Christmas here in Massachusetts.

Here are some of the highlights:

I made the tree skirt in 2000. The idea came from Family Fun magazine. You can see the tutorial here. Each year since then, the kids have put gold handprints on it, except for the year Renee wouldn't put her hands in the paint. In the photo you can see the striking difference between 2001/2002 and 2006. Jack's hands are bigger than mine now. I'm still searching for the gold paint for this year's prints. I may have to buy more (another item lost in the move).


The next photos contain some of my favorite ornaments:

I love these frame ornaments. The kids must be 2 & 7 here. And a year older in the picture below. Also notice the beautiful colored balls in shades from peach to red to purple with gold glitter. I have a set of 48 of them that I bought at an after Christmas sale at Neiman Marcus for 75% off years ago. I love love love them!

The hearts below are ornaments I made for the kids 2 years ago by embroidering and stuffing material from old blue jeans. Flowers for Renee and a space theme for Jack.


In the following photo you can see some of Jack's origami boxes. They are like special little presents on the tree.


And finally a shout out to Meryl for the lovely acorns she sent me. They look great in my little nature arrangement along with the real acorns, chestnuts, dried flowers, etc. Your special pin sits there too. Thank you.