Thursday, December 7, 2017

Oh Christmas Tree!

When all of the other decorations are in place inside, it's time for the tree to come out of the box and the tubs full of ornaments to be unpacked.  This is not a job done hurriedly. It takes time to unwrap all of the memories. 
 Tom snapped this photo as I was sorting out all the fruits and vegetables that are our newest collection.
 And of course we had to include Krampus. 
It's a mix of old and new, handmade or fancy, kid's collections from years ago, cute, quirky, important, or just pretty. 
 Many of the ornaments have stories, of course. 

Under the tree are the Winnie-the-Pooh characters that Tom's mother made for the kids when they were babies. They are precious. 
We had talked about having too many ornaments last year, and considered a second tree, but didn't act on it. As we started to put the ornaments on the tree this year, I mentioned it again, but more specifically. "Let's make a travel tree!"

And so we did. We got the big tree decorated, holding out the box of ornaments we had collected traveling around the US and in Europe. Then we went shopping for a small, table top tree for the living room.



Then I thought "Flags!", so I went shopping at Amazon and found tooth pick state flags and international flags.
 The covered bridge is from Vermont.
 Vicksburg National Military park is in Mississippi, and the pottery angel is from New Mexico. 
 Beep, beep. Roadrunner is from Arizona. 
We haven't sorted out the international flags yet, except Sweden and Norway, which are easy. The crown ornament is from the palace gift shop in Stockholm. And that guy in red is Mozart, from Salzburg, Austria. 

Our new tree is a fun addition to our decorations and another source of wonderful memories. And we have room to add more!

14 comments:

  1. Pretty trees! Tomorrow we will put up our little one in the window of our little home in Arizona. It also lives in a box.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fun. Memories are the best thing about Christmas. You have some great ones displayed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your tree is loaded, very pretty. I really like the idea of the travel tree and chuckled at your last line.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous! It's the season to admire Linda's decorated trees, it seems. I love them both. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your memory-laden trees are a joy! "We have room to add more." Can't wait to see where you go next!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The travel tree is a fabulous idea, a wonderful conversation piece, and an opportunity to relive good memories again and again. Next to your Santa collection I like those precious Winnie the Pooh characters.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your grand kids will always remember Christmas at

    ReplyDelete
  8. why not have a second tree to display all your travel momentoes and memories...

    ReplyDelete
  9. You really have a ton of memories to deck your trees. Those travel ornaments and flags are a great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  10. How neato! When you come to Hawaii, please contact our mutual friend Kay (Musings) so we can get together, and I will have something Hawaiian for you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I just love watching you both put up your Christmas decorations. They’re all so beautiful and I can imagine the memories that each ornament holds.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Once again, the tree is simply beautiful. I love the idea of a travel tree. You have so many unusual ornaments.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a wonderful day you had. I am sure you can stare at those trees for hours.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That Peacock is amazing (on the first tree) and what a great idea to have a tree with ornaments you've gathered traveling!

    ReplyDelete

I would love to read your comments. Since I link most posts to Facebook, you may comment there if you do not have an account. I have eliminated Anonymous comments due to spammers.