My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the Christmas tree.
Christmas Trees are just magical.
They twinkle and glow, they tell a story, they shelter our gifts, give home to cheeky elves and they lend a sense of magic to our homes.
Part of what makes these trees so magical is what we choose to decorate them with.
I don’t know how y’all do ornaments in your family, but in my family the Family Tree is just that – it’s not a Macy’s display – it’s Family Tree.
It’s a 6 1/2 foot tall bedecked, glowing, family history.
In my family, we are given an ornament every year of our life. While I was growing up, my parents and my maternal Granny each gave me an ornament every single year. When Nathan and I got married – they included him in the tradition giving him one, and giving us a couples ornament, too. Once the kids were born it was an ornament for me, an ornament for Nathan, a couples ornament and an ornament per kid; plus we gave each kid an ornament. (If you’re doing the math – 2 ornaments per year up to age 22 = 44 ornaments. 4 ornaments per year after that.. oh wait then we had kids .. my brain hurts)
One of the reasons that I love this tradition so much is that every year when we decorate our tree it’s a walk down memory lane. It’s family history lesson. More often than not tears come into my eyes as I run my fingers over 30+ year old papier mache and yellowing lace edged angels, as my kids shout out the year and try to guess who each ornament came from and how old I was when I got it.
Memories swarm me. Sometimes overwhelming, always welcome and always a blessing.
Every ornament that I choose for my children tells a story of who we are that year, what they’ve accomplished, experienced or where we’ve been. Every ornament is a tale waiting to be told, a memory ready to be unwrapped.
This year we’ve done a lot of stargazing.
While we camped on the beach, while we sat crying over losses and while we hoped for change. The stars have played a huge part of our lives this year.
My amazing friend, Lisa, created this Molded Star Ornament and gifted one to my family. When I opened it, my breath caught. The handcrafted beauty, the weight of the metal, the soft velvet ribbon.
When we took this ornament out of its bag and hung it on our tree, Nathan and I both ran our fingers lightly over it – we exhaled and we remembered.
I cannot thank Lisa enough for this gift. Lisa’s timing is unbelievable, her gifts always seem to arrive on a day when we most need a blessing, a reminder.
For our family this year, we wished upon many stars and Lisa’s star ornament will grace our branches for years to come.
I urge you to order one of her beautiful custom ornaments for yourself, a friend or a family member. The ornament you choose this year, will help share your family history for years to come.
So here’s what I want to do. I want to give one of you a memory.
I’m going to buy one y’all one of Lisa’s Ornaments:
Please click on each link and go look at the beauty that is her handcrafted ornaments and jewelry, I promise there’s someone on your gift list who would love a Lisa Leonard Ornament
This post isn’t sponsored. Lisa gifted me with one of her gorgeous, custom Christmas ornaments and I have written about it because I adore her and her ornaments.
*** heart and stocking ornament images shared from Lisa’s blog with permission*** all other images are my own
