Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Wickeds do you have a favorite ornament or decoration? What makes it so special?
Edith: This might seem like an odd one, but we all get the most fun out of Scary Santa. It’s a decoration one of my sons made way, way back in early elementary school. I plant its popsicle stick around the house every year in December (moving him overnight for even more fun) and we make up stories about the loony, slightly menacing expression. Why is his face the same color as his hat? Who punched him in the nose? And so on… Scary Santa keeps the holiday light! (And yes, that is action-figure Barack behind, expressing his support, of course.)
Barb: We’re away for Christmas this year, so no tree and therefore, no photograph. I’ll answer by reprising the story of Suicide Santa, the small pewter ornament who burrows so deep into the tree he gets left there, even when we search hard for him. He gets carried out to the street with the tree every year. My husband thinks he’s trying to do away with himself. I think he is merely trying to escape us. But somehow, he always gets found, even though one year it wasn’t until April when the snow melted in the yard. You can read more about his adventures here.
Sherry: I love your Suicide Santa story, Barb! I have a collection of Santa Claus figurines. I didn’t set out to collect them, but one year as I was unpacking Christmas decorations, I realized I did. Since then I’ve added to them. Every year I look forward to unpacking them and remembering where they came from.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I do love the Santa and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers that I found at a church sale. I think part of the reason I like them is because they remind me of some figurines that were in our house growing up.
Liz: I sort of purged all my Christmas stuff and now I’m creating new collections and getting new ornaments. I found this little guy for my tree and right now he’s my favorite. Owls have a special meaning for me and besides that, he’s too darn cute!
Julie: My Christmas tree is full of memories. Gifts from my family, ornaments passed down from my grandmother and grandfather, ornaments the nieces and nephews have made me over the years. I’ve also taken to buying ornaments when I travel, so there is a lot of my own history on the tree. So hard to pick a favorite, but I’ll choose this one. My sister Caroline is the youngest, but was the first one married. She had the big wedding of the family, for which I am always grateful. Aunts, uncles, friends who are no longer with us were all there, having a blast. Anyway, she saw this ornament at the Christmas Tree Shop and thought she’d get them as gifts to the attendants. Either my mother or I said “maybe they could be favors” and all of a sudden the three of us were fighting people off so we could get 160 of them. Then, my mother wrote Caroline and Glenn’s initials on the mainsail, and the date of the wedding on the jib. We packaged them in cellophane with table assignments as the tag. To this day, twenty years now, people write and mention putting the ornament on the tree.
Jessie: I have too many favorites to pick one! Every year when I was a child, and then even for many after I became an adult, my mother gave each of her children and then grandchildren an ornament on Christmas Eve. My tree is filled with them and they are all so lovely. Then there are the ornaments I made as a child and the ones my own children have made. There are three white origami birds my husband folded on the Christmas Day he asked me to marry him that we always tuck into the branches. Capping it all off is the delicate, glass staff for the top of the tree that belonged to my great-grandparents. Our tree is so filled with memories it sort of chokes me up just thinking about it as I add my bit to the post! I hope all of our dear readers have holiday traditions that bring them as much joy!
Readers: We hope you have a lovely day. Do you have a favorite holiday decoration?
Merry Christmas to you all. And a happy, healthy New Year.
Thank you, Gram! The same to you and yours!
I still have ornaments I remember hanging on the tree in the 1950s. The glitter is a bit faded now, but they still get a place of honor. Of course, every year we’ve added new ones (and my sister always contributes a few–including a plastic Joe Montana figure in our San Francisco years). Good thing we have high ceilings, so we can get a tree big enough to hold them all!
I love the old ones the best.
Merry Christmas!
My favorite holiday decoration has to be hands down the little tree we have in memory of our daughter, Jenet. It’s about 3 feet tall and has all of her special ornaments on it. We say it’s our memory tree because it brings back such sweet memories when we look at it. <3
That is lovely! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
We didn’t put a tree up this year as we are still in recovery from Hurricane Irma, but my favorite is a blown glass tiger head my father commissioned. He had it made for me because he said that was how he thought of me. Sleek, fierce, brave, loyal, but still playful as a kitten. We’d had a spotty history so I was especially touched. I will always cherish it.
That’s a lovely memory, Kait.
My favorite is an ornament from my first or second Christmas, 1946 or 1947. It’s a plastic ball as glass ones were not readily available after the war. Oval, blue with yellow stripes, and a piece of tinsel inside. My dad and I used to fight, in that good natured way, over whose ornament it was and who got to put it on the tree. It was always the first hung after the lights and the angel topper. One Christmas when I was in my late 20s/early 30s, Daddy replaced the old tinsel and gave it to me as a gift. After that we gave it to each other on an irregular basis until his death. Now “Daddy’s ornament” is the first on my tree. Thank you for the lovely memories of your Christmases.
That’s a sweet memory, Elisabeth, and one to cherish.
Like Julie, I have a collection of ornaments I’ve been given by family or friends or bought from trips. I love them! And they make my tree so crowded with all my Hallmark ornaments. (I rotate my Hallmark ornaments, I put these on every year.)
However my favorite is the one used to announce my niece was in the way. It’s a brown Christmas tree with “My Favorite Uncle” written on it. My brother and sister in law used that to announce they were expecting my niece on Christmas Eve.
And yes, I am the only uncle.
LOL. But also the favorite.
I actually have more than one favorite ornament, but they are also all the same. When our first son was born, I made felt gingerbread men and used buttons from my grandfather’s white dress shirts for the features (eyes, nose, mouth) and also three down the front of each man. The buttons are tiny white buttons and the ornaments always remind me of my much loved grandfather. Merry Christmas to you each one! Thank you for the hours of enjoyment you provide me with your books!
What a lovely connection, Judy.
My favorite decoration is my creche. It goes up the first Sunday of Advent and comes down at Epiphany. It’s nothing special — a collection of random figurines of the Holy Family, angels , shepherds and 2 wisemen (still looking for that 3rd one), plus a couple of sheep and one camel. It’s a ragtag assortment that, when I put them together, look like they belong. it means the world to me. When I get frustrated and overwhelmed with the activity and lead up to Christmas, I can look at it, say a little prayer, and remember THAT’s what it’s all about.
So glad you have that collection, Dee. Mine is similar – and has the same benefit.
In 1973, my 3-year old daughter moved in with the man who became my husband. He didn’t have a Christmas tree, so I went to a dime store and bought a small one and a bunch of red and gold ornaments. It looked lovely. Then my mother sent a package to my daughter decorated with a felt pink pig. Of course, a 3-year old wanted to put it on the tree! But a pink pig didn’t exactly coordinate with all that red and gold. Since the tree was in a window, we decided the pig would really want to look out the window – from the back of the tree! It worked. Traditionally, she has hung the pig on the back of the tree wherever it’s been situated ever since. Fast forward about 40 years. Daughter converted to Judaism. We all believe in keeping up traditions, so now our Jewish daughter hangs a pink pig on a Christmas tree. It is definitely the most memorable decoration of all the 44 years of special decorations we have collected.
That is a wonderful memory and tradition, Ginny.
I have a Snoopy Nativity Scene that my husband bought me a few years ago. It’s my absolute favorite. I put it up every year, even if I don’t put anything else up.
I think Julie has one too! They are so cute!
We all have different memories about Christmas ornaments. Our Jewish grandsons love to help us decorate each year. My sister asked me to help her with her tree. She shared an old ornament she remembered making with Nana’s costume jewelry. I have no memory of it. We think she fictionalized the story!