Listening to my favorite Christian radio station, WCIC, I heard the announcer ask a great question for us to share about today: How does your personality show up in your Christmas tree?
I was thinking about that as it pertains to our tree and realized that my tree really does reflect me! I don’t know if it reflects my personality, however, as much as my priorities. For instance, our tree has no decorating theme. It’s decorated with ornaments that reflect our family members and our experiences as a family. Many of the ornaments were homemade by the kids. Mark and I also give our kids one ornament every year that represents something that happened in their life that year. So everytime we decorate, we also reminisce.
When our kids get married or move to a home of their own, I pack up their ornaments in a shoebox and give it to them as a gift. This way they have some ornaments to start with as they establish their own homes and families.
So how does your personality or priorities show up in your tree?
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Remember you can enter your name in the drawing by answering today’s question as a comment online (if you subscribe to my blog by email, just click on the title and it will take you to the blog where you can comment online). You can also enter by blogging, twittering, or Facebooking about the discussion/giveaway. Also by subscribing to my blog, or getting a friend to subscribe. If you do any of those, send an email to jillsavagegiveaway (at) yahoo.com stating how you shared the giveaway today!
You can comment on this topic until Midnight, Friday, Dec 4 to be entered into the drawing for the book!
I can’t wait to hear about how your tree reflects you!
Every year we put the kids' latest picture in a photo frame ornament and write on the back something special about that Christmas with them. We are slowly collecting memories that will last for years to come when we put up our tree!
Our tree sounds a lot like yours Jill! I am glad to know I am not the only one without a "theme" although I guess the theme would be family. We have lots of ornaments the kids made, we also buy them an ornament every year based on their likes/activities. Although now the Barney ornament has been "handed" down from the oldest to the youngest as they all deny ever liking the big purple dinosaur. lol. We also buy ornaments when we go on vacations, so that makes it fun to put up the tree and decorate each year!
We don't have a theme either. It is just a collection of new and old ornaments and also handmade! We love it because it's ours!
Beth
My tree mostly consists of vintage handmade felt and sequin ornaments my Mother made in the 70's. She died when I was just 6 (1981) and latey I have been collecting these vintage kits on eBay and making more myself. I love the vintage feel of our tree and that I can see my mom when I look at it. We give each of our children a new ornament every year too and they will get to take theirs with them when they leave the nest.
I would LOVE to win that book, it's been on my wishlist for some time now. 🙂
Ah the Christmas tree. I go between trying to have a theme and just embracing the eclectic style of my many different ornaments. It is beautiful every year no matter what I do because it is full of memories.
Of course I told you about the now traditional picture ornaments of my friends with the famous Jill Savage! Looking forward to adding my own this year. 🙂
What an interesting idea! I've never really thought of how my personality and priorities show in our Christmas tree. We actually have two trees now as we ran out of room on our one tree for everyone's ornaments, so we have started having a "kids" tree and a "family" tree. The kids get to decorate their own tree however they want, with all of their own ornaments. It was precious to listen to them sing Christmas carols and reminisce as they put up each decoration this year. For the family tree, that's kind of "mommy's" tree. It's more "orderly", and while I can't say I'm an ultra organized and orderly person, it's something I desire. So I suppose the tree is one small area I can put some order to. 🙂
~Danelle A.
Jill, we have the same ornament tradition! But, their aunt (and sometimes Grandma, too) gives them an ornament each year, also. (And I do the same for my neice and nephew.) This tradition started with our aunt + uncle when we were little. So our tree has my kids' ornaments AND my ornaments – 30+ years old! And the angel on top came from my Grandmother's tree. I always admired it and she gave it to me many years ago when they became snowbirds. I just love our mismatched, hand-made, sentimental tree! And that definitely fits MY personality to a tee!
leannebennett@comcast.net
Our tree is decorated with decorations from my childhood and is now being decorated with items from my children's childhood. These include items that were made by my mom (who will have been gone 5 years on the 29th) both for me and my 1st son. My kids love to hear about the stories behind the decorations. So I guess our trees theme is family past and present and this will continue into the future. What a cool question.
We also have a very family oriented tree with many different kinds of ornaments. I love the idea of making sure that each child has his ornaments identified so that he can have them when he gets married. I haven't been very good about that–I really enjoy all the great ideas from this blog. Thanks!
Stephanie (stephanieober@sbcglobal.net)
When I was growing up, we had two trees. The tree in the main living room was artificial and decorated with all sorts of ornaments. But the tree downstairs was one of those silver trees 🙂 We put all of our homemade decorations on that tree. When I got married, one of the gifts my mom gave me was a box that had all my homemade ornaments and some additional ones she knew I treasured. What a wonderful gift idea – one that I would like to do with my children when they marry! Now, since we have a manger and not a tree, we put all the ornaments on the manger. And my kids like to "make fun" of my homemade ornaments – but they do know how much they mean to me. Even tho it's not decorated "just so" with the same color scheme, etc., there is a theme – FAMILY!!!! Oh, and also growing up, we had a fish ornament that we always wanted to be the one to put it on the tree…we don't know where that fish ornament ended up, but it's always a topic of conversation during my extended family Christmas – who REALLY has the fish ornament?!? 🙂
Thanks for such wonderful topics during this Christmas season!
Deb
briandstrom@yahoo.com
Mine is a lot like my moms, and yours. We have my ornaments my mom sent with me, ornaments for my kids, homemade ornaments, ones from vacations. I love to recall the memories as we hang them on the tree too. The part that reflects me the most is probably the picture ornaments. I'm a scrapbook girl! I have ornaments with pictures of my three kids for the last 4 years and that is my favorite!
Shelly
ehough(at)windstream(dot)net
My tree is a reflection our past and present. We always include special ornaments from our childhood but also fill it with things we've collected as adults AND a special place for our daughters growing collection. With all of that our tree is burgundy in color, it just worked out that way. Which, oddly enough, goes with our burgundy living room;o)
Tawnda
dr_tawnda@yahoo.com
What a fun question. I've never thought about how my tree reflects my personality or priorities, but now that you've asked it I can see how it does. Our tree is organized, yet simple. Just like how my husband and I enjoy life. Each year we get a new ornament to show something big we've done that year. Those are the only ornaments that are on our tree. One's that show us the fun we've shared as a family.
saw29bugz@yahoo.com
This is a great question and really makes you think about your priorities! I have some old ornaments that were my grandmothers or that my parents had when I was a child, ornaments from our wedding, a lot of ornaments related to my son, and a lot of crosses. Yet, it is very simple, not ornate, and no theme except that of my family representing past & present. Thank you for helping me gain perspective on this & I love the idea of giving the ornaments to your child when they get married or go out on their own.
Jeannie K.
cslawson2@comcast.net
Our tree use to be themed before children now I would say the theme is definately a reflection of our kids and some of our before kids memories my favorite is the one I got the christmas i was pregnant with my first child- and all the hand made ones as well.
Ditto to no theme. It has whatever is pretty that we happen to have and we add a couple things each year. Ornaments from special places, a funny garland the kids just had to have, homemade ornaments, etc. That does reflect my personality because I tend to go with the flow.
Briana
bbranchflower@comcast.net
Bubble lights..If you can believe it, both my husband and I grew up with our parents putting bubble lights on our tree. We have carried it forward to our growing family
lbacoach@yahoo.com
My husband says that one of the reasons that he married me is because I'm whimsical. Actually, I'm really quite practical, and he'll be the first to tell you that, too. I'm financially savvy and very stingy when it comes to using energy and buying things. That's where my whimsical-ness comes in on the tree. I have between 3000 and 4000 lights on the tree. I hand stung them all, so that it would shine bright. It is truely the brightest tree in the whole…, well at least in my house…who knows? Someone down the street might be whimsical, too.
lauracherice@yahoo.com
My tree is similar–no theme, per say, but each ornament is SO special to me for the memories it holds. We have a separate 'family' ornament for each year since our family started, then each year we buy one ornament for each of the children–it will also go with them when they start their own families! We have one 'pretty' tree, decorated with gold and ivory and silver and some red accents, that all the 'fancy' ornaments go on; and then we have our family tree, that all of the more whimsical ornaments go on. It is such a special time each year, taking all the ornaments out and reflecting on the memories!
Devin
devdev@sbcglobal.net
(also subscribe in google reader!)
Our tree is made up of homemade and special ornaments, no theme either. We have an ornament when we bought our first Christmas together and other ornaments I made in the following years. Also we have bought a family ornament each year that represents something from the year. One year I got a little ornament with a little mouse standing by a mailbox full of envelopes….this was to signify Caleb locking Mommy out when she went to get the mail! He was just tall enough to reach the doorknob and Mommy didn't have a key! I have some of the ornaments from my childhood as well. My MIL gives us an ornament each year now too so we add those each year.
Bethany
(preciousmoments2004 AT gmail DOT com)
A google reader subscriber
I like to get my son a ornament that means something special to him. When we put up the ornaments we talk about the special one from the past.Like a dog he use to have. I also put the year somewhere on the ornament because it's hard to remember from year to year.
darijavan@hotmail.com
Before I had kids, I vowed my tree was going to be one of those perfect ones you see in all the stores and magazines.
Yeah, scratch that idea.
My tree is covered up with ornaments made by the kids, picked out by the kids, etc. I even acquiesed and didn't insist on all white lights – we have multi-colored because that's what the kids and my husband like. They wanted a star on the top of the tree instead of my angel . . . there's a star on the top of the tree.
My tree reflects who I love the most in this world outside of Jesus. The three loves of my life. Two of them won't be here forever and then I can have the stuffy perfect tree. Or maybe not.
My tree is pretty simple. It's consists of decorations that my mom gave me when she was done with them. It has wooden cranberries, gold & red ball, and white and red ribbons. They kids each have their own little tree in their room. They are given an ornament each year from us and from their grandma & grandpa that they use on their trees.
kevkim@tds.net
We don't have a theme either, but many of our family have given ornaments to us and we talk about each family member as we decorate the tree. It is a great way for the boys to learn about their family members that live far away or are in heaven.
ssbrown11@yahoo.com
Well, one way our tree is like us is that we are lazy – ha, ha. But really, our tree is prelit because it was too annoying to put on the lights every year. I guess that's the result of an instantaneous society. But in our ornaments, I am very musical and we have lots of pianos and music notes on our tree to reflect that. I'm also very casual and practically all of our ornaments are casual. No fancy decorating going on here.
cdavenport@charter.net
I am now your follower. Thanks.
Our tree reflects the past, present and future. I have ornaments when I was a teacher, when my husband and I got married, when our two children came along. One ornament is the present (Hello Kitty – my daughter loves it) and another is an angel. This reminds me of Christ and what I have to look forward to when I someday will meet Him!
Our tree has NO THEME whatsoever! I've seen trees that are all beautifully decked out and look like they belong in a magazine. Ours, like many others are full of memory ornaments. "Our First Christmas" "Babies First Christmas" ornaments given to our children that reflect things they liked during that particular year, ornaments from our Walt Disney trip, and of course my FAVORITE….the ones made by the hands of my children. It's fun to get them out and tell them stories about where the ornaments come from and what they mean. The first ornament on our tree every year is a Jesus stocking reminding us of the reason we celebrate Christmas.
beckybutterfield@hotmail.com
Wow, our tree also has family oriented ornaments… my mom saved the ones they bought be each year and passed them on when I was married, then she started buying the grandchildren their own each year as well as we've done the same. They'll go out well stocked :). We opted to not use every single ornament this year, it was getting too crowded. The oldest is a senior this year, so the potential next year will be slimming.
Lisa (bitterroot98@yahoo.com)
Hi Jill,
As soon as I started reading your blog, I immediately thought of our tree, and "childproof" came right to my mind, which is also our entire way of life right now. We have beautiful, cherished ornaments that have been passed down from my grandmother, as well as those we received as wedding gifts (that's the gift when you get married on December 28th), and of course the kid's ornaments. But, with a very active two year old son, all the pretty ones are way out of reach of his curious hands, and our dog's wild tail, so all that is left at the bottom of the tree are the soft, stuffed ones. Thanks for the fun questions!
Sunny
sunny.mcmurry@verizon.net
We buy a new pickle every year. In case it doesn't show up on here… that's our last name 🙂 I love it!
Long time lurker, 1st time commenter. I have 2 trees. One is very simple with white lights, red & silver balls, and red & silver ribbon…. totally me! Simple, easy, uncluttered, etc. The other tree is in our family room. It is chuck full of ornaments that the kids have made, cousins have made, my husband & I made as kids, and some handmade ornaments from our grandmothers who have passed on. Lots of family, family, family! My trees really do describe me!
Oh! I forgot to mention the strings of popcorn the kids & I did last week. Soooo much fun!
No theme for our tree. There are ornaments from my and my husband's childhood then each year we give each child an ornament of something that represents them this year or something we/he/she did. This year we got our first pet….kittens. They all got the same ornament this year. We will give it to them when we decorate our tree. yep, still not up yet.
chantelm bcmmj@msn.com
I also follow you in my google reader.
chantel
bcmmj@msn.com
Our tree is full of ornaments for a variety of special occasions. The one that is most precious to me is the ornament that was given to me by my husband with an engagement ring on it. He asked me to marry him while decorating the tree on Christmas season. Now we enjoy collecting an ornament from every country we have visited while on vacation together. This year we were able to collect the first ornament for our first family vacation. We enjoy looking at the ornaments, where we have gotten them and where God has taken us.