The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 9: My Ragtag Collection of Ornaments

Inside: Unpacking my ragtag collection of ornaments every December is a sentimental journey through the memories and seasons of my life.

I admire a beautifully decorated tree with matching ribbons and shiny ball decorations. The kind from the cover of women’s magazines or standing sentinel in the center of the mall. These theme trees are lovely, but my experience in decorating is quite different. . .

I open a shoebox over thirty years old. Inside is my treasure. My ragtag collection of ornaments gathered over many years.

There are the ornaments from our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Mike sawed flat disks from the trunk, and I glued on leaves and berries from his mom’s holly bush. That was thirty years ago, all of the berries long gone, and some of the leaves as well.

Hearts made from raffia and yarn predate those. I remember making them a few years prior when I needed something to do with my hands, trying to get through a bout of depression.

On a lighter note I have salt dough ornaments I made from Christmas cookie cutters. An angel, Santa, a stocking–and dozens of white doves. Yes, dozens! They come from an even earlier time when I was trying to make crafts to sell. I thought if I put a price of 50 cents a piece on them I could make some money. . . What was I thinking? So they’ve been with me for years and years. And years. I can remember back to my meticulous days when I insisted all of them had to be hung on our tree, and poor Emily had to help me hang them. She and her father used to tease me about those white doves.

Ragtag collection of ornaments. — My favorite cow ornament. Thanks, Kay!

Family members have greatly contributed to my ragtag collection. Mom gave me a set of antiqued tin ornaments she made a long time ago that I absolutely love. Emily’s school projects have added several stockings and reindeer, a snowman, star, and gingerbread man that is now missing a pom-pom. And if a prize exists for the most ornaments and Christmas decor made and given by a relative, my aunt Kay wins hands down! If it weren’t for Kay, nearly a third of my Christmas trinkets and baubles would be gone. Among the many I’ve received from her are rabbits, Santas, and cows. (That’s what happens when you have a dairy farm.) The cows are a particular favorite of mine.

Friends have given me ornaments as well. Toward the top of my tree, far from kitty paws, hangs a delicate glass Uncle Same Santa from a writer friend, Donna, who shared my feelings about country and patriotism.

Collection of ornaments. — My Danish pig!

A pig suspends from a lower branch, thanks in part to my Danish friend Andrea. Another one just like it is on the other side of the tree–one for me, one for Mike. She also sent three Danish hearts, a traditional ornament there. She had purchased these at a craft bazaar to send halfway around the world from Sejer Island in Denmark to me. Two Christmases ago, one of those hearts had inadvertently been left out of the shoebox that was packed in a larger storage container. That spring I found out she had cancer, so I put that little ornament in a picture frame next to my lamp table and prayed for her often. She died of pancreatic cancer a few months later, so these ornaments are especially dear to me now.

ragtag ornaments for our tree. — Santa made from paper twist. In the background an ornament from our first tree.

Beyond the salt dough I’ve made quite a few ornaments from paper twist–which used to be more in style in the late 80s. Santas, angels, and a mini nativity. Also baskets made from jute and tiny dried flowers. Simple Christmas card cutouts with lace, too. I remember back when Mike was working with Mom’s scroll saw, cutting out shapes and a leftover piece looked exactly like a goose–a happy accident! So I painted it and tied a bow around its neck.

It’s been a while since I’ve made ornaments, and working on the mini wreaths for the post a few days ago was just what I needed. Fun, relaxing, and simple. I think I might add a few more to my ragtag collection. The others are getting lonely.

While my tree will never grace the cover of a home decor magazine or be admired from a mall or downtown building, mine is rich in memories, shining bright from the love of those who care about me. Who says that isn’t beautiful?