My Christmas Tree

A few times over the years I have tried to have a simple thematic Christmas tree…one color of ribbon, all the ornaments unified by style or color with coordinated presents wrapped below. I put up a second tree for handmade kindergarten ornaments and those other ornaments of questionable good taste. I quickly realized that the ornaments dedicated to the less stylized tree were by far my favorites and they needed to be front and center during Christmas. These days we have one tree and it is dripping with treasures but a bit chaotic. As careful as I am, every year a few ornaments suffer the consequences of my packaging. I run a sort of ornament triage unit and carefully tape, glue or mold everything back together as best I can. I would love to tell you the family gathers for hot chocolate and cookies as we sing carols and trim the tree but it’s not really the case. My husband does the brute labor of installation and lights and I start hanging ornaments which can be several hours. I love it!

These are the reasons why: