Me too!
I miss my old ornaments because I grab from the top of the trunk and use the same ones year after year!

I have never gone with a theme, as my sister use to. She went all out, she was not well, so I did the manual labor, and she was the sargent. Most years new she had a new theme, and it was always beautiful and creative.
I was the one looking for the one must have ornament year after year, just one or or two.
Married, 1976,
Babies first xmas, 1981, and 1982,
College: UW
and Evergreen State College,
cars, replicating our own. And then the sentimental ones,
hand and made school ornaments wrinkled and tattered.
pictures of pets,
hidious crafts my mom would make, with yarn that you just hate the first year and love every year after.

An artificial tree tolerates all those ornaments, I can bend a stem to show the front of every ornament, it really is so much easier to decorate.

With every year I have acquired a few more ornaments. really only one or two. You cannot be a young lady with a tree this full. A designer would shake her head and say, there is far too much S#%t on it. And she would be right. I would love a smaller tree, but how do I leave those ornaments up in the attic, how could it feel like xmas.

LOVE IT LOVE IT!!

those yarn things! You are right.

And I trim photos in ribbon and they are my best!

But, Laurie, that's what you have children for! You give them half the ornaments.

This ornament..5-6 year old son made ( now 39 )
He was sure if he drilled holes in the bamboo the tree lights would shine through like stars. If I shove a tree light in the "entrance " at the top....and look very very hard..,

Photos!

Some big ones ..I look for empty space between rows of branches and wedge...

My tree is NOT magazine worthy..l even have sticky MELTING CANES on it thst were once reindeer with pipe cleaner racks! Even the tree was lopsided last year..I find the tree nobody wants then try to shape it! Sigh..

That's my kind of tree! I think it's lovely. The more, the better. Where else can you see all your memories in one spot? I'm partial to throwing everything on the tree. I do have friends that only use one color of bulbs and lights. Their trees look beautiful, but there's nothing to "see." I want to hear, "This one was after her first tooth, or " Our first Xmas away from family."
We do have a scrawny 3 ft "Charlie Brown" tree in our gameroom. Our grandson decorates it each year. It has ornaments he has made through his 11 years. We love it!

Yes, we have cartons and cartons of ornaments that don't make it out of the basement anymore.

Karen

Bubbles said:That's my kind of tree! I think it's lovely. The more, the better. Where else can you see all your memories in one spot? I'm partial to throwing everything on the tree. I do have friends that only use one color of bulbs and lights. Their trees look beautiful, but there's nothing to "see." I want to hear, "This one was after her first tooth, or " Our first Xmas away from family."
We do have a scrawny 3 ft "Charlie Brown" tree in our gameroom. Our grandson decorates it each year. It has ornaments he has made through his 11 years. We love it!

I agree. Most of the most beautiful Christmas trees are so impersonal, and don't reflect anything about the family. Ours tends to be gaudy, too many ornaments, every color of lights...

Karen

Talk about classy: Our golden retriever angel tree topper angel !


Karen

Hahahahahahahaha

Love that tree topper!

I made ceramics back in the late 60's and 70's. Small ceramic tree around here somewhere...all the grandkids are out of the house now, so indoor trees arent thrown up at kids homes- but artificial doesnt aggravate allergies. When I was a kid... we would have gone to the back acres and cut a cedar, or a mesquite, rarely a bought tree. Handmade ornaments include crochet stars stiffened with starch or sugar? MY grandmothers...we do clean out the fire hazard old wires...trees caught fires when candles were used as lights, when too many old fashioned lights were plugged into inadequately wired plugs- or pets chewed the cords.For an outdoor tree, we upend a tomato cage, wrap with outdoor imitation tree garland and mini lites with a few weatherproof glittered pinecones... more easily stored or tossed for running out of room!

We bought an artificial tree about 10 years ago, love a real tree but I was so sick of arguing over what tree to buy, he wanted an 8 foot, very wide one, I wanted a perfect 7 foot one, and freezing to death trying to find a decent one, then there was the mess. We checked out the artificial and found the perfect one at Art Knapp's Garden center, I think it cost about $400., best money we ever spent. I do miss the lovely scent of a real tree.

Beautiful, Margaret.

Karen

Thank you Karen, yours is lovely too, as are all the others.

Like a post card! It IS perfect

Real at the old home, even though now it is just me there most of the time but I both love and feel sad when I sleep on the sofa by the tree with the lights left on, till the timer shuts them off. (The last night I leave it up I leave them on all night.)
I put about a half a dozen Christmas records on the turn-table and fall asleep to Christmas music.

At the her place, for the first time in three decades I put up and decorated myself a real tree.
Now she has never fully recovered from her UTI, and is just slowing down anyway, but over the years she had bought well over a half a dozen fake trees.
Some are out in the shed and are used outdoors now, some are down in the old cistern and other are just where ever I can keep them out of my way.
Some were better than others but no matter how careful you are they get beaten up and look more beaten up as the years go by.
Did they save money, not no but HELL NO.
Although around the middle of Mn, trees were a lot cheaper for a few years but it seems now they are trying to get back that money they lost, although now that Menard's sells trees, they are a much cheaper option.

A few years, for what ever reason, I wait till shortly before Christmas before I get/got the tree up at home.
Three years ago I did not get home till two days before Christmas (I used to go home to get my Aunt and bring her up to Sharon's place) and stopped at the tree farm I bought trees at, after dark.
I knocked on the door no answer, went to the selling shed knocked no answer.
Well they had few pre-cut trees laying by the clearance trailer, and I needed a tree. There was a yard light so I could get a bit of a look at them.
I had no cash and there was nowhere to put money so I just grabbed one and left.
I did near the same thing the next year but this time the woman answered the door and said just put your money in the box by the trailer, which was small and you had to hunt to find it, which I did. I wrote a check and the check was never cashed.
Last year I went to Menard's. I put one up in my Aunt's house also but now the county took her, I challenged it in court and lost, and is selling her house so I am glad she had one last tree before the nazis grabbed her.
The odd thing is she had not had a tree for over a decade, and did not want one but last year she asked for one.

Size?
Well I like big but even I am considering, going smaller. Six feet is far easier to deal with.
One year dad and I brought one home and found it was taller and darn near wider than the bay window we put them in.
He complained, why did you get such a damned big one.
I said dad, you picked it.

Love your tales....NOT THE EASIEST TO TRACK ... but my mind likes them just fine ... sorta....

We have had an artificial tree for many years .

I have ornaments that my kids made when they were little. A couple of years ago we bought personalized ornaments from Bonners. We let each kid picked out which one they wanted and their name is one it. So they are all different. DH picked one out with a deer on it because he used to hunt. Mine has a nice chubby penguin on it! Last year we had our sons girlfriend of 2 years pick one out and added hers. Even our dog has one

I love trees that are crammed full. I always pick up 1-2 new ornaments every year!


Old ones




From Bonners