I love, love, LOVE decorating my Christmas tree every year! It’s one of my favorite things to do to get ready for Christmas, and a huge part of that is because of the sentimental value of my Christmas ornaments! Some of them I get just because they are pretty, but most of them I get for a specific reason. I get them from the different places I travel to or for significant things that happen in my life. I thought I would show off some of my favorites today!
First off, let me show you my tree! It makes me happy.
Ok, now to my beloved Christmas ornaments!
My mom got me this ornament this year to commemorate
my move to a self-hosted domain. It is adorable!
This is my Venice ornament! I got it on my European trip
last spring. Because I had very little room in my suitcase, and
because Italy is not so into ornaments, I bought a keychain
and removed the split ring! You’d never know, would you?
This ornament commemorates the the year I
started Kindergarten!
This is my hand painted ball from Florence, Italy! I have
no idea how this thing survived the beating my suitcase
went through for three weeks. I’m so glad I didn’t break it!
My very first piano lesson!
I graduated from high school in 2005. This was
my senior picture!
Bellagio, Italy! I bought this ornament from a little shop
up the hill from my lakeside hotel. The lady who owned
this shop painted it herself! It’s beautiful.
This is a mini replica of the cruise ship I took
my transatlantic cruise on! Royal Caribbean’s Navigator
of the Seas.
My mom and I went to New York City right before
Christmas a few years ago, and braved the cold to go to
the top of the Empire State Building one night. It was freezing
and windy, but so clear and beautiful!
Those of you who follow me on Instagram have seen millions of pictures
of my sweet Cat, Misty. This ornament is from her first Christmas! Isn’t she tiny?
So you see, my Christmas tree is not just a pretty thing I sit in my living room. It holds 26 years of memories. Vacations, events, milestones, and happy times are remembered each time I decorate with my family, and each time I sit down to read next to it. :)
Do you have any ornaments that are special to you? Describe them for me, or tag me on Instagram or Twitter so I can see!
Wow I love your tree and all your sentimental ornaments!! My ornaments are entirely teal and silver and I don’t allow anything on my tree that isn’t those colors. But I kind of wish I wasn’t so psycho and could have tree w. more meaning like yours. Especially now that I have a child and am creating tons of memories to be remembered. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a tree with a specific color scheme. They are so pretty! Maybe I need two trees… Haha!
This is so adorable! I love that your tree is so personalised :D
We have a bunch of special ones too, but I think the most special is actually the angel on top of the tree :D it’s an antique one, with a gorgeous dress my Nonna brought back from Italy fifty or so years ago. We’ve always had that topping our tree!
Thank you!
Wow, your angel tree topper sounds so pretty! And how special! I’d love to see it. Do you have a picture?
Oh wow, I LOVE that book ornament! My mum gets me one new decoration every year and I usually buy one myself too. This year I bought a gingerbread man wearing a chef’s hat. :-) There are some that have been in our family for years just like yours and it’s always lovely to see them again when it’s time to decorate the tree.
How fun! I do love seeing all my beloved ornaments come out of the boxes every year.
I just sent you a request on Instagram. I have quite a few ornaments, but I think my favorite is the M&M dressed as Elvis from M&M World in Las Vegas.
And M&M Elvis! Haha! Very fun! I’ve been to M&M World in Vegas before, but never bought a souvenir.
A beautiful blog post, especially as your ornaments really link up with who you are.
Thank you for sharing your Christmas tree with us.
PS – The ornaments on mine aren’t quite as interesting.
Thank you! :)
You seriously have the most adorable ornaments, J! I love that you have ornaments that commemorate big moments in your life, and ornaments that remind you of places that you’ve visited. It’s actually a tradition I’d like to start for myself too!
Thanks, A! It’s definitely a fun tradition to have. And when I go on vacation, I have mini scavenger hunts everywhere I go so I can find a cute ornament. It makes shopping a lot of fun. :) Every time I put an ornament on the tree, I not only remember where I got it and how much fun I had there, but the fun shopping experiences as well.
Beautiful!!!!! i loved the book ornament!!!!
Thank you!
I LOVE your tree! And that pile of books ornament is adorable. Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Jessika! Merry Christmas to you as well!
I love your Christmas ornaments! Especially the books and the hand painted ball. Makes me want to personalise our tree a little more, too :)
Thanks, Cayce. :)
I love the pictures. First of all, beautiful and full tree. Looks like you have a lot of Christmas decor in the background too. Plenty of snowmans.
The Christmas tree book ornament is to die for – love it.
All the ornaments seem so special, thanks for sharing.
I love love this post. Ornaments are so important to me because they do tell a story. I have a few ornaments from arts + craft classes in elementary school and my parents bought us one every year to commemorate a new year. (They still have some of those.)
Of course, I love the one with a picture of your kitty (this is a great idea!) and the Empire State building. Hope you had a great holiday, Jana and all the best to you in the new year! xo
Hi Estelle! Thanks so much for your thoughts on my post! I love getting new ornaments, especially when they are for something special. There are quite a few ornaments on the tree that I made in elementary school, too! Some of them are so ugly, but we could never throw them away. Too sentimental!
I had a lovely Christmas, Estelle, thank you. :) I hope you did too! I hope 2014 has wonderful things in store for you. :)
Hello Jana! This is Christine from – allow me to say a world apart – the country of Greece – Athens (Europe). Bravo! Your tree is super fantastic, the one that everyone who cherish christmas ornaments would be dreamed off! I saw you are a cat owner, like myself! The question is, how do you manage to keep your cat away from the tree? Aren’t you afraid that she might try to hide herself among the branches? If you happen to see my message, pls answer, because this is a problem I haven’t solved myself and I am looking forward to a possible solution.
My mum gets me one new decoration every year and I usually buy one myself too. This year I bought a gingerbread man wearing a chef’s hat. I love that you have ornaments that commemorate big moments in your life, and ornaments that remind you of places that you’ve visited. It’s actually a tradition I’d like to start for myself too. I love your Christmas ornaments! Especially the books and the hand-painted ball.
Hello
love your tree and all your sentimental ornaments!! My ornaments are entirely teal and silver and I don’t allow anything on my tree that isn’t those colors. But I kind of wish I wasn’t so psycho and could have tree w. more meaning like yours. Especially now that I have a child and am creating tons of memories to be remembered.
Hello
I love, love, LOVE decorating my Christmas tree every year! It’s one of my favorite things to do to get ready for Christmas, and a huge part of that is because of the sentimental value of my Christmas ornaments! Some of them I get just because they are pretty, but most of them I get for a specific reason.
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I have quite a few ornaments, but I think my favorite is the M&M dressed as Elvis from M&M World in Las Vegas.
My favorite ornament was bought for me by my brother, he was working at a Dental clinic in Jalandhar. when we traveled to Australia to visit relatives and stopped in Punjab. I was prob around 10yo. It is of a soft little bear sticking his head through the middle of a wreath. When you turn it over his little butt sticks out the other end of the wreath.
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