Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Christmas ornaments

I don't usually do a tree but to cheer myself up I got out Mom's fake table top tree. The plastic base was broken so I stuck the tree in an old milk can. This is a new decoration I bought at the crafts fair last week. Made of alpaca wool. There are tons of alpaca farms up here.

Here is an angel in a blown out egg shell. Mom made this and most of the decorations I used. All that time spent creating such pretty things. How lucky I am to have these. Thanks, Mom.

This is a Waldorf fair elf.

The tree in its can.
Pearl angel by Mom.
Gorham silver star from a collection of 5 or so Mom bought. I plug in the lights each night. And recall that the first year I came up here I set up the tree for Mom and when I was done I realized I had NOT strung on the lights. Do you have any favorite decorations you use each year. Do they remind you of times past?

15 comments:

Annie said...

Lovely tree, Suki. So nice you have the ornaments your mom made.
I never do a tree, but I do put up lights and tinsel around paintings and windows. xoxo

Lynn Cohen said...

Suki, these memories of your mom and time with her warm my heart to see. I love the little angel in the egg. She reminds me of my childhood somehow.

I use my mothers and my grandmothers' Chanukah menorahs each year. Those bring back childhood memories of Chanukahs past. ;-) And now I have a little Lenox Chaunukah music box Patty gave me a few years ago, and I bring it out for my little grand kids to see and wind up and listen to. They love it so it is a memory being created for them.

Happy Holidays to you and Happy 2010.

Lynne with an e said...

An absolutely delightful tree! Full of wonderful warm associations. I usually put up a tree but we'll be away at Xmas this year so don't have to go through the fuss. I do have a 2 foot high, gold wire coneshape that I have rigged up with little, mostly handmade, angels that I drag down from the attic each year. The rule for an angel to get on that tree is that she must either be handmade, a gift, or cost no more than $5. Everyone finds it delightful.
Seeing your tree has inspired me to go get the angel cone from the attic, even though no one is coming to visit. After all, we're worth a little Christmassy cheer for our selves, no?

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Familiar things do bring comfort. When you said you were packing I thought you meant for moving but sounds like you're sending off gifts.
Do you ever get to visit any of the Alpaca farms? I loved going to see them in person.

sukipoet said...

annie, tinsel and lights sounds about what I usually do.

Lynn, so neat your have your mom and grandmom's menorahs and the little music box sounds so sweet. That Patty is a dear. Happy Holidays to you too.

louciao: the angel tree sounds fabulous. My mom loved angels and made old fashioned free standing angels, lots of them, about 12" high. Those I didnt unpack but I do love to have them out a the holiday usually. Thanks for sharing you holiday story and have a great trip away

cris, I think I visited an alpaca farm or was that llamas? they have those up here too. Yes, I was packing gift boxes to mail.

Teri said...

They are all beautiful. I am lucky enough to have lots of ornaments my MIL made and.....the pearl angel s one of them!

patti said...

Your decorations are great Suki, the alpaca one is interesting.

I don't have a traditional tree - I use a fig grown into a standard and I bring it in from outside each year (of course we have a summer christmas here).

The decorations that mean the most to me are the one's my children made when they were small. I will never throw them away, they are too special!

soulbrush said...

i don't put up a tree, no ornaments, no lights, no decorations, i am a bit of a 'bah humbug' these days...sorry but i am.

Katiejane said...

Suki this is a great tree! Mine is about the same size. I have to have a tabletop tree because of the cats.
How wonderful that you have your ornaments of your mother's. Those are nice memories.
We have a few ornaments that I made early in our marriage that I put on the tree. We used to put up a large tree and most of my ornaments are too large for my little tree that I use now.
A lot of my ornaments have been given to me by either grooming or mail delivery clients. Those are the ones I really treasure.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It is that time of year when we get out all of those sweet memories that are resurected when the ornaments go on the tree. Sure do have lots of nice memories hanging on the tree. Cheers.

Lilacrobin said...

Suki, love your ornaments... they are all about memories - old ones and new ones (like your visit to the Alpaca farm)! My favourite ones are tiny walnuts that I made when I was five. I painted them gold and silver, then dusted them with glitter... and of course added a ribbon for them to hang. My Mother (dead now for 25 years) saved them...I also have a lot of animal ornaments and of course, Angels... After four months of asking, my ex- FINALLY mailed my ornaments back to me. I am not doing a tree this year - just too emotional for me...(next year for sure)..but I do have my Winter wreath (made out of hundreds of crystal beads) on my front door...and a few other accent pieces.

Stay warm, Suki! Even here in SF it has been unusually cold (well, 30) - there was snow on the Oakland Hills!

Robin

Umā said...

Oh wow. I wasn't planning on doing a tree this year but I too have so many different ornaments that my mom made through the years...sewn, painted, assembled...that now you've got me thinking...

This is lovely. Thanks for sharing it.

sukipoet said...

m.heart I didnt do a tree last year, right after Mom had died either. but glad I did one this year. Maybe you could just get out a few ornaments and hang them on the window frame if a whole tree feels too much.

lilacrobin: so glad you got your ornaments back. They do hold a lot of emotional weight. Thats so neat to have ornaments you made as a child! cool. I have some of those walnut ornaments too but Mom made them, not myself. I remember SF as being damp in the winter. Windy too.

sukipoet said...

Katie Jane that's neat to have ornaments from you mail delivery folks. Kind of them to remember you in that way.

marianne said...

Lovely to see
I will take pictures of mine and put them on my blog later....
have a nice day!