Sentiment and tradition. Definitely not fashionable. We have colored lights and a helter skelter of ornaments- from handmade WTH? from toddlers to ornaments bought on vacation, and a few vintage from both sides of the family.
In fact our supply of glass balls has dwindled through the years but I havent found any new ones that will do.
And tinsel, lots of tinsel( except on bottom of tree- because that decorates the dog tails too much)
Each year it is just beautiful to us.

Sentiment. Each ornament means something...and unpacking them is like greeting old friends. Though I will admit...some are "BOT" (Back Of Tree) ornaments. But they still get put on every year!

Both! I like it to look nice, but at the same time, almost every ornament holds some sort of sentiment.

I also love Santa's and try to pick up a new one each year. We have ornaments collected from our travels, and also ornaments from when our children were young (although i have tried to give those away to them.) I even have ornaments to represent the last several pets that we have had.

Both. I never buy an ornament I don't love, and once I have it, it is part of the tree. I get something out of my christmas decorations being the same as always (with additions) rather than changing.

Until the Grandchildren came along our main tree was always a family tree filled with sentimental ornaments and many colors. One from DH's childhood, many bought when we lived in Europe, and others collected each year, all with many memories.

However several years ago I decided to share them with our grown children and their families for their family trees so divided them as equally as possible. At the time I thought I might do a differently colored tree every year but really don't want to spend that much so usually do some variation of the silver/gold/white/clear/blue/green ornaments I kept or have since purchased. I still have one from DH's and my first Christmas tree 44 years ago, which is just a small, inexpensive, glass ball, but means a lot - the rest in the set didn't survive the kids, cats, and moving. I also usually make a few ornaments each year just for something different. And of course I still continue to buy a few new ones each year but stay to that limited color scheme. My tree is still a sentimental one as I kept the clear ornaments I bot in Europe and love the ones I've made.

Of course we all want our trees to look nice - perhaps I worded my question wrong. Here's an example - my MIL in recent years bought all new ornaments to "go" with her decor. It's pretty enough, but to me has no sentiment or personal meaning. If that makes any sense!

It's nice hearing your comments. Luckygal, I'm happy to hear someone else has a special ornament from their first Christmas married. I did, a few years ago make a tiny crack in ours - but thankfully it's still all in one piece!

tina

LR tree is traditional red and white, mostly all santas with red glass balls as the filler. Office foyer tree is decorated in copper, brown and golds. Outside trees in wrought iron urns are done in snowmen, also red and white. Tree in my office has all red balls and smaller glass santa ornaments.

DD tree is decorated in all kinds of colors, turquise, purple, pink, a whimsical look of wild colors! For DD's tree, I made a topper using small balls of those colors hot glued onto a topper that didn't really match that tree. Took no time at all, and I have a topper that looks very cute on a tree with crazy colors! DD's tree doesn't match anything in her BR.

So, no the trees don't necessarily match my decor. I have used jewel tones including reds in accenting my everyday living decor, and in that regard, the reds on the trees - all different reds, from cherry red to burgandy, so the LR tree kind of looks like it matches my accessories.

Same with my office tree. I have a red leather chair, so in that respect, the red balls match.

However, if I didn't have the red accents in my home, I would do the tree the same way. I love the santa tree. Also, there are other items on the tree, like the bobbing head labrador and the stuffed grinch perched on a higher branch. lol

Before the "Santa" tree, my LR tree was decorated in a Mardi Gras theme. My topper was a court jester holding a baby head on a stick. Thought my DM would flip, as we were are very traditional in most things. Early in December 2000, I was on a business trip in NOLA (pre-Katrina), and spent my off time hunting and gathering all kinds of parephernalia to work with. I loved that tree. Back then, the traditional red, green, white was pretty much the norm in our area. There weren't sources for alternate colors. Now you can walk into any place that carries tree decor, and find any color to suit your fancy. The Mardi Gras tree in no way matched our LR decor. Just something about that tree made me happy!

Thus the loads of ornaments crying out to me from the attic! All of the older ornaments from DD's childhood, etc., that I am at this moment trying to find a spot that I can hang a length of garland in order to display those too!

I like the tree itself to have a certain look or feel, with the things on the tree relating to one another so to say. So no, I don't or haven't recently, done a tree featuring all of the ornaments I have acquired over the years mixed together.

Sentiment, but with a focus. My husband's a chef, so we started collecting ornaments that look like food, wine, etc. I have a pretty big collection, and I also use all the stuff my kids made, no matter how weird, inept, uncoordinated, etc. Love the mix. I like soft amber lights (as opposed to bright white) and no tinsel. One year I used fresh flowers in little clip-on test-tubes that held water, and while it was a big hit, I haven't repeated it-- I must be lazy.

Maybe when I'm old, I'd give the kids my collection and buy trendy ones.

I combine style and sentiment. Hopefully I'll be able to have more trees in the next house for different themes, but for now I only have two (LR and girl's room). Decided to split the sentimental ornaments between the two trees this year and we've enjoyed how it worked out.

{{gwi:1451485}}

Both, We don't have enough sentiment ornaments so I've bought what I call filler ornaments in colors that I prefer which are silver, blue, and white, but we have all kinds on the tree otherwise. I always hang the sentiment ones first and then fill in with the others.

On our main tree, I can tell you exactly where each ornament came from. Every single ornament is sentimental! I have another tree that's decorated for looks/decor. It's a black sparkly twig tree--6 feet tall, and it's decorated with red, white, and silver ornaments. It's absolutely lovely!! People gasp when I tell them I have a black tree, but once they see it, they gasp for it's beauty!

Absolutely sentiment. Ours is an old-fashioned tree, with ornaments collected for the past 38 years, with no rhyme or reason, and we don't even have room for them on the tree anymore.

I have 4 beautiful blown glass Italian ornaments I purchased our first year of marriage (couldn't afford more, couldn't even afford those), which I hang carefully with wire for fear of them crashing and breaking.

We used to have a clear star my son always put at the top of the tree, but I gave that to him when he married, and he now places it on the top of his tree. That makes me very happy.

Dee

Senitmental, definitely. We call it "The Story of Us" tree. Ornaments the kids made in school, inherited ones, ones we buy to remember family vacations, gifts from friends and family. Every one holds a special memory. We wouldn't have it any other way.
Lynn

Ours is very much sentimental. Why else would someone our age have Sponge-Bob and Mickey Mouse ornaments on their tree? We raised our grandson until he was 12, and Sponge-Bob and DisneyWorld were part of our every day life back then. We raised four children years before our grandson joined us.

Each and every ornament has a special meaning, and most a story that relates to the individual ornament. We, too, have several BOTT ornaments, made of cardboard or poster board, that the kids made in elementary school projects. I treasure each one.

It would be fun, some year, to have another tree that was totally decor related, buying all new decorations with the most fashionable colors, trinkets and themes.....but that year hasn't come, yet. So, I just admire what others do.

I'm new to this forum but this topic is near and dear to my heart. Our tree is sentimental. Ornaments our 3 sons made as they grew up, a set of Wizard of Oz felt ornaments my aunt made for DH and me as part of our wedding present, and many others bought or given over the years. We also have some from my family's tree. My mom & dad always bought each of the boys an ornament each year. When DS#2 was married, I boxed his up and took them to him. I still have so many ornaments that I need to buy a second tree! When DS#1 and DS#3 have their own places and trees, I'll gladly give them theirs.

I've started a spreadsheet this year to list each of the ornaments and describe where they came from and their sentimental value so that after I'm gone (hopefully not for a long time), they'll be able to decide what to do with them.

I have so many sentimental ornaments that I kept thinking Santa threw up all over my tree. My first ornament given to me on my first birthday (I'm 46), my grandmothers glass ornaments from the thirties on-- those are cool vintage- all my deceased mother's which include her special collectibles from the fifties onward and her later Christopher Radko stage, all the pretty ones I have bought and the crystal pendants from Grandmothers chandelier.
I have no hoarding tendencies except when it comes to my ornaments!
They are all pretty, btw.

To make up for this hot mess, I have a few other smaller trees "decorated" with my goal being to have one as pretty as the Pottery Barn one I saw this week. It was so lovely with all those mercury glass ornaments.

bleigh - Where are your trees? lol All I see is a bunch of beautiful stuff! Are you trees real or faux? I'd like to know where you found such a tall narrow tree for your LR? I wanted a narrow tree this year, but the taller they got, the wider.

Sentiment only. I've been giving each of my children their own special ornament every year since they were little (almost 20 some years now). We always open them on Christmas Eve along with the Christmas pajamas.

Some are theme related, like the one year they all got Disney ornaments or another when they were Western-themed, etc. Others are more personal and relate to each child's specific interest, which is what I did this year.

My oldest daughter is graduating from college with her BA in nursing, so she gets a ceramic nurse in her scrubs and pink slippers. My younger daughter will have a little girl playing soccer and my boys will have music related ornaments.

I've always told them that when they have their own trees they can take their ornaments, but now I'm so attached I don't want to let them go!

My DH gives me my ornament every year and it's always a nice surprise to see what he's picked out.

I do both. Family room tree has all the kid-made, family-type ornaments. Corner tree (1/4 of a tree) in DR has all vintage looking Bethany Lowe ornaments - strictly for decor. Corner tree in LR is all Radko - all sentimental - since most were gifts from DH and friends who knew I was collecting them or ones I because they represented personal events.

I'm joining the train of sentiment. I have ornaments that go back to our first tree as a couple, along with all of my son's ornaments that he made over the years. Also my son gives me a handmade ornament every year and of course I treasure those the most. We also collect ornaments from travels and I like to buy a couple of things each year after the Xmas and then there is a little surprise the next year because I always forget that I purchased them!

Like the others, our tree tells a story and it is literally the fabric of our lives. Gosh I sound like a Hallmark commercial!

My christmas sentiment & memories are not based on the trees or ornaments. I've assembled & developed 2 "sets" of tree decoration over 16 years of single working girl, no kids. Decor more important than sentiment.

Now with a 5 yr old, the sentimental ornaments are the crafty ones DD has made in daycare out of pipe cleaners, bells, cups, and glitter. I'll save those forever...they are font and center on the tree despite how they look, and I'll collect more as the years go by.

My sentiment is based on the twisted, and well-planned jokes/schemes my dad played out every year.

One year he got out the shotgun, shot it a few times on christmas eve right before we went to bed...told us he'd shot Santa, and set up a makeshift gravesite right outside the living room window (still in the years when Santa was real to us). We woke up Christmas morning to dad sitting by the tree drinking coffee, no presents, and the gravesite right outside the window. About an hour of devastation later, the presents were brought forth. Mom was PI$$#D that he took the joke farther than she expected, and the explanations that santa is magic and he won't be dead all year long. Mom made him take down the grave before company came later in the day.

One year he pretended to burn down the tree we'd just bought the day before. We sat in the car waiting for mom to drive us to Sunday School while he put a match to the tree which was still outside propped next to the garage. Pull in the driveway coming home and there sat a charred skeleton of a tree. The charred tree was actually the remnants of the previous year's tree which...instead of going to the proper brush pile for burning that year, had been thrown to the back of the regular paper/trash burn pile... and never fully burned down over the year. We walked into the house crying, and there was the tree already up and decorated.

There were others, but those were the "big ones".

My brother and I turned out fine without weird or horrible holiday tendencies. My dad is my best friend and my hero. It's his humor and style. It was a different time & era. I wouldn't change a thing.
Gayle

We love our sentimental tree! The ornaments are some of my most prized posessions.

Every year we have a family ornament "Yankee Swap" with Aunts, cousins and family friends. It is great fun and the kids remember every ornament they "stole" from a Granny (or vice versa). I've taken over the hosting duties and am really looking forward to having everyone over tomorrow.

It's funny, I was thinking about adding a second tree, with a more dedicated theme, but I'm not sure where I'd put it. I love, love, love the tall skinny one bleigh posted.

Gayle, your father sounds like a hoot. It is defintely humor from another time...Today there'd be trouble!

Beth P.

eGADS! And all these years, I have felt bad about telling my children that they were so bad the day before that Santa didn't leave gifts under the LR tree. Yet, before the surprise fell out of their faces, I said "instead he left them under the den tree, after we had a nice chat about your (the children's) behavior and how you should act better the next year." It only scared them for a few seconds, however, each year they bring that story up to make me feel terrible. :(

newhomebuilder, both trees are fake. The LR tree is a 7' slim that I bought from Lowes a few years ago. I really love and prefer fat, huge real trees, but just don't have the space in this house. I looked everywhere for a slim tree for the girl's room this year and the only places I could find them were at florist shops (expensive). So the tree in my girl's room was under $40 at WalMart. Hopefully I can find another slim tree on sale after Christmas.

Love reading how people decorate their trees...amazing how much emotion can be found when decorating a tree.

Our tree growing up was totally sentiment. We each got a new ornament for the year from different family members, every year, so it was a total hodge podge. It was still pretty to us and I love it. When I moved out, I realized I didn't have enough ornaments to fill a large tree the way I wanted, plus, half the ornaments have my name on them and I just didn't want that in the LR. Ha, a "Sheesharee" tree.

The short answer is our LR is decorated to match and for pretty and I put a 4' tree in our bedroom decorated the same way we did growing up (colored lights, red garland, all the ornaments). DH has a total of, maybe, 4 ornaments that I add to that tree too.

We bought our Christmas tree last night. On the way home I innocently asked " what if we used only white lights on the tree this year- the answer was a resounding no! I had no intention- I was just thinking about this post.
So colored lights( DH had to run out and buy new strings because half of one string was out!) and DD told the story of some of the ornaments to her BF- who had suggested that we all have a Christmas night with a cozy fire etc.
I am sitting here drinking coffee in front of a fragrant, half decorated tree!

bleigh - your trees are gorgeous! The tree in my DD's room has ornaments that I've just bought over the last few years. The theme is pink, red and silver.

Where did you find the beautiful ribbon? Did you make the bows that you used as tree toppers? I thought my DD's tree was beautiful before but now I feel the need to give it more bling!! :-D

Our tree is absolutely a memory tree! Not only that, but the decorating takes what seems like forever, because we "remember" each and every one as they are unwrapped (ok, more me than DH, though he does stick around for some of the "remember when we got this one....?"'s LOL), and then again as their tree-placement is selected. Certain ornaments always go in certain locations, or close to them as the branches (on a real tree) allow. This of course takes time, but the end result is always worth it, so despite the extra time and effort, that's how we do it.

Bleigh, your trees are gorgeous! And newhomebuilder, that's magnificent.

Our tree is decorated with a hodgepodge of ornaments, some from my childhood and others the kids have made over the years, some from vacations. I try to give the kids an ornament every year that will be theirs to take when they are "settled" in their own homes. We have a lot of ballet ones. I will have to find a really special one for my eldest daughter - she was sugarplum this year.

We only do one tree, white lights. Other than that, no rules.

Some of you decorating mavens should do a photo tutorial for us tree challenged individuals.

Bleigh, can you describe how you did the ribbons on your girl's tree? They're absolutely gorgeous! I can never get that look. Is it one long piece wrapped round and round, or shorter lengths hung vertically and twisted, or what? They must be wired ribbons, right? I'd love to see a closer picture and some descriptions of how they're placed. Both trees are stunning, and I'm just drooling over the ribbons.

sentiment and tradition all the way! My MIL has been getting my husband and I each an ornament every year for the last 25 yrs and now my 6 yr old gets one from me so just about everything on it means something to us

Gayle, that has to be the most bizarre Christmas story ever! What a movie it would make, lol.

Purely sentimental here! We never had kids, but that didn't stop us from having a young-at-heart tree. The fresh tree has always had an eclectic mix of handmade and store bought ornaments ... crocheted snowflakes and angels, stuffed Kliban cats, Spanish moss wreaths that dh made almost 30 years ago (still use 'em), terra cotta, metal, resin, straw, wood, brass, etc. Some ornaments have been retired, but I can't bring myself to toss 'em. I keep them in a separate storage bin along with the photo cards from years past.

Never owned a ball ornament until last year when I bought a dozen mercury glass balls from Restoration Hardware. They're beautiful, but very heavy. This year I added glass icicles. Wish I had a couple dozen more of those in the shorter lengths. In years past I've strung popcorn and cranberries for garland. Switched to freshly harvested Spanish moss for a few years. Didn't have any garland the past couple years. This year added some beechwood cranberry garland. I love colored lights on the tree. Tried white lights for a couple years, but switched back. The 4' artificial tree in the dining room is pre-strung with white lights. I guess that tree has a nature theme with a lot of birds, fish, acorns, a few bears and a moose. After Christmas I glitz it up with Mardi Gras lights and beads until Fat Tuesday.

Judd, I think I got the ribbon at Michael's. I've seen lots of really pretty ribbon this year...Walmart surprised me too with their selection. I did make the bows for the tops.

lovesummer, the mesh is one long piece, just wrapped and tucked all around. The green ribbon "curlies" are cut pieces that are craft wired in the center (or off center), tucked into bare spots and curled...YES, wired ribbon all the way for these. Really, really easy. I think I used two rolls of the green ribbon to make the topper and the curlies (about 20 yards). Hopefully my pics will make sense on how to do the ribbon.

Here's the ribbon cut and wired in the center:
{{!gwi}}

Here's the bare spot on the tree:
{{!gwi}}

Tucked in (not wired to the tree) and curled:
{{!gwi}}

Sorry my photos are a little on the big side. Hope you all don't mind me sharing how I do my "curlies"...didn't want to take over your thread : ).

Natal, I love that shoe ornament with the kitties!! So cute. Also LOVE Spanish Moss...bet that was really pretty and very unique. Might have to borrow that idea from you in the future. Yep, with birds, berries, grapevine garland, more feathers and maybe some of those neat artificial dear antlers...obviously that tree won't be sentimental.

Thank you!! That really helps, excellent instructions and photos. The mesh ribbon is the pink, right?

After I asked the question I looked around Youtube and found an interesting demo, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv374w8Yph8 But it sounds like your method is easier! The results are certainly fantastic. I have to confess I'm a sucker for ribbon. I usually buy some after Christmas when it's all marked down, but can't resist buying some at full price as well. BJ's had some nice patterns in large rolls for not too much. One year I bought some pre-made big wreath bows at a local nursery's after-Christmas sale. One was a gorgeous wide paisley patterned brocade ribbon; I took it apart and cut two pieces and use it like runners on my square coffee table, in a cross shape like a wrapped package. It's been a number of years and it still holds up beautifully because it was such nice quality.

I fall into the sentiment category. Toddler's home made ornaments, ornaments the kids' elf brings them each year, from vacations, ornaments my husband gives the kids each year based on some activity or something they loved that year. We even write notes on the box explaining why dad bought that ornament for them. Its like walking down memory lane and opening a treasure chest each year when we open up the boxes and re-live the memories.

I have colorful glass ornaments mixed throughout AND I have colorful lights.

When I was really little (in the 1960s) we had large colorful lights on our tree, but then my mom started putting small white lights on the tree because we decided the colorful ones were "tacky."

Well, I decided for my children I was going back to the colorful lights and we all love it. But I am obsessive with only buying strands that have true red, blue, green, and whitish yellow. I found one little pharmacy that sells them. I don't care for the ones at the big box stores that have orangesh yellow and purpley pink.

My clear glass ornament I filled with sand from my honeymoon in Bermuda only has a few grains of sand left in it after 15 plus years. The sand falls out a little at a time each year that I pack it away. Of course its not grains of sand ticking away on my marriage....lol.....when they are finally all gone I guess we get to go back to Bermuda to get more!!!

2 trees this year, one is fake with pearls ad almost all red ornaments and wooden cranberries with some collected ornaments for fill ins...all small white lights..... The other tree is real with while lights but has real popcorn... (remind me to not do this again till our lab gets older!!) and real cranberries and we also put all the sentimental ornaments made my kids etc on this tree....i should post... both really are pretty this year,,BUT OUR FRASIER FUR DOES NOT HAVE ANY SCENT AT ALL.....DRAT!!!

Had to laugh at nanny2a's comment about Sponge Bob... we just decorated the tree today and I announced to the kids that really, it's probably time to ditch the Sesame St. ornaments. Nope, DD (almost 10) had to grab Oscar and put him on the tree. The others stayed in the box (can't bring myself to throw them out).

Ours is all sentiment. We have all different types, no balls, and no repeats. We've got the homemade preschool glitter-and-paper ornaments, ornaments from our travels, etc., and we also have a lot from a tradition I started when the kids were very small. Every year I choose a Hallmark ornament for each of them, at least loosely based on an interest or activity they've had that year. We've got Harry Potter, Star Wars, Barbie, soccer player, etc... with 3 kids ranging from 9 to 18, these ornaments have accumulated. My idea is that each of them can take their ornaments with them when they move out and have their own trees. (And then, our tree will be bare!)

bleigh - thanks so much for the ribbon curly tutorial. I have extra red and silver wired ribbon left over from wrapping and I'm going to try this on my DD's tree today!

I'm definitely going to use a lot of "tuck in" ribbon for my tree next year! It looks much easier than to thread the ribbon through the tree.

Thanks!

Yes, thank you for the instructions. I love that look but have never been able to get it...my tree always ended up looking strangled as I wrapped ribbon around it! Going to do that myself next year.

I did two trees, one with vintage ornaments & silver tinsel garland. The other is covered with stuffed reindeer, snowmen santas. Mostly they were meant to be decorations or shelf sitters, but I like them on the tree. I also used some plaid ornaments and for some reason I found a lot of bells...so I put it all on the tree.

I hung some extra full garland in the hall doorway and used some sentimental ornaments on that. And in the dining area I put up more garland and decorated with beaded fruit. So, to answer, I don't know...every year I do something different. But I always put up sentimental decorations around the house.