Wow. Her own tree!!

We won't get our tree until Thanksgiving weekend. We buy a fresh cut balsam - so fragrant.

My late mother-in-law was a dedicated crafter and made hundreds of crocheted white snowflakes, angels, bells, other "experiments". We acquired a lot of the angels when my SIL died. This year I'm going to divide up all of them except the snowflakes and send half to our niece and half to our nephew.

The kids are barely in their 30's. They might not want the handiwork, but the decision is theirs what to do about it.

But first I want to enjoy Thanksgiving...without Christmas music.

I KNEW who got the pink tree even before I read it. I saw one at Big Lots a few weeks back, too. It was probably 6" though.

My tree is white with tons of clear lights and I just love it. I always wanted a white one and now I'm happy.

I've told this story before, but when we moved from the country we had a huge garage sale and got rid of lots of stuff. (Sometimes i feel like it all made it's way back home.) I sold a lot of Christmas stuff but had one really big box to keep with my angel collection, my Santas and all the pretty Hallmark ornaments my daughter gave us every year. Also ornaments from all our vacations and the construction paper ornaments the GK's made. And the ceramic tree ornament my DD made in the 3rd or 4th grade. The box was on the floor of Harry's workshop and I'd asked him 3 or 4 times to please put it on the screened porch for me, which he never did. I gave the leftover garage sale stuff to a friend to try to sell later. I wasn't home when she picked it up, but I told her it was all on the floor. Well, you guessed it. They took my dear Christmas collections and I didn't know it until I pulled out the box I thought they were in that next December and found all I had was the outside decorations. I was so sick about it I cried my eyes out.

It still hurts me to this day. I just loved talking about each ornament every year and remembering where/when we got it. So now I have my white tree without a single protest!!

It probably sounds silly, but they meant so much to me.

I knew you were going to say the Pink Princess! I bet it looks so cute in her room!

I haven't decorated in years...kinda miss it, but not enough to mess with it all.

Not silly at all, Patti - we only get a finite number of Christmases. We carry the memories of all of them forward with us. The music, the ornaments, the tastes and smells, the sentiments and traditions, joys and sorrows.

It's very powerful stuff. An annual visitation of a lifetime. I'm sorry you lost your mementos.

Pink reminds me of Easter. But Deck The Halls (or bedroom) the way you like. Would take some ambition to drag out all the nifty glass ornaments from the 40's. They looked nice with the old BIG lights, and those "bubbler" things. On a Green Tree.

I have a white twig tree that is up all year. Jim and I love birds and squirrels and it is decorated with birds and squirrels. I will put a few Christmas ornaments on it for Christmas.

Patti, that is a sad story. Maybe it will help to keep in mind that your memories were not in those ornaments.
I can't wait to get the tree up. I would do it now, but we're having a big crowd for Thanksgiving, and I need every bit of space in my house.
Right now I am busy making crystal ornaments for the tree, and I'll probably give some as gifts too. I had a ton of clear crystals that I used on my DD's wedding centerpieces, and I am reusing them to make beautiful dangling ornaments. In some cases I've added colored crystals and pearls, and anything else I find that appeals to me. I am so happy with how they are coming out, I can't wait to see them on the tree.
Every year I try to do the tree a little differently. Change up the color scheme or add poinsettias, or bows, ribbons, and beaded garland. This year it will be mostly red and gold, and I am making a new topper.

Remember *flocked* trees? DH said his DM liked them, but she wanted the tree out on the parkway by the 26th. Every year he'd put the tree out, and it would disappear in an hour -- somebody wanted a pink flocked tree -- after Christmas?