Vintage Ornaments

 I remember the strands of old fashioned lights gleaming in the the dark of the night as they embraced each bough of my childhood Christmas trees. In my child mind I would ponder why we didn't have the modern type lights that were smaller and perhaps a tiny bit more sparkely.

 We would pull out all the old ornaments and place them carefully on the tree making sure each one dangled in it's designated home for the holidays. I would lay on the floor with my head near the tree stand, needles brushing against cheek, looking up into the beauty that was our Christmas tree. Every year my fondness for the ornaments grew and I began to appreciate those "old" ornaments and colorful lights.

 Each ornament held a memory of my Christmases past and they became like old friends as I gently would place them on the tree for our family to enjoy. Our old fashioned lights did eventually turn to the smaller strands sometimes in color, other times in white. New ornaments were made or bought or received and added to the collection. Old ornaments perhaps got retired or broken and tucked into a box.

 This year as my own family brought out the boxes of ornaments, we each remembered times of when and where and for what occasion each ornament was obtained. The girls eagerly found spots for each ornament making sure that they dangled and sparkled in the glow of the tree lights.

 In my days of blogging, I have seen others like my friend Paige use vintage ornaments to place in bowls or baskets or glasses to add pops of color throughout the house for the holidays.

  I have always liked the beauty of the vintage ornaments with their aged patina but never had any luck in finding any to call my own. On a trip to a local antique market that just opened across the street from the girls' elementary school, I finally discovered several Woolworth's boxes of vintage Christmas balls.

 I chose a few boxes in gold, silver and red and found two more unique "golf ball" ornaments in beautiful shades of blue.

 As I carefully placed my new found vintage ornaments in a silver tray, I couldn't help but think of where these ornaments had spent Christmases past. It made me happy to pull these beauties out from their old tired boxes for them to once again join in the celebration of Christmas present.

 Soon these vintage ornaments will be joined by my own family's vintage ornaments as my mom has offered to give me the ones that I grew up with . I can't wait to have a reunion with my old ornament friends and to introduce them to the next generation of their caregivers.

 In life, things can be classified as exactly what they are, just things. But things take on life when memories of an individual or a group are attached to them.

              It is not the things that make the moments in life special; however these things can help us to recall times of joy which keep our memories fresh and help us to make up our own life stories. May all the things that make up your Christmases past bring back joyful memories of time well spent with family and friends during the holiday season.
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