5 Favorite Holiday Decorations

[deadheadjen]

1. My gnomes. - When I was a kid my mom always had on her tree these 2 little wooden gnomes with white fur beards. I used to love to help her unwrap all the ornaments from their newspaper in hopes of finding them. My mom, who is notoriously stingy with her ornaments, finally gave them to me a few years ago since she knew how much I loved them. Every year they hang front and center near the top, out of the way of grabby hands or snuffling doggie noses.

2. My gold painted macaroni wreath - What could be better than THAT? Jules made it for me as a Christmas gift when she was about 7. I LOVE IT. It hangs in my kitchen every year.

3. My Christmas Angle - Yes, I said "angle". Another Julia special from a few years back. It's made of paper plates and has the word "angle" written across it's chest in pencil. Chris and I always get a chuckle out of it since we're both atheists, so it seems fitting to have an angle instead of an angel.

4. My Mikasa Santa with sleigh - Again, this goes back to childhood (although indirectly). When I was a kid my mom had a Santa with sleigh and four reindeer. It was made of plastic and sat on our end table. I remember always playing with it, imagining that each of the little wrapped pieces of styrofoam actually held little toys. My MIL gave me the Mikasa one a few Christmases ago and it Quinn's favorite. I *try* to keep his hands off it but there's something about it that just draws him in. LOL

5. My little bells - I have several cheapie little metal bells that hang on my tree by a little red string. They're nothing special really except that they give Quinn SUCH incredible joy. They're the only ornaments that he's allowed to touch or take off the tree. He takes them and dangles them from his fingers and shakes the hell out of them. How can I not love something that makes him giggle like that AND that he can't break or hurt himself on?  :)