The Christmas Collection

When friends ask me where I get my Christmas decorations I give them a long list. Some of my oldest ornaments on my tree are little flat wooden Swedish Ornaments that came from a store in Carlisle, PA, a few doors down from my off campus college house. It technically was a dress store, which had some gifts. I can’t remember the name of the store, which is surprising since I shopped their often, but I know exactly which ornaments came from that store.

I have some decorations I bought at an Amish market I visited when, in college, my friend John Rehor took a few of his to his family’s Pennsylvania farm. I can’t remember exactly where it was, but I remember purchasing these wooden decorations there.

We always buy ornaments on vacation so I have mementos of trips. It’s not always easy since nowadays there are a lot of horrible ornaments that are massed produced.

Sometimes when I come upon a store that has unique things I buy a lot and I am always happy I did because it never fails that those stores with the best things don’t last long.

Many of my decorations I have made mostly as a creative outlet starting when Carter was little and I wasn’t working. It started with my “Happy Birthday Baby Jesus” tree I made because I had all these tiny naked babies from throwing a baby shower for someone and I wanted to repurpose them. For the record, I covered the naked parts in glitter since the plastic babies were too tiny to wrap in swaddling clothes.

Although I make many things I still buy decorations I think are fabulous. This year I was at Home goods, my go to place for unusual decorations, and I saw a whole bunch of small gingerbread houses that I thought were fairly special. Then, as I was considering them I looked up and on the highest shelf I saw a giant ginger bread house, three times as tall as the others. I knew it was the one for me.

This house was on a shelf that I could barely reach the bottom of, while standing on my tippy toes. I looked around the store for help and there was not an elf to be found. Determined to claim this house as my own I carefully started to slide the bottom off the edge. Only then did I realize this thing weighed a good amount. I called out for help and an unsuspecting man peeped his head around the corner. Poor thing, I saw him and in my best teacher voice instructed him to come help me. It took the two of us to get the house off the shelf with completely outstretched arms, holding it over my head, we thankfully lowered it in unison into my cart as if in a well rehearsed synchronized ballet.

When I brought it out this year and put it on the breakfast room table I was very pleased with it. Then last week my friend Kathi brought a set of beautiful sparkly brown and pink bottle brush trees to my Chinese Auction and I got them. They completed the gingerbread house vignette in a way I didn’t know was missing.

I may not always remember exactly when I get or make something, but when it comes to my Christmas decorations I can tell you exactly how each thing came to be.