Finds 'n' Fancies

 Vintage Putz Village Log Cabin from 5gardenias, Retro Christmas Hand-embroidered Ornament by Waterrose

Vintage Christmas Ornaments from merrysunshine, Vintage Ornaments from Poland from theclassicfarmhouse

 Growing up, our Christmas tree was decked in mid-century (or earlier) glass, aluminum, and plastic ornaments, was lit with bubble lights and strewn with silver icicles.

I grew up in the 80's.  

My parents believed in the value of age and never felt a need to update our tree's look. When we decorated it each year, we pulled most of the ornaments from their original boxes. See, my grandparents owned an antique shop and taught my parents to save all the packaging of potentially collectible items. (Consequently, I am now afflicted with savetheboxitis.) I developed an appreciation of all things old at an early age and learned to handle them with care. When I blew into the plastic-encased aluminum spinner ornaments (my favorites), I did it gently. I watched as my parents handled the oldest and most fragile ornaments, waiting to tackle the job of placing silver icicles on the branches--also done carefully. Reading over those last few sentences, it seems as though decorating the tree was a tedious job in our house, but I prefer to think that it was simply done with respect and reverence--indicative of the way we celebrated Christmas then and how I hope to celebrate it now that I'm the one in charge of handling my little family's fragile ornaments. 

How do you remember celebrating this time of year as a child?

I won't be posting next week as I'll be preparing for Christmas. This is the first year we're hosting the festivities at our house (eep!) and I expect to have my hands full! Whichever holiday you're celebrating, I hope you all have a happy one! --katie :D