Finished decorating your tree yet? Wrapped all the gifts? Looking for something to do? I have just the thing.
Every year, I decorate my Christmas tree with a large number of ornaments I have collected over the years. Many I have made and several were made by relatives. Others I received as gifts from my mother and friends. I have also purchased about three dozen ornaments, one for every year since my husband and I first met, including “Baby’s 1st Christmas.”
I pretty much decorate alone. Apparently, I am too picky.
If anyone enters the living room while I am carefully placing the ornaments on the tree, I try to coax them to join me. If they choose to sit and watch, I like to tell them the significance of each ornament — which usually causes them to suddenly jump to their feet, saying they just remembered they had something to do.
And I am left alone with my stories.
Perhaps you and your family are like mine. You have stories about your ornaments and memories about Christmas when you were young — and a family that is not very interested in your reminiscences… for now.
In the event our families will one day wish they had listened to our stories, I found a blog post by Kelly of the View Along the Way about how to create a Family Keepsake Ornament Album.
Kelly suggests taking and printing a photo of each keepsake ornament and putting the photos in an album. Next, write a short story about each ornament and how you came to own it. Then, place this story next to the photo of the ornament — and store the album in a safe spot. Don’t forget to write in the front of the album who put it together.
So, if you have finished decorating your tree, hanging lights, wrapping gifts, and baking, I suggest you start taking photos of your ornaments and writing about them. Or just pour yourself a cup of tea, sit down, listen to Christmas music, and relax.
