Finally..........there are ornaments on the tree!

Today, I hung the three little wreaths on each lantern next to the garage doors...........

One task totally done!!!  We still don't have any lights along the front porch railing. My husband was away on business when the weather was nice and we could have put up the lights. Now it's cold and we keep putting it off. It's not going to get any warmer until the weekend. Our front porch could be dark til then unless we decide to bundle up and just get it done!!
Inside the house, it's plenty warm and I really dug into the boxes ornaments for the tree. I have four long boxes, kind of like those "under-the-bed plastic boxes, only they are red and green for Christmas storage. Each box contains a variety of boxes that are filled with the ornaments that I've made or collected since December of 1968.
In some boxes there are ornaments from trips we took, like these from Germany, England, Italy, and San Deigo - my favorite city to visit because that was where we lived when we celebrated our first Christmas. :-)

And in some boxes there are ornaments I made with our kids like the God's Eye made from popsicle sticks and the felt pony on a stick, some made by my mother and my daughter, aunts and cousins, too...........

And then there are the angels and the bells............

 And the bears and the snowmen!

There are fragile ornaments that are carefully packed in smaller boxes like these real egg ornaments. I made most of these in the 1970's. There will come a time when I'll do a tutorial on these ornaments. It may be at Easter time but that's just fine. Easter is a time for eggs anyway. :-)  These egg ornaments always go on the tree first............

Then come the glittered styrofoam snowflakes. I made these when we lived in Japan when my husband was in the Air Force. They are not hard styrofoam but are a soft foam type fiber. I stuck pretty beads on pins in the points of the snowflakes and then glittered each one. You can easily recreate a similar snowflake by cutting a paper snowflake and tracing it to a styrofoam luncheon plate. Cut out the design with an X-acto knife. This is not a project for a child and, even us adults need to be careful doing this one!! Add some decorative beads on pins and then the glitter, first one side and let dry, then the other side and you will have a pretty decoration for your tree! 

At the time I did these snowflakes, I also decorated oodles of styrofoam ball ornaments. You'll see those in a few days. :-)
After the snowflakes are hung in just the right places, I always hang the glass ornaments from Germany next. My husband's job used to take him to Europe a lot. When he would travel in December, I would always ask him to bring home a new Christmas ornament.

Next up on the tree are the angels. They come from a variety of family and friends. The little angel in the top row, far left is one from my mother-in-laws tree and is from the 1950's. The two angels below it were gifts from my sister. The little blue felt angel was made by my mother and the crocheted angel was made by Steve's Aunt Jean. A co-worker (from when I worked at a computer company years ago) crocheted the blue angel and the rest are ones I bought. Except for that large angel on the right. She was made by my friend Judy. She was the neatest gal. She passed away in 1994 and as I write that, it is hard to believe it's been that long ago. I'm going to share more on that angel and Judy when I post some other ornaments later this week.

All the angels are on the tree and so are all those teddy bears and snowmen from that first series of photos in this post. And this little ornament is also on the tree............

Do you remember these? They came in a little box like the one in the photo and the little plastic nativity scene was only about 1 1/2" tall. I have had this one for so long that I can't remember when I got it!  It is one of my very favorite ornaments. :-)
The tree decorating isn't finished so I can't share a photo of it. I've got all day Monday to finish it. Only other thing calling my name on Monday is some laundry. :-) I hope to get back to some sewing on Wednesday. Got some Christmas gifts to finish but the decorating comes first!
See you tomorrow!
Sandi Claus