I’ve found myself pulling back every year a little bit.
Buying less.
Being more selective on the “traditions” we do.
It’s a slow process, and it’ll never really look like I probably want it to, but every year, Christmas looks a little less like a display in a mall…and just a little bit cozier.
I so desire for Christmas to be about family. About Jesus. About the glorious Gospel and the incredible promises made to us. About memories.
Silly ones like baking and singing and hokey parades and Santa. Important ones like our Jesse Advent and sitting in front of a fire as a family.
This year, my tree is a little bare.
As I put up all of the fun ornaments from over the years…the ones we gave eachother…the ones that marked special moments from the year…the ones that were pulled from dusty boxes from our own childhoods…I couldn’t bear to put up the store bought balls.
Once upon a time my tree was a symmetrical, coordinating, replica of a store display. Everything matched. No gaps. No holes. I did Martha proud.
But as my perspective has changed, my tree this year is a mismash of mementos. Treasures that mean nothing to anyone else. Just us.
I had to put up a few generic pieces just to fill in some gaps, but I cringed as I did it.
I want our tree to be a display of OUR family.
Our goofy, quirky, silly family.
The Gibsons.
A perfectly appointed tree does nothing to paint the picture of who we are as a little ragamuffin team.
Lisa sent me an ornament this year. And honestly? Not just because I would of course love for you to support my dear friend’s business…but truly: it’s become a fast favorite. In fact, it won’t be going into the box at the end of the season. I think it’s going to hang somewhere in the house year round.
There are different styles you can choose from: the Molded Heart Ornament , a Molded Star Ornament, and a Stocking Ornament.
Today is the last day for Christmas delivery.
Treat yourself. Buy one for a friend who’s had a rough patch this year. Even if it comes late. I promise you won’t be sad. It’s handmade with love. It’s personal. It’s perfect.
(Through 12.31.11 you can take 10% off your entire order with code ORNAMENT2011)
{Lisa gave me the ornament, but truth be told, I’d say everything I just said regardless. I love all of her products…not just because they are cute, but I’m super done with the mass-produced nonsense and gift sets we keep buying eachother, you know?}
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I totally get it. Our tree has always been filled with ornaments that have a memory and history specific to our family. I love that. Once upon a time, our tree was also adorned with 3 different shades of purple garland though… couldn’t TELL you where those things ended up. (seriously, I couldn’t.. but I can’t say I’m not happy about them disappearing! ha!)
less busy, more family
less commercial, more JESUS
less running, more love
Sounds good to me!
Merry Christmas!
Us too. All of it. Yes.
YES. We’ve been working on simplifying our Christmas the last couple of years as well. It takes so much stress and craziness out of the season and makes it fun again. Loved your thoughts about your tree – I was just thinking the same thing about our tree. I love all of the preschool craft projects, the ornaments that show what my son is crazy about at each given year – it says so much more about us as a family than all the color-coordinated balls do.
Love this! My husband and I are trying, trying, trying to convince the rest of our family to pull back and just focus on the message. It’s a long journey.
Growing up, my brothers and I got an ornament each year on st. nick night that pertained to that year in our life. My tree is full of all of my ornaments that were picked or made especially for me by my Mama/St. Nick. :) Our Tree is a little girly since I have so many ornaments, and my husband doesn’t have any, so we added some of the ornaments we used as decorations for our wedding. We have continued the St. Nick-ornament tradition with our son. I love it!! As for keeping Christmas simple…we have a rule that if you want to see us on Christmas, you have to come to our house. Karson should get to spend Christmas day in his jammies laying around and playing with his new toys. :)
Our tree is the same, and I love it! I bought all of those boring glass balls for our first Christmas tree, it looked nice, but it wasn’t as wonderful as my mom and dad’s tree with all of our old handmade ornaments. It feels so good to fill our tree with love!
Sooo with you. I love all the quirky, handmade, very unmatched ornaments our trees collect. Happy. Cozy. Real. :)
Im the same way.. didnt go fancy on the tree. getting less. trying to keep our traditions.
I completely agree!! I did the same thing this year with our tree. I keep getting comments that our tree is so bare. Maybe, but it means so much more to me like this than it did before. I absolutely loved seeing my husband show each and every ornament to our 18 month old and explain to her where it came from and what it meant to our family. Brought tears to this momma’s eyes!