When it comes to Christmas, what kind of decorator are you? Is your home decorated in a more traditional, old world style? Or are you more modern? Maybe you are somewhere in between. I’ve always had this Martha Stewart vision of a perfectly decorated home that looks like something out of a magazine. The reality is something quite different.
Ever since that baby I brought home from the hospital was big enough to help with the decorating my tree was far from magazine perfect. It’s a collection of ornaments documenting my daughter’s life. When she was little all the ornaments hung on the bottom of the tree, she couldn’t reach any higher. When she would go to bed I would fix the tree, moving the ornaments around into a more pleasing arrangement.
Now, the family room is mine to decorate. The trees that flank the fireplace are my domain, as is the mantle. This one area is where my inner Martha Stewart shines. The main tree in the living room is the family tree, it still has all the ornaments from Hailey’s childhood, including the paper angel she made in school. That tree says a family lives here, a little girl who loved Polly Pocket and penguins. I love that tree in all its messy, unmatched grace, it signifies a house filled with love. What will my tree look like when Hailey leaves home and takes all her special ornaments? What will I decorate with then to show that a family lived and loved here?
I’m just glad we have our crazy family tree, even though there is no theme or matching colors. Joe Montana hangs proudly on our tree from his glory days, a reminder of the fact that I named my little girl after a quarterback. There is the nativity scene made out of popsicle sticks and wooden pieces that always nestles in the branches at the front of the tree. Lots of lights and candy canes, a few handmade ornaments from Hailey’s childhood friends and more penguins than they have in the North Pole.
Of course now the tree is balanced, Hailey is tall enough to reach the top branches so no more clusters of ornaments at the bottom. Until this year. This year Hailey’s three year old sister helped decorate. The picture above is of a six inch area on the tree. Ivy decorated it. I’m tempted to fix it, get the tree back in balance, but I think I’ll leave it, they are only three once.