oh christmas tree... the family-made edition

On my final day of ornaments, I'm focusing on those ornaments made by members of my family, because family is what Christmas is all about. 

Enjoy the holiday with those you love... Merry Christmas! 

This beautiful bird feeder was made by my grandpa.
Since he recently passed away, this ornament means even more to me now. 

My Aunt Trudi made a ton of these cute wood ornaments when I was a kid as a gift to our family. Most of them are on my parents' tree, but I've managed to "borrow" a few for mine. Each side is a holiday/winter scene cut from cards or wrapping paper, then shellacked on a thinly sliced piece of wood, held on the tree by red ribbon. She's so crafty!

I think my Granny made this... she gave me this last year from her collection,
in addition to cute needlepoint snowman coasters :)

oh christmas tree... the newbie edition

Due to the fact that I have a heating vent pointing right at the spot where my Christmas tree goes, I had to get a fake tree this year in order to not have crispy, crunchy pine needles all over the floor a week after I put the tree up.

I wasn't sure if I'd have room for all of my ornaments on my new, permanent tree. So I didn't allow myself to buy any new ornaments this year... until I put the tree up and realized I had LOTS of room for more ornaments. Yay! 

Here are the new additions to my collection, all added since Thanksgiving :)

My first gingerbread house ornament!

Purple hummingbird

Cute burlap teddy bear

A gingerbread wreath

A purple hatted snowman -- this was a gift... I swear!

Peppermint tree

And these are all from Cracker Barrel in New Mexico -- so cute! :)

A very trendy country owl

Yes, another snowman... but this one is wearing a doggie hat!

Two angels -- the little one is actually from Le Target.

The bigger one came from Cracker Barrel though.

Dancing elf

oh christmas tree... the snowman army edition

If there is one theme that is easily evident on my Christmas trees, it is snowmen. 

I have a LOT of snowmen. 

This is an arial shot of some of them last Christmas after I unpacked them:

I've added more snowmen since then. I really need to stop. But they're so cute! 

Here are some closeups of some of the really cute ones. Don't ask me where these came from... most of their stories are a blur. All I know is that they keep multiplying....

oh christmas tree ... the cupcakes and cocktails edition

It's Saturday, so today's ornament collection shall focus on two of my favorite things to share with friends on fun nights out -- cocktails and cupcakes!

A group of my gal pals and I used to actually go out to dinner for each other's birthdays and share cupcakes for dessert after every meal. (The restaurants we took our own boxes of Sprinkles, Martino's and Big Sugar cupcakes to LOVED us! ;). I'm pretty sure at least one of the ornaments below (if not more!) came from that fun group.

Cheers!

New twinsy (almost) cupcake ornaments I just bought on Monday at a cute gift shop packed with ornaments near my office -- Ivy Glen Gift Shop

I think this is from a Club Cupcaker :)

This one might be from Club Cupcake too.
It's a Cakespy cupcake. 

I only have two alcoholic beverage glasses on the tree... hmmm.

oh christmas tree... the around the world edition

Day 2 of my ornament collection is all about my ornaments from all over the world, courtesy of my or my friends' travels. Enjoy!

The Venetian mask was a gift from my friend Cwennen's trip to Italy last year, while the Happy Christmas ornament came from my friend Daryl's weeks of working in London last year. 

This beautiful painted ornament is from my visit to the Accademia Museum in Florence, Italy,
home of Michelangelo's David.

Near Ghiradelli Square at the San Francisco Wharf, close to the cable car turn-about, there is a little couple that makes these cute, hand-painted ornaments. These are from my first two trips to San Fran.

A ceramic, spinning windmill from Solvang.

My friend Katharine brought me this cuckoo clock
after she finally made it to Vienna.

From my 2nd trip to - and 1st trip to the very top of -
Multnomah Falls @ The Columbia River Gorge

This delicate carved ornament is from my parents'
Alaskan cruise a few years ago.

Sanddollar from Cannon Beach, OR (aka where they
filmed "The Goonies")

Seashell Angel from Catalina

             

Hawaiian Rudolph, from Trip #2 to the Big Island.

A whimsical penguin, from a 4th of July family reunion in Ouray, Colorado ... in ...wait for it... 2004 :)

oh christmas tree... the hockey edition

My friend Diana is posting an ornament a day this month on Instagram for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. (That will equal about 1/100th of the ornaments on her tree -- ha!)

I like that idea, but not enough to do it everyday for 25 days. ;) So I'm officially kicking off my own abbreviated version of showing off my tree -- six themed days of ornaments, showcasing the collections that have manifested throughout my Christmas tree over the years.

Tonight, in honor of the Los Angeles Kings' 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sucks.... I mean Sharks... here are most* of my hockey-themed ornaments:

 

Hockey-playing S'mores Snowman! 

Autographed Rob Blake Kings Ornament

Scary Wayne Gretzky Hallmark Ornament from
the year he was an evil Ranger.

One of the most important ornaments on my tree...
It's been placed front and center the last two Christmases : )

*Note: I have a bunch more hockey ornaments on my parents' tree, but my mom won't let me take them from the "Family Ornament Collection" to my own. Maybe I'll take pics of those this weekend :)