Your favourite Christmas tree decorations?

[razz]

We now have a 5 foot tall artificial in a pot with its own lights.
I have been collecting angel ornaments of all kinds for years and they all go on every year along with some wooden toylike, a bird and nest. a red cardinal, a gold star on top and lots of icicles that we have recycled for years.

What is your tree decorating routine?

[Mrs-M]

I LOVE the old 50's/60's Mercury Glass ornaments! Aside from that, icicles, a ring of garland, and a nice tree-topper to complete!

[Jilly]

The things my daughter made, then the stuff we made together, then cats, we have lots of cat ornaments. Lots.

I do not have a routine. If I put up the tree I take things out of the box, put them on the tree, plug it in. That is it.

[JaneV2.0]

As in everything else, I like lots of variety, so I have an eclectic collection, many handmade. Animal figures, Santas, fabric art, traditional Christmas motifs, and others. I could do a theme tree with nothing but bears or cats or Santas. I try to buy one new ornament every year.

[mtnlaurel]

My son likes to fingerknit and made red garland for all around the tree.
We've got ornaments from my childhood, DH's childhood, things the kids made, a ton of our favorite SEC football team- we didn't buy them, but some certain family members got hooked on getting them for us, stuff from DH's & my first tree umpteen years ago = a Santa pez dispenser & a cardboard star we covered in aluminum foil

My husband's favorite is one of Santa looking at the globe with his magnifying glass & Santa with a parchute

..... it basically looks like the Abominable Snowman ate a bunch of random ornaments & then came & threw up all over our tree :)

Our new addition this year is an Angel for the top of the tree that I lucked up on - she is beautiful.
I had been on the look out for one that wasn't overly ornate, which was not easy as you would think.

My favorite though are some ornaments that a family friend gave my mother from the early 70s - part of the Towle 12 Days of Christmas....
they are so special to me for so many sentimental reasons.
I don't suffer from collecting, but one of my ToDos if $$ starts growing on trees is to finish that collection
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS493US493&biw=1680&bih=935&tbm=isch&tbnid=0vjAfnVd-nqcoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.rmsterling.com/Towle12DaysOfChristmas.html&docid=CsLRIOahq8SXhM&imgurl=http://www.rmsterling.com/images/Towle12DaysOfChristmas.jpg&w=546&h=516&ei=6eDFUKzOJ-ji0gGC3oDwBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=110&dur=533&hovh=218&hovw=231&tx=109&ty=115&sig=104373446897476410907&page=1&tbnh=129&tbnw=134&start=0&ndsp=55&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:87 (http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS493US493&biw=1680&bih=935&tbm=isch&tbnid=0vjAfnVd-nqcoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.rmsterling.com/Towle12DaysOfChristmas.html&docid=CsLRIOahq8SXhM&imgurl=http://www.rmsterling.com/images/Towle12DaysOfChristmas.jpg&w=546&h=516&ei=6eDFUKzOJ-ji0gGC3oDwBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=110&dur=533&hovh=218&hovw=231&tx=109&ty=115&sig=104373446897476410907&page=1&tbnh=129&tbnw=134&start=0&ndsp=55&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:87)

[Gardenarian]

Strings of popcorn and cranberries. We put them out for the birds after the holidays.

[Wildflower]

I have a very eclectic collection of ornaments. Some handmade ones from my kids and grandkids, and I love birds, especially owls, so have alot of those. Also have alot of rustic/natural ones, and ones that we collected while traveling. Topped with an Angel in honor of the memory of our son. It all makes for a very pretty tree...

[Francis Boyle]

I am a collector..Every year I try to search various sites to get something that is unique. When it finally comes to decorating the tree; my niece has the final voice. I keep the box of ornaments that I have decides the lucky ones to be displayed.

One ornament that I do have are the picture ornaments, I found those in one of the site, and I if there is a memorable picture that I have for the year, then I get a personalized picture ornament (http://www.ornamentsandmore.com/twins-red-christmasy-picture-frame-personalized-ornament.aspx) from them.

[Tussiemussies]

We use ornaments, a lot of Victorian scenes, collected over the years with lots of red balls and use red and green beaded garland draped nicely, my husband does all the draping and we put a star on top of the tree to represent the Star of Bethlehem. So we stick with tradition the red and green and star. The star we use we bought in our early marriage. I just love Christmas!

[MamaM]

Ok..I admit..I like a LOT of lights..I probably double/triple what the average person puts on and they have to blink. Then it's a matter of homemade from my son, lots of colorful/sparkly/blingy balls/orbs and a few select beach themed one's. :)

[pony mom]

We always used the same decorations year after year. One year, we had a real tree and we only decorated with clear small lights, red bows, popcorn and spray snow (sounds tacky but it looked real) and I think it was the prettiest tree we ever had.

[rodeosweetheart]

Funny story--I love Christmas ornaments and for years thought of the beloved ornaments of my childhood--how beautiful they seemed. A couple of years ago, my mom, who has not put up a Christmas tree for 30 years, said, "would you like the family ornaments?" I said heck yeah, feeling very guilty to deprive my brothers, but I figured I would offer them some of the stash.

When we opened the box in the basement, it was a snarl of mice nest's and chewed up ornaments circa 1960--kind of nightmarish, really, but very funny. I got the giggles, and my mom could not see there was anything amiss with them, and I ended up with a shoebox of disintegrated cotton batting (remember the fake snow) and a couple of ornaments with all the paint off, elves with one limb, etc.

I still collect ornaments, not sure I will get any takers for mine when I pass on, LOL/.

Pony mom, that sounds very pretty.

[BayouGirl]

We have a tiny house so we have a tiny tree, just 3 feet tall. I wait till after Christmas to scoop up ornaments at 75% off so I have lots to choose from.I got lots of cute petite pink and purple sparkly ornaments, plus I love to personalize them by painting them with nail polish enamel. Plus I always stuff the tree full of yummy different flavored candy canes (Jolly rancher, sweet tart, jelly belly flavors) so the kids can have as many as they want. BayouBoy has a brother with 6 kids and they don't celebrate Christmas or exchange presents but his kids LOVE getting the candy canes off my tree,

I like sparkle so I often use holographic ribbon to tie the ornaments on the tree and curl the ribbon so it is sparkly and pretty.