Christmas tree

I put up my first Christmas tree today. Ok, not my first tree. It's my first real-size Christmas tree I've put up by myself. I've got an interesting collection of ornaments. Most of which have stories and significance. I thought I'd tell a few of them here. :)

It's not a Christmas tree without a pickle ornament. It's a German tradition to hide a glass pickle ornament on the tree for the kids to find. Mine's not hidden very well, but it was the first ornament I put on the tree.

I don't know if you had these, but not only did we have these little teddy bear ornaments, but we also had this awesome quilted advent calendar wall hanging. I've got 2 bears on my tree. They're handmade stuffed little ornaments that my sister and I insist must show up on our trees somewhere.

This one is a Becky and Mandy original. I hate to think how many of these we made over the years. This one I inherited from my grandparents. Those are the little six-sided plastic beads. Oh and pipe cleaners. :)

So, you might not know this but I collect penguins. There are a lot of penguins on my tree, but this one is probably the most unique. I also played tennis in high school. How my mother found an ornament with a penguin and a tennis ball I will never know, but I love her for it!

I'm also obsessed with shoes. There are at least 2 shoe ornaments on my tree too. For a while, the little tree (12-inch) I had next to my bed was decorated in all little shoe ornaments.

There's also a book with the story of Kris Kringle on my tree. I sort of love the old school look to the book.

This one is another oldie. An old standby on my grandparents' tree. Last year at Christmas my grandmother boxed up a lot of her ornaments and gave each kid and grandkid a box. This little needlepoint tree was in mine. EDIT: I learned from my mom that she did this! Awww.

The heart and bell are parts of matched sets. There were a lot of those on our tree growing up. Manda and I each got to put one on the tree. And now...I get to put them on my own tree.

And, last but not least, my little gingerbread man. He's got to be about 20 years old now. I think we got him and his buddy (green accessories) in kindergarten. My mom can tell you where it's actually from if I'm wrong. EDIT: I was wrong. We bought them at the Christmas bazaar at school. I was close...ish. Lots of our Christmas gifts for our parents came from the holiday bazaar. Which was made all the more difficult by the fact that my mom helped run it. ;)