When I was growing up we had the ornaments that my mother bought over the years. I don’t remember making decorations in school. Maybe because the elementary school I attended was mostly Jewish or maybe in the 1950’s we didn’t make decorations. I don’t know. We didn’t string popcorn or cranberries. Wait! I think i remember a construction paper chain my sister and/or I made. It was short in length and in use.
In 2008 my sister and I decided to get our children and grandchildren together and decorate ornaments for the Christmas tree. I ordered clear plastic bulbs and craft paint and brushes. My sister offered her house. On the appointed day we gathered for pizza, eggnog and decorating. The table in the dining room was covered, another table was set up, t-shirts and aprons went on over clothes and the fun began. Everybody, including interested adults, painted several ornaments. They popped open and the insides were painted then the ornament was popped back together. You can see in the photo that they were bright, clear, colorful. Unfortunately what you don’t see is that the paint never dried. It puddled on the bottom of the ornament and if there were multiple colors, which there often were, the puddle turned a muddy brownish/gray. We hung them on the trees anyway and packed them away hoping they’d look better the next year. They didn’t, although I think they were dry. I wonder what the grandchildren remember about it. I’ll have to check this year.
What a nice post. I loved the colors of the ornaments and esp. your memory..it is like mine. I wonder why I can't remember things like decorations and such, doesn't it drive you nuts?? Are you going to attempt another ornament method this year?
You and your sister get all kinds of credit for effort – absolute As. And you get As for the writing as well. I'm still giggling, though I bet we could have given you a contest on shortest lived paper chain. They don't stand up to tug of wars. I really enjoyed this, Kristin.
Barbara, I don't think we will do another ornament decorating session. But you never know. I used to remember everything. or so I thought. Now I think I may even be confusing some ornaments we had when I was a kid and the ones I bought because they reminded me of them. I do know both were silver and blue. I think the childhood ones had snowflakes on the blue band and the ones I bought I know say peace. I still wonder where my grandmother and my mother's decorations went. When my mother moved out of Detroit i think she must have left them. Sigh.
Nolichucky, thank you for the credit. I didn't think I had anything to say about ornaments but I surprised myself. I'm looking at this sort of as the NaNoWriMo I didn't do – I am going to write on all of them weather or no.
What a sweet, lovely post.
Pearl
The way you tell, your stories, makes me feel like i was there!
Keep On, Keeping On!
gem!
A lovely way to have several generations participating in a family activity. It will be a wonderful memory of the children and grandchildren.
What a great post – and I'm sure what they remember is the laughter and fun of it all! Looks like a great time was had by all 🙂
I loved reading this post. My family was always the craftsy type, too. Most gifts were homemade and the ornaments definitely were. My mother often quoted her grandmother,
"A gift of you time is worth more than a gift of your money, because everyone has the same amount of time."