One of my favourite things about December is decorating for Christmas. My decorations are relatively modest, and there’s no unifying sense of style or flair. My house would never be featured in a decorating magazine, but every item I display represents a memory.
I love that. I love how it feels to peel back bubble wrap or tissue paper, revealing objects I haven’t seen in a year, every one of them representing a story or a moment or a person in my life. I sit, inhaling Christmasy scents of pine and spice, turning each object in my hands, filled with nostalgia and the sense of greeting an entire boxful of old friends.
If, you know, friends came in boxes. Which I’m pretty sure they don’t, but with today’s technology, I suppose anything’s possible.
Here are some of my favourites.
That’s a photo of me and Tech Support, taken our first Christmas in Nova Scotia. I bought the cat at a Christmas craft sale, purely because it was funny.
The snowmen were gifts from Tech Support’s mom. I made the Santa myself, if by “myself” you mean with a whole lot of help from the craftiest Sister of the Traveling Chocolate, once I realized that the machine sewing required was way beyond my skill level!
My Grandma made the stocking for me – I used it until I moved away from home. My mom bought the Scrooge figure on the left at Disneyland when I was a kid.
My mom cross-stitched these stockings, one for me and one for Tech Support. That’s German cutwork in the middle – it reminds me of the Great Grandma I only met once before she died.
Do you decorate for whichever winter holiday you celebrate? What are some of your favourite holiday decorations? What, or who, do those objects remind you of? Share in the comments!