A simple Christmas Ornament

I’d like to extend my warm wishes to all of you this holiday season. It’s been a wonderful year for Flourishes and we are grateful for all of you who have been a part of our lives. Our Design Team Coordinator, the insightful Julie Koerber, recently shared with us the thought that we, the three owners of Flourishes – Jan Marie Caruso, Sharon Doolittle and I, should share more of our designs and personal experiences on this newsletter. You’ve heard from Jan Marie and Sharon, and today it is my turn. We plan on continuing these chats and we welcome your thoughts and ideas of what you may want to hear from us.

This time of year is filled with holiday traditions and I’d like to share one of mine with you. In our home I’m the one that decorates the tree and it is something I love doing. My tree will not win any decorating awards – no color coordinated ribbons and ornaments here! While I have a few of those expensive Radko ornaments, the majority of ornaments on our tree are from places we’ve lived or traveled. One of the first ornaments I purchased (decades ago!) was a Santa on skis – it was made of wood and had the look of a wooden toy of the 1950’s and cost only a few dollars at a local store. I had recently graduated college, moved into my first place and felt so grown up in buying a tree and ornaments. This Santa ornament has aged over the years – the wood is a bit brittle, the paint faded and the little bit of fuzz that was glued on his chin for a beard is long gone. Each year he is bubble wrapped and stored away only to wonder if he will make it intact for the next year, or will I find him broken beyond repair.

This year as I decorated our tree, it took longer than ever. Most of the ornaments are inexpensive but have special meaning of our life together and brought back so many memories – a tree scrapbook! There’s the cable car ornament from San Francisco – we watched the Giants play at Candlestick park that July - wearing winter coats; the chili ornament made of glass from Santa Fe – from one of our many trips to the beautiful southwest; the bear on a toboggan ornament from Yellowstone – one of our favorite places to visit; the ornament of Santa on a motorcycle – a nod to our travels on the Harley; and to celebrate our move to Florida – the pink flamingo ornament! So even though my tree will never grace the pages of a decorating magazine, it gives me so much more – the priceless memories of lifetime spent with someone I love.
This card is to honor those special ornaments – not the most expensive or even the prettiest, but the ones that hold the most meaning. Please share with me the story of your favorite ornament - is there a special one on your tree?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy

P.S. One more thing - the Santa on ski’s ornament? He came through intact once again this year – another year older and more faded, but still going strong!