Decorations That Are Special To Me

Yesterday I finally finished putting up the rest of my Christmas decorations.....(putting all of the boxes away that they were stored in is another thing, entirely)......Anyway I wanted to show you guys two things I have that mean a lot to me. Both of these items have been safe through basements floods (two separate times!) and they have both been through a house fire & have come out unharmed. During all of these house hold emergencies after I knew my family was safe, I always thought to save family photos & heirlooms, which is what these are to me. Luckily they were safe from harm, except for one year it was a little close, but everything turned out ok. :)

The first is my nativity scene that my grandmother hand painted for us for our first Christmas as a married couple 21 years ago. It has been broken & repaired quite a few times (poor camel) but to me it will always be beautiful. I just love the detail that she put into painting it. She was a great artist, constantly painting with her oil paints or creating some fabulous homemade dish. Every year I try to put this in a special place & now that my youngest is 5 & understands that it's breakable (no, the three wise men do not want to hang out with Barbie) I can put this out without too much worry of it getting broken again. This set has become extra special to me since my grandmother is no longer around to make gingerbread cookies with me every year, but when I look at this it always makes me think of her & the great "art projects" we would do together....and then I go make gingerbread cookies with the kids :).

close up of the three wise men

the holy family

I just love the little sheep's face :)

The other Christmas decoration that is special to me is my miniature Christmas tree. My mother made this when I was probably about 6 or 7 years old. Every year we would set it up in the dining room. She hand made the tiny candy canes & gingerbread men that adorn the tree. The gifts are tiny wood blocks that she carefully wrapped in paper, using only wrap with a small scale so they would fit the look of the miniature tree. I am lucky enough to have the tree now where it sits in my dining room, on the buffet. What is really great is that now I decorate it with my daughter! On Christmas Eve when we host the whole family for dinner my mom always comments & says "there's our little tree", but to me it will always be my mom's......I'm just lucky enough to get to display it. 

The tiny tree all set up for Christmas

The little gingerbread men all are different from each other too!

Of course I have some new decorations that I either bought, or most likely made that I also put out, but these two mean a lot to me. I always make sure that I have a special place for each of them. What special decorations do you have that you put out every year?