Over the past years, I came to own a few Christmas ornaments that belonged to my Great Grandmother, My Grandmother and my Mother. My Mother is still living and is 88, but a few years back she gave me some ornaments she had from many years ago that she wasn't using anymore.
I have done different things with them through the years including putting them in different sized display jars and even one year I bought a silver pencil tinsel tree for them, but didn't really love the way they didn't show up well on it. Some years they never got out of their boxes, which is quite the shame. I decided last year I wanted to get a tree specifically for the ancestor's ornaments AGAIN... that could do them justice. I purchased one after Christmas last year, but when I took it out this year, I decided it was not the one.
Boy !! ...am I fussy about having just the right tree or what ??? 😄
After seeing a tree that I thought would be perfect for them, that someone else had shown on a vintage aluminum tree group on facebook, I found this one on Amazon and it arrived today. I was pretty excited.
It is about 4 foot tall, silver wire and tinsel. It came in 3 pieces, two were the body of the tree and there is a round metal base with a nut attached underneath that the trunk of the tree screws into. Drop the top portion of the tree into the cylinder at the top of the bottom trunk and vwa-LA ! it was ready to fluff the little branches.
I found it to be quite a nice little tree for the type that it is. The wired branches are firm and even the tips had firm enough wire in them to hold the light weight vintage ornaments without a hint of droop.
I didn't intend to put lights on it. I don't know why, but it was just not my vision for the tree, however, my vision wasn't firm on what else might go on the tree besides the ornaments. I didn't want a whole lot of other stuff, because the whole point was for the ornaments to be very visible. After fluffing out the tree and reaching for a different garland that I thought would be a part of it, something stopped me and I went and raided two garlands of silvery and clear petite discs that normally drapes over the shelf my collection of tin angels are kept on. I shook the dust off of them on the way back to where my tree was waiting. I draped the inner part of the limbs with the garland.
These are the vintage bells my Mom gave me that were hers from long ago. She had not included them on her more updated tree in many years. As she was cleaning out some of her horde of Christmas decor about 7 years back, she offered these to me.... and I gladly took them.
I already had these that had been passed to me after my Grandmother passed. These had belonged to HER mother, my Great Grandmother.
These were also some that were given to me that my Granny had owned. I helped her decorate her tree many years and although these weren't nearly all she had, these were some I fondly remembered helping her hang on the tree.
.... and a few more that were hers as well.
I also used about 6 or 7 that were blown glass ornaments that I had bought myself back in my late 20s. Being that I am 65 now, that makes them vintage as well for the young folks of today. Normally when I think vintage, I am really meaning before MY time, but still, I thought they counted so I included a few of them. That meant that 4 generations of Christmas loving women were represented on this one little tree.
I enjoyed thinking about it as I hung these sweet, fragile glass ornaments, about how many times my Great Grandmother, Grandmother and Mom (and no telling how many other family members who had helped them trim their trees) had held each of these and lovingly hung them on the many trees from Christmases past. Mostly they would have been hung on live, cut trees, until finally some of us started using the artificial ones.
It made me very happy to make it possible for the ornaments once again to hang out and be a part of another Christmas celebration.
I'm really loving it !
I Hope you are all doing well and that your hearts are happy.
Love you !
Jacey
Waiting For Rain...jacey.boldart ·
The Hive Creatives Magazine From The Inkwell Curators - Issue #48theinkwell ·
