You’ve heard me say it before! Actually I feel like it’s all I’ve been saying for at least the last few years. When it comes to decorating for Christmas I love using tiny trees! Like seriously LOVE. lol. I’ve been adding tiny trees to me christmas decor for at least the last 5 years, and 4 years ago my husband jokingly decided to count them until the number reached over 100 and he gave up, ha! Well, I’ve still been adding since then, and I’ve shared HERE and HERE on the blog many different ways I’ve decorated with them. But what I haven’t shared is where the obsession came from. So today, I’m sharing a little christmas nostalgia in where my love for decorating with trees all began.
Growing up my grandmother would turn her house into a Christmas wonderland. If you’ve seen any of our magazine features over the past few years it always find it’s way into each article, because inevitably I get asked where did my love for decorating for Christmas come from. It was her, my grandmother. My mom always decorated for Christmas too, don’t get me wrong it was beautiful, but at grammy’s house – it was magical. Probably because no surface went untouched, and she had every light-up, singing, dancing christmas decor piece you could imagine. Every inch was covered in tiny vignettes of caroling choirs, and mini table top trees, gingerbread men, and her vintage coca-cola santa collection. Honestly it felt like you stepped right into Santa’s workshop, and now as an adult I’m wondering how in the world she did it all?!
And then this year, I noticed an item that brought back all my memories of christmas decorations at my grandmothers house, and it clicked. I always used to joke that I was turning into her with my mini trees, and now christmas village collection, but seeing this one item on sale in the stores brought back all my christmas nostalgia. Ceramic christmas trees!
Yep! She had them everywhere, and now these vintage light up trees, just like the ones my grandmother had, are in the stores. I seriously can’t believe it, because I always remembered them, but never thought I would see them again. A few years before my grandmother passed, it was time to go through her things, and we had a huge yard sale where the rest of her christmas decor was sold to happy buyers.
Don’t worry, I grabbed the few pieces I wanted to add to my collection, however non of these ceramic trees made it into my collection. I’m sort of wishing now I had kept maybe just 1, however I do recognize that all the tiny trees I have bought over the last couple of years, in some ways, I am caring on her love for all those ceramic trees she decorated with for decades. She would set them out along the entire top of her piano, and every single one would light up.
My favorite part as a kid was re-arranging the lightbulbs. I’m not sure if grammy ever approved of us mixing and matching the tiny lightbulbs on those trees, but she never stopped us. I think that was part of the christmas magic at her house. She didn’t decorate just for others to admire, but she decorated to bring out the wonder in all of us that christmas is. Seeing my own kids marvel and wonder at all the lights and tiny christmas vignettes around our house reminds me of the hope and awe that can come with christmas. And makes me less likely to think of the burden or chaos that can come this time of year. It helps me focus of the simple magic that comes with some twinkle lights and family gathering together, both of which my kids look forward to most when you ask them what their favorite part of christmas is.
And I think that is part of the nostalgia that christmas can bring for everyone, even if yours doesn’t happen to involve little ceramic trees.
So there you have it, the story behind why I love decorating with trees so much! And I have to tell you, I started decorating with little table top trees before I even fully recognized where it came from. Which was so neat to realize when I finally did, and know that a part of my grammy was with me all along.
Also, just in case you are interested in getting one of these ceramic trees, you can click on the numbers below to be taken directly to them on Amazon.
You can also read more about these vintage ceramic trees on Country Living HERE.
And if Christmas decorating has you down, or feeling overwhelmed, check out my post with 5 Tips to help you finish decorating for Christmas.
Wonderful story and memory of your past with your grandmother, thanks for sharing and have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you Marlene 🙂
I decorated with my Mema’s ceramic trees this year. She left us 34 years ago and I haven’t used them since. I have a solid white one on the buffet in the dining room, a classic snow tipped green one that plays Jingle Bells in the living room and 3 more in the attic. They have her initials on each of them. Such special memories, new and old, are what makes Christmas special.
That is so sweet, and to have them with her initials on them!! So special 🙂