Favorite Christmas Decorations

Decorating for Christmas in our house is a two-faced thing. On one hand, neither of us wants to take the time to set up all the stuff (including climbing up the ladder to bring it all down). On the other, we love it when the tree is up, the lights are lit and the atmosphere in the house changes. We always reminisce over the ornaments that we have given and have been given to us. The boys love it when the tree is up. They shout, "Christmas lights! Look at the star!" for most of the time the tree is up.

I have my favorite Christmas decorations. There are 4 in fact. And they don't have any particular order.

This star sits at the top of our Christmas tree. I love its simplicity and symbolism. Some people have an angel, others a star. I've always gone for the star. There was 1 star but a host of angels. I don't want a host of angels on my tree (btw angels are warriors - maybe I could find a bunch of old He-Man action figures or GI Joes to put up there.) This star is made of twisted grapevines. The twisted look to it makes me think of Jesus' crown of thorns. The grapevine reminds me that he is the vine. I love this star.

This ceramic tree was given to me for my first Christmas. It has little plastic pieces that are lit by a bulb inside. It has gone through a rise and fall of appreciation. In college, I thought it was hideous. Now it's vintage. I am the only one allowed to put it up. Beth has received a scolding from me in the past. This year my boys got to help me. It was a sweet moment.
This egg was purchased in Costa Rica. The interior is all hand made and painted. In the daylight, it's alright, but when lit up it's amazing. Beth and I saw this on a trip in CR and went to purchase it on our way home and it was gone. We were heart broken. Then the next time we went, we found it!


I said there was no order, but my new favorite is our nativity set. I bought this on my trip to Israel, specifically in Bethlehem. It's hand carved olive wood. The detail is awesome. Israel security had lots of fun poking through it at the airport, since I bought it in a Palestinian territory. Although I take issue with nativity sets since most of them are inaccurate, the simplicity and natural feel of this makes me pause and take a deep breath when I see it. (Unless my boys are too close and then I freak.) It is now a valued treasure that I hope to hand down to them one day.

Do you have any favorite decorations? If so, post them in the comments section.