My mantle was recently described by a friend as "eclectic." After she said it she looked a little embarrassed, as if she said something that had offended me. No worries, I am not offended by much especially when it is true. My Christmas decorations are eclectic.
As you may have guessed I am sentimental. I like things that have a meaning. It doesn't necessarily have to be a deep meaning but something with an emotional tie will always be front and center on my heart's fireplace mantle.
When Mac and I got married one of my besties bought us a variety of snowman Christmas decorations which started my snowman collection. Every year I buy a new snowman to add to my collection. Some of my snowmen stay up all year, causing an eyebrow raising experience for some of our visitors. I guess it is a little strange to see snowmen on display in July, but strange works for us.
A1 had her first Christmas in 2006. As I was dragging out all of our decorations and my small snowman army, I realized A1 needed decorations. It was at that moment I decided every Christmas I would buy her a Santa decoration. By the time she moved out and was decorating her own house for Christmas she would have quite a collection started.
A2 and A3 also have a collection of Christmas decorations started. A2 gets a gingerbread man, while A3 gets a reindeer each year. I didn't think about the challenge I set up for myself when I selected gingerbread men and reindeer. Every store has Santas everywhere. Finding a gingerbread man and reindeer is hard. Some years I have to stop at several stores before finding one. The hunt is worth it when I show A2 her newest gingerbread man and I get to see how excited she is to have her very own new Christmas decoration, the pride she has when she sees her new gingerbread man go on the fireplace. I am sure that one day A3 will be just as excited but right now she really doesn't care.
I am excited that one day eclectic collection of decorations will become their eclectic collection of decorations.
That is a beautiful tradition! In a similar fashion, my parents got married in December, and they had no ornaments for their tree. They didn't want that for us, so they gave each of us an ornament each year when we were growing up so that when we moved out and put up our own first tree in our own place, we wouldn't have a bare tree. They are all very special to me, and as pretty as themed trees are, I'd rather have my non-matching eclectic ornaments than a whole bunch of meaningless ones that match.
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