Sentimental Christmas Decorations

As I was pulling out the Christmas decorations this year, I had two little helpers who were pretty smitten with each thing I brought out: snow globes, a tiny ceramic village, a wooden Christmas tree with miniature ornaments my parents brought back from Germany.

In past years, I haven't put out all these things because frankly, I just don't have the space! I don't have a lot of surfaces in my house to display such things. We don't have a coffee table in the living room or a formal dining room where I could put a Christmas centerpiece on a table or add decorations to a sideboard.

I'm not saying this like it is a negative thing—I was just wondering where I was going to put all the little Christmas decorations my girls love! These are the sweet little things that will make their eyes wide as we pull them out each year. I wanted to find room.

So we put some of these special items in the girls' bedrooms. We started this with just the ceramic Christmas tree a few years ago with Jane, but I beefed it up a bit this year.

That Christmas tree was Ben's growing up and my family had a similar one, too. It replaces Jane's night light during the Christmas season and gives off such a pretty, colorful glow. The little reindeer was from my family. I remember playing with it with my siblings. And the gingerbread house was built at Thanksgiving!

In Kate's room, I displayed the little ceramic Christmas village a former coworker gave me years ago. This is one of those things that I probably would tend to not put out because of lack of space, but I feel like it was just made for little eyes to explore! So it is up on Kate's dresser, where it can be seen but not touched (at least not too much :) ). The wooden Christmas tree in the back is from my parents' trip to Germany and the girls were utterly fascinated by each tiny ornament. And look at that crocheted Christmas tree! It was made by Ben's grandma Hazel. Isn't it kind of funky and cool?

Some of these decorations are super sentimental—Ben and I have strong memories associated with them. And I think how sweet it is that our parents passed them along to us to use in our home. I wonder if our girls will remember having these special touches in the home as part of our family's Christmas traditions. And I wonder what we'll pass along to them!

How about you? Do you remember any special Christmas decorations that were part of your home as child? Are there any special decorations you are incorporating now for your children?