Christmas Traditions

'Tis the season for upholding family traditions and making memories. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating the tree. To me there are few things better than listening to Christmas music and putting my favorite ornaments on the tree. I also take this task very seriously. I remember one Christmas when I was home from college, my teenage brother wanted to talk to his friends on the phone instead of decorate the tree and I was furious with him. I know, a little silly. But in all seriousness, we don't decorate the whole tree together, I do have a 4 year old and a 20 month old. But we always start it as a family and take pictures of the first ornament being put on the tree.

This year has been even more special to me for two reasons, one being that both of my children were able to help this year and the second reason being that I just got a whole bunch of Christmas decorations from my Grandmommy. Some of the decorations are super old ornaments that my Great-Grandmother made and some are just from when I was a child, but I'm really excited to incorporate them into our tree this year. What's funny is that a few years ago Grandmommy tried to give me some ornaments and I didn't want them because they were too old. Also, I was very into having only traditional Christmas colored (red and green) ornaments with silver accents.  Yes, my tree was a little bare.

Perhaps it's the recent passing of my husband's grandmother, or the realization that my own children are growing right before my very eyes or the fact that this is our first Christmas in our new home, but I'm feeling very nostalgic this holiday season. Instead of fancy and proper, now I am craving vintage, homemade with lots and lots of colors. Which has perhaps led me to my latest DIY project, the mini-paper chain. Okay, yes, I'm a little obsessed with paper chains right now. This idea actually came from the paper chain I made with my 4 year old son to countdown the days until Christmas. In past years, my garland was silver beads that I never quite had enough to fill the tree, but given my homemade love, I thought a mini-paper chain would be perfect.

First I chose my colors and cut double sided cardstock into mini-strips. They were 1/2 inch wide and 3 inches long.

Mini-paper strips

Next, I rolled them into loops and glued them together forming a chain, with a repeating pattern.

Mini-paper Chain

Now, I opted to complete this project on my own because of the length it needs to be and how small the chain is. (I quite literally spent hours completing this project. Difficult, no, but time consuming yes). However, if you have older children, they could complete the chain and it will add even more sentiment to your tree. And yes, I will be saving this garland for years to come.

Ornaments

Now, will my tree be a total and complete hodge-podge of ornaments this year? Absolutely! Will I love every second of it? Absolutely!