It’s safe to say I absolutely love Christmas trees, but I especially love Christmas ornaments. I had to buy and set up my first Christmas tree when I was a young mom at 23 and didn’t have any ornaments or decorations whatsoever. I’m sure you’re aware, but buying a tree plus all of the decorations from scratch can get kind of pricey. I “managed to get by” with just some simple glass ball ornaments that first year, but it made a strong impression on me and I made it my mission to start collecting Christmas ornaments. So I present to you My Family Christmas Tree. I’ve been steadily collecting ornaments for over 20 years now and have so many I had to “branch out” into additional trees.

For My Family Christmas Tree, over the years I’ve had to reduce the number of extra decorations such as blank glass balls, and decoration additions such as thick garlands or ribbon. You’ll see all we have are a Santa hat tree topper and a simple red wooden bead garland and nothing else but ornaments. Lots and lots and lots of ornaments. Let me explain the basic categories for them.

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Kid Made Ornaments

We’ve had a tradition of hanging the ornaments each of the three kids have made at school or home, etc. on the tree. My oldest has taken all of her ornaments with her, so we only have two kids worth left on there. Those don’t multiply too badly since they seem to stop making them at school after a certain point. My youngest one is crafty like me, though, so he still likes to make them at home. I have to tell you, that kid made an entire apartment for his Elf on the Shelf with just a cardboard box and some paper! He even made a toilet, lol.

Okay, you caught me. I kept this one of her’s. How could I not!?

Kid Selected Ornaments

Each year, starting with their first Christmas, each kid gets to choose their ornament for the year. These are always so much fun and they add a lot of variety and color to the tree. Again the oldest took hers with her or there’d be another 20 plus ornaments on there. See, my goal all along is for them to have a stock of ornaments to start with so they won’t be in the same boat I was at 23. For my sons, if they don’t get their first trees until they’re married and their wives don’t want to use them, fine, we can still hang them on My Family Christmas Tree. But that won’t be until the year 3000, so I’m not going to worry about it.

My Ornament Obsession Collection

Okay, here’s where I kind of go off the rails into crazytown station. I like to make ornaments, buy random fun ones that strike my fancy, collect Gone with the Wind ones from Hallmark, buy them from places I travel to or visit, buy Disney ornaments, and buy handcrafted ones from craft fairs. As you can imagine, all of these together make for an interesting tree.

Handmade Ornaments

These are by no means the only ornaments I’ve made over the years, but these are some I’ve featured on The Inspiration Vault, so you can make them, too! Fun!

Kids Pom Pom Christmas Ornament & Christmas Countdown Ornament

Whimsically Lighted Birdhouse Ornament & Die Hard Christmas Ornament

Randomly Purchased Collected Ornaments

Honestly, if I see an ornament that speaks to me like this Nolan Ryan one (he’s my all-time favorite baseball player), this majestic unicorn, or this cool globe, I have no self-control! At. All.

Collected While Traveling

I really like to get ornaments from places I visit or travel to. Being in a military family for over two decades, I’ve had such wonderful opportunities to travel around the world and see such amazing things. I got this pretty golden wire ball ornament while visiting Dublin, Ireland. And my husband got me this real woven basket ornament when he was stationed in the Congo. The top comes off and you can hide stuff inside like scavenger hunt clues. And when we were stationed in D.C. I got my hands on a 2005 official annual White House ornament. They change the design each year. We couldn’t visit because it was still on major lockdown, but they sold a limited amount at the Smithsonian. I have so many more ornaments that I’ve collected, but I’d have to create several posts to cover them all.

See that stuffed animal in the photo? I didn’t notice it until I was editing this photo. He’s been missing for several days and apparently, my teen son hid it there from my youngest.

Disney Ornaments

If you’ve ever been to a Disney park, you know they have so, so many amazing ornaments to choose from. Again, I’m not going to show you every single one of them, but these are some of my favorites. In the bottom right corner of one photo is the Alice in Wonderland glass ball ornament from Tokyo Disney that has lasted for 16 years without being smashed by movers. I think the little black Mickey ears hat is my favorite, though. It’s made out of the same materials as the real thing!

Handcrafted Ornaments

You’d think that with me being a crafter and all, I’d never want to buy handmade ornaments from someone else. That’s simply not true. If anything, I truly appreciate the creativity and skill that goes into making them. I’m the weirdo that will go looking for Christmas craft fairs just to see what ornaments are out there. In fact, I jumped at the chance to join in on a bloggers ornament exchange this year. That was such a blast for me. I received these super cute pink sweater trees from my exchange partner and she sent me this bonus taco ornament as well! It’s my favorite one on My Family Christmas Tree this year. I found this Starbucks ornament and had to have it. Doesn’t it look real? Again there are loads more, too many to show.

Well, what’s the verdict? How insane am I? If you’re not convinced, let me tell you about my other trees. I have another regular tree dedicated to all of my Gone with the Wind ornaments and it’s decorated with red and gold accents. Then I have a small 2-foot blue metallic tree dedicated to all of my Wonder Woman ornaments with red and yellow accents. Then this year, I bought my first white tree. For the past few months, I’ve been “collecting” and making clear, white, silver, and blue ornaments with a snow theme because I’m transforming my dining room into a Winter Wonderland. There will be a separate, dedicated post on that coming soon.

Now be sure to go and see all of the other fun and gorgeous Christmas trees on this tour!

Welcome To Our First Annual Christmas Tree Decor Blog Hop!!

We have 47 talented bloggers joining up to share their decorated Christmas Trees with you! So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, settle in and get comfortable because you are going to love the beautiful Christmas Tree Decor shared today!

Let’s Meet The Hosts!

Michelle | Our Crafty Mom | Allison | Upright and Caffeinated

Erlene | My Pinterventures | Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela

Angie | Knick of Time | Annie | All Things Big and Small

Brittany | Our Home Made Easy | Chloe | Celebrate and Decorate

Cindy | County Road 407 | Colleen | Life on Kaydeross Creek

Denise | My Thrifty House | Eileen | Sand Dollar Lane

Jaclyn | The Dotted Nest | Jeannee | Centsably Creative

Vicki | 2 Bees In A Pod |Jennifer | Oh Fiddle Dee Dee

Jessica | Designers Sweet Spot | Jolene | Create Pray Love

 | Kim | Day to Day Adventures |  Wanda | From House To Home

Kim | Made In A Day | Kristie | Teadoddles

Leanna | Faeries and Fauna | Lorelai | Life With Lorelai

Lynn | Lynn’s Everyday Ideas | Maria | Simple Nature Decor

Marie | The Inspiration Vault | Mary | The Boondocks Blog

Meegan | What Meegan Makes | Meg | Green With Decor

Melissa | Welcome To The Woods | Donna | Modern On Monticello

Morgan | Charleston Crafted | Nancy | Slightly Coastal

Nicole | Madness and Method | Pam | P.S. I Love You Crafts

Sam | Raggedy Bits | Sharon | Little Bits Of Everything

Shirley | Intelligent Domestications | Stephanie | Abbotts At Home

Yami | The Latina Next Door | Jenn | Loveland Lodge

Christene | Keys To Inspiration | Libbie | A Life Unfolding

Jaclyn | One Thousand Oaks | Jennifer | 2 Bees In A Pod | Sarah | The Project Pile

**INSERT YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE PHOTOS AND POST**

Now let’s check out the rest of the beautiful Christmas Trees!