I don’t know about you, but until my tree goes up with lights + ornaments it doesn’t quite feel like the holidays. This is our first year with our beautiful tree (thanks, Mom + Dad!) in our new home. We had it in the apartment last year but seeing the tree in the window – all lit up – in the home we’re going to make memories in for the next few years just does something to my heart! 

Every year, we decorate the tree the way my family did growing up. We bring all the ornament boxes (okay, one for me) upstairs, put on a Christmas movie or music and decorate. We take our time and I personally love getting the chance to relive all of the memories attached to the ornaments I hang. A lot of my ornaments have come from when I was a child -we used to visit a Christmas shop in the Outer Banks every summer and pick out an ornament. My aunt Nancy has given me an ornament every year and when I travel, I usually pick up an ornament (or magnet!) from where I’ve been! And now, the last few years, we’ve been gifted some beautiful ornaments celebrating our engagement, marriage + many firsts together. The tree is really a beautiful scrapbook of our life in a way. Isn’t’ that just beautiful?

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ornaments with you for today’s Home for the Holidays post + tell you why they’re my favorites!

The blue ornament here is one of the first ornaments Ryan and I got together. Every year, we go and pick out an ornament for the year. We aim to have the year on it – but we both want to find something we love and will compliment our tree. I just love this blue one – how the light shines through (the colored balls are my father’s favorite to hang on the tree + I think I inherited the love of the way they light up the tree!).

I LOVE my ball from Macy’s!! I actually got it in NYC at the Macy’s on 34th street DURING CHRISTMAS while I was in college. It was absolutely perfect! The store was all decorated, the city was alive and it was SO full of Christmas spirit. I’ve only been in NYC for the holidays once – and only a day at that – but it was pure magic! Love having this memory of that trip! 

These are also two ornaments I’ve gotten with Ryan – our newest addition on the right!! It’s our second new home ornament but I couldn’t be happier with it. We saw it and knew it was the perfect match for this year! 

These two ornaments are two of my favorite childhood ornaments. The Wizard of Oz was given to me in high school during the year I had a Wizard of Oz party (okay, my 18th birthday…) but it’s absolutely beautiful!! And Beauty & the Beast has been hanging on the tree for as long as I remember. It’s a cute wooden ornament with the Beast on one side + Adam on the other. I love seeing it hung up every year and hope one day my own children will look at it with love the way I do! Some of the most beautiful ornaments are the simplest + most durable ones! 

Just a few more of my favorite Dowler ornaments – the two colorful ornaments were given to us last year and I just think they’re the sweetest. The glass ornament to the right was the other one Ryan + I have bought together. Our very first one, actually. It’s so sweet to have these memories of our years together!!!!

The wooden ornament below is special to me – I picked it up in the OBX on the trip I took with Danielle and her family in college.  These little wooden houses are hand made and they’re meant to have a light bulb placed inside. They’re beautiful dark but the light brings out more dimensions of the house – showing you what’s inside! I picked out a gingerbread house because I was a gingerbread for years when I danced the Nutcracker growing up! There were so many beautiful choices but this little home makes me smile year after year! 

Last but not least – this cute ornament… I had this ornament for years before I met Ryan. I love cats and like I said, we picked out ornaments every year. Mine were either cats or dancers for a long time. But when I met Ryan and our boys, it was like fate. I never had a grey cat before our sweet boy came into my lives but it seems like younger me knew I would one day! I mean, seriously. I knew I was going to have TOC and Grey Cat one day. This ornament makes me smile and truly brings another meaning to it when it’s hung up – it’s extra special now that my two boys are here! 

I want to hear about your favorite ornaments!! Tell me all about your tree traditions!

Happy holidays!

Kristina

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