A Little Tacky Never Hurt Anyone!

by Elizabeth

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday – the lights, the sounds, the music, the presents! Growing up, we would always get our Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving and decorate it on Saturday. We would have so much fun picking out the tree and then reminiscing about all of the ornaments we have – and we have some funny ones! I am a Christmas junkie and a HUGE fan of real trees, so naturally, I get one of my own each year. This year, however, I upgraded from my $8 cheap tree stand to the mack daddy of tree stands: the Krinner’s Christmas Tree Stand Genie. Let me tell you about this stand – you put the tree in, hold it, and press the foot pump until the arms clamp around the trunk. Then you lock the pump in place and that’s it.

It also holds a gallon of water, so you don’t have to water every day. When Christmas is over, you just release the arms, take the tree out, and that’s it! The smallest one, which I have, holds up to an 8 foot tree and only cost $45 at Home Depot, which is a great investment, as I will use it for many years to come.

Now, on to my tree. Some of you may think my tree is the tackiest thing you have ever seen. I use the huge colored lights, along with some small colored lights, and top the whole thing off with gold garland to give it a shine. My ornaments are a random collection of memories, and always give me a laugh or two. The most famous ornament on my tree is my box.

I made it in kindergarten and it is my favorite ornament by far. When I still lived at home, I would put that box front and center on our tree, and when I would leave and come back, it would be moved to the back of the tree. I would move it back to the front, and then the same thing would happen. I finally confronted my mom, who was the culprit, and she said that it was ugly so she would put it in the back. Talk about being crushed! From then on, it stayed in the front. Now that I have my own tree, it sits in the very front. When my family comes over, it mysteriously gets moved to the back. What a surprise! Another one of my favorites is my big diamond ring, which is every girl’s fantasy.

Talk about tacky – but I love it!

My aunt also gives us ornaments every year. One year, my sisters got these beautiful jeweled ornaments, and I got what we affectionately call “the hairball.” I opened it and immediately thought it looked like something my cat coughed up.

The next year, I got this – it definitely makes up for the hairball:

I also have a nativity scene that I think most of you will get a kick out of. I made it when I was in about 3rd or 4th grade in my Sunday school class. I had some help, but we took old fashioned clothespins and dressed them up. My favorites are the sheep and baby Jesus!

As you can see, I go all out for Christmas. Although I love getting all those presents, decorating the tree and the holiday eats, my favorite thing is by far giving presents. I know some of you may be thinking “yeah right,” but it’s the truth!

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