Here’s a picture of some of our Christmas decorations. The small silver tree came from my grandparents’ house. I believe it is a 1950s-era aluminum tree. I have all the limbs to turn it into a taller, more robust tree, but decided not to make it that large this year. My grandparents tied small antique balls onto the limbs decades ago. They are delicate and brittle now, and every year at least one breaks when I remove or store the tree in its box.

The snowflakes dangling from the chandelier were so much fun to make! Jesse’s mom gave me a kit years ago to make my own snowflake ornaments. I kept packing it away with the rest of my decorations because each year I never had time to make them before the winter holidays. I stopped doing that this year, and finally made the snowflakes in May. They really sparkle under the chandelier lights. Our cat was mesmerized by them the day we hung them up, but luckily (for safety reasons) she seems to have forgotten about them.

We wish our readers a warm holiday season and a bountiful new year!