EMPS: With Christmas Decor, Both Quality and Quantity Count!

For Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #68: Holiday Decorations, I have a bit of variety to show you. Again this year, I've tried to capture on camera the scope and some of the detail of our neighborhood's "Christmas house," the one that has almost as many lights and decorations as the rest of the block put together. At the same time, though, some of the decorations that have been the most meaningful to me this year have been much more modest in scale.



Let's start here, in front of my own house. The bit of greenery hanging off our front alcove thingy is not technically a wreath, but a swag. It was a gift from St. Michael's to me, something to do with a fundraiser for St. Michael's Day School. It's been years since we had fresh greenery at Christmas around here. I used to insist on a live tree every year, even if it was a small one, because that's what I grew up with. But John and I love our vintage aluminum tree, and really, it's kind of selfish of me to insist on spending money every year on a live tree in addition to that and the artificial white one. So I'm grateful for the swag, our only outdoor decoration this year.



Well, almost. On our door, which you can't see from the street, is John's big addition to our Christmas decor this year, a riotously colorful, anything-but-traditional wreath of shiny bits of Mylar (or whatever). Hey, it makes him happy, so I'm happy!



Speaking of St. Michael's School, as I was a few moments ago, there was a great decoration outside a second grade classroom that I was walking past nearly every day for a while on my way to work in the church office. It amused me greatly, but something happened to it about halfway through Advent. It was replaced!



I can only imagine that someone complained about the first stocking, and the teacher gave in, or else she swapped it out because she or the kids stopped being naughty. School let out on Thursday, and on Friday there was no stocking up at all.




Carly also wants to see an heirloom decoration. We haven't actually gotten our stuff out yet, but here's a taste of things to come. The first ornaments we ever had as a couple were cardboard Kliban cats and some ratty old glass balls I got cheap at the Salvation Army store. Nowadays we have many more vintage ornaments, purchased at swap meets and elsewhere, as well as some reproductions of the ornaments I grew up with. Here's a taste of what we have, dug out more or less at random for you. I'll have much more to show you when I get the tree up.



Now here's just a sample of the Christmas house photos. I'll do a whole entry on just that (and the house across from it) in a day or two. Trust me, there's a lot to see!

Karen