Meaningful Christmas Decorating

Decorating for Christmas is so much fun with children!  When my husband and I were first married, my mother-in-law gave us a box of decorations she had been buying for my husband since he was a baby.  We instantly had a whole set of meaningful Christmas decorations, it was so thoughtful!  I started doing the same thing for my boys.  I've been buying them quality, handmade ornaments from countries of their heritage.  The majority of their heritage is Swedish (from my husband's side; our last name is Ek, which means Oak), English, German and Polish.  We also have Spanish, French, Russian, Irish, and a dash of Mali, Western Asia, Polynesian and Iranian.

My favorite Christmas decorations are handmade in Germany.  I'm particularly fond of German Smokers, I find them so charming!  One of my favorite Christmas treasures is our German-made Sherlock Holmes Nutcraker.   I also really love Scandinavian ornaments.  Seattle has a rich Scandinavian heritage, so I'm fortunate to find little Swedish or Norwegian trinkets in local thrift and antique shops.

I've also added some American handmade ornaments to our collection.  I absolutely LOVE the ones I chose this year, they're from a local woodworker, Stumpdust.  They are high quality, adorable and so unique.

I don't buy anything plastic, resin or mass-produced in China.  Quality is definitely an investment.  Our Christmas decorating started out small but each year gets a little bit bigger and a lot more meaningful.