Christmas Decorating Traditions...by Kristin Wallace

Are your holiday decorations up yet? Are you one of those people who puts up a tree and lights right after Halloween? I don't know why, but just pulling everything out of the storage boxes is enough to warm your heart. Every piece evokes memories of your childhood or when your kids were little. They might make you think of your parents or grandparents. 

We all have traditional decorations that must be set out every year. I now have two places to decorate...my apartment and my parents' house. My parents have all the ornaments and decorations that I grew up with. We collect the Hallmark dated ornaments, which started waaaaay back in 1976. 

As you can imagine there are quite a lot of them at this point. There are also ornaments that my brother and I made, including a set of nativity characters. 

My apartment is a little more eclectic as it's a mix of my things and those of my roommate. 

 

Do you have special decorations that must be put up every year? Where did they come from and what do they remind you of? 

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith. She is the author of the three popular series, Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales, and Palm Cove Tales. 

Looking for a great read that will put you in the holiday mood? Download the Christmas in Shellwater Key box set, on sale for only 99 cents. Enjoy three fun & festive holiday tales set in sunny Florida. 

A Hallmark Christmas Tradition by Kristin Wallace

Christmas is all about traditions. Every family has one, and it centers around Hallmark. We started collecting the Hallmark dated ornaments in 1976 and bought one every year since. I don't think we meant to start a tradition. My dad picked one up and then we got one the next year...and the next year...and the next. Since I’m not married I still get to decorate the family tree at my parents’ house.

The original 1976 ornament

A more recent addition

It’s always such a treat to open the boxes and take them out every year. There are so many memories to uncover. There’s a Santa carrying an Olympic torch to symbolize one of the Olympic games. Santa is featured is featured a lot, of course. There’s a Santa on a train, in a plane, in a hot air balloon, in a car. Santa is featured with his wife a couple of times, too. There’s one on an exercise bike because someone was trying to lose weight that year. We’ve got a few singing angels because my entire family sings. I have some personal ones featuring books because I’m always either reading or writing a book. There’s a “Baby’s first Christmas” from the year my niece was born.

2017 ornament

It’s my dad’s job to take the ornaments out of each box while my mom and I hang them on the tree. We always joke about how he stops for each one, marveling at how the early ones were so inexpensive, and of course, there are a lot of “Oh, I remember this one.”

A box filled with memories…literally. My favorite part of Christmas. Does your family have any traditions when it comes to decorating?

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two best selling series, Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance). Look for her latest holiday romance, LOVING YOU AT CHRISTMAS, part of her Shellwater Key Tales series.

For info on all of her books, visit: Kristin Wallace Author 

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