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Love On A Limb

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 24, 2007

We spend an awful lot of time and money decking halls and trimming trees for the holidays. Funny thing is, you can never predict which of those decorations will end up being the family treasure. It's not always the prettiest piece, or the most expensive. For many, it's the ornament with the best story that's hung front and center every Christmas.

We asked readers to share the tales behind their most cherished holiday decorations, and you didn't disappoint. We heard about a manger scene made from clothespins and pine cones and ornaments that became even more beloved after they tumbled and crumbled.

We wish we could run every story we received, but sadly, there just isn't space. Here are a few of our favorites.

Kim Franke-Folstad

The Christmas Mouse

From: Cindy Sivula, Northdale

Our 10-foot Christmas tree is illuminated by more than 3,500 lights and is adorned by nearly 1,000 ornaments of all sizes, shapes and dimensions.

Many of our ornaments are family heirlooms handed down from my parents; others, we and our two daughters have collected over the years while on vacations or just by finding something that touched our hearts.

While a few are made of Waterford crystal, or are part of the Christopher Radko or other collections, our favorite - and the one that receives the most loving attention, hands down - is a little gray mouse lovingly handcrafted by our older daughter, Nancy, when she was in the second grade.

Over the years, her pride in the mouse and her original zeal in placing the mouse on the tree have turned into attempts to hide the mouse or otherwise keep it from its honored place. Each year, however, we manage to outwit her and keep the mouse safe and lovingly place it in a very prominent location on the tree.

This is her first year away from home for Christmas and, I must admit, I do miss the great mouse debate.

Real Angels Have Curves

From: Katherine W. Piersall, Dade City-San Antonio area

'Twas the week before Christmas when my young son came home from school with handmade dough ornaments. One was a smiling angel who looked rather startling - brown hair, wings trimmed in red, a robe of red and green, and ... curves.

His two older brothers were shocked that their little brother had made an angel with a bosom! Even baby brother got in the act. In spite of vehement protests that those "bumps" were angel hands pressed together in prayer, the Booby Angel was christened.

Now, 35 years later, the curvaceous angel still adorns my Christmas tree. She shows a little wear and tear, but as she smiles at me, I remember past Christmases with four rough-and-tumble little boys growing up. I see them today as grown men with their own families, who still love to tease each other by retelling the story of the Booby Angel at each family holiday celebration.

To me, the Booby Angel represents the bonds that have made my four boys not just brothers, but best friends. A mom's best Christmas gift - disguised as a funny little "full-figured" angel. I think she was praying after all.

First Try At A God's Eye

From: Margaret Almcrantz, Odessa

Every year when we decorate the tree and the ornaments are unwrapped from safekeeping, we always get a few laughs when this one gets hung front and center. My daughter made it in 1995, when she was just 4 years old. It was suppose to be a "God's Eye." She was totally frustrated that her older brother, who was 7 at the time, knew how to wrap the yarn just right around the craft sticks to make a beautiful pattern. Determined to succeed, she practiced and practiced until she, too, mastered the yarn-wrapping process, but it's always been the first attempt that has held a special place in our hearts.

Bad Snowmen

From: Brenda Sexton, Ruskin

This snowman ornament was made by my son, Chris Sexton, in 1997.

We would use cookie cutters to cut out snowman shapes made from cinnamon, applesauce and spices. After the snowmen would dry, Chris would paint them. He loved them because he was born in Florida and had never seen snow. He liked for his snowmen to look a little bad with the black hats and to imagine they had snowball fights. They still smell like cinnamon after all these years.

Chris is a former Marine who made it back after three tours in Iraq and became a father for the first time in July. I have handed down this cinnamon ornament recipe to him so that in the years to come, he can make them with his son.

The Amazing Santa's Face

From: Ginger King, Carrollwood

As a child of the '40s, I have fond memories of a tree heavily laden with big blinking lights, bubbling lights, plastic ornaments and loads of shimmering icicles. I decided my children's tree would be adorned with only homemade ornaments. The children spent hours painting these relics, which adorn our tree to this day. They decorated hundreds of wooden curtain rings, personalizing each one. Then there were the wooden painted Santas, little drummer boys, angels and wise men.

One year, dough art was all the rage, and that produced the Amazing Santa's Face. My 5-year-old son, either by accident or by some latent talent that is yet to surface, sculpted the most amazing Santa's face. Too large to hang, Santa must be nestled securely amongst the branches so that he peers out at us with a whimsical expression. He always claims a prominent position.

Nearly 30 years later, my son, now a partner in a Miami law firm, still examines the tree as soon as he arrives home to find his ornament. This year he will find it with the help of his little son.

It will be there.

The Aging Gingerbread Boy

From: Karen Kearney, Apollo Beach

This is a special ornament made by my son nearly 30 years ago. It is made of construction paper and has become pretty fragile, so I use great care when storing it each year. He made this in kindergarten and it used to smell like cinnamon, but the scent has faded through the years. This ornament has hung on our Christmas tree every year since 1978. My son, Christopher, is now a firefighter and a devoted father of two, and he still loves Christmas as much now as when he was a little boy.

If Only Beer Grew On Trees

From: Shirley Ann Schultz, Sun City Center

It was Christmas 1983 and our son Lane had just finished his hitch with the Coast Guard. We were busy with visitors, etc., and as I was looking at the tree, I remarked that I hadn't had time to buy an annual dated ornament, a tradition I've kept for years.

Lane looked at the bottle of Christmas beer he was drinking and said it had a Christmas tree and was dated, so why not? It has hung on our trees every year since, and with all the ornaments we have (more than 250, some more than 70 years old), the first comment by visitors is, "Why do you have a beer bottle on your tree?"

Unfortunately, our son is no longer with us; he died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1992 at age 34. So that beer bottle is one of our happier memories.

The Fang-Toothed Angel

From: Marianne Mackey-Smith, Northdale

Our perfect angel ornament came home in 1992, when our sons were 5 and 8. The ornament was created by our then 5-year-old, Nathan. As the December days came and went, the boys came home with art projects related to the holidays. I am amazed at what teachers have children create from construction paper, cotton balls and crayons!

We attended our Nathan's Christmas program. As we gathered his things to head home, he presented us with our gift. It was the most amazing ornament, known since as "The Fang-Toothed Angel." This concoction of paper, markers and tinsel with ears like Yoda has the most wonderful smile with "fangs" for teeth.

We were the "perfect" parents, and oohed and aahed over his art while the other parents tried to control their laughter. This angel touched our hearts that day and brings us great joy as each holiday approaches. The paper is getting a bit yellow and brittle now. The tradition in our family since 1992 is that "The Fang-Toothed Angel" is the first ornament to adorn our Christmas tree in a place of honor each year. We love this angel.

A New Treasure

From: Denyse Riveiro, South Tampa

Several weeks ago, my tree fell, and I lost most of my treasured ornaments. I delicately collected all the broken pieces and placed them in a large glass jar.

This jar is filled with my most precious, irreplaceable broken ornaments. My favorite ornament is all of them in a new kaleidoscope dimension. If you look closely, you can see Rudolph, Santa, Frosty, baby's first ornament, nutcrackers, angels and too many others to name.

I did not let the tree disaster spoil more than 27 years of memories and love for my ornaments. I found a new way to appreciate them in a jar of enchanting surprises. I truly understand that ornaments are about the memories of years gone by and what truly matters is the memories that remain within us.

A Lesson Learned

From: Jenny Purcell Hawley, South Tampa

I was 7 years old and in the third grade in 1971, attending what was then called Beach Park Private School. My teacher, Mrs. Palmer, made personalized ornaments for her students, and I still cherish mine.

The ornament says, "So you'll remember each Christmas all who shared in this special year." Oddly, it's not the individual people I remember well, but the overall happy feeling of the school and the things I learned there.

Mrs. Palmer and I played chess frequently. She hated it when her queen was captured, and she would lose the game trying to capture her opponent's queen in retaliation. Even at 7, I saw how illogical that was, and she would laugh about it once she realized her mistake. It was an important lesson that I applied not only to chess, but to many life situations.

As the youngest in my family, I hung my ornament on the tree first, an honor it held every Christmas until I had kids of my own. Now my ornament is relegated to third place, but as I hang it on the tree, I still fondly think of Mrs. Palmer and that wonderful third-grade year.

She's The Tops

From: Donna Adams Hall, Forest Hills

I collect Christmas tree ornaments, and I have hundreds. But this angel tree topper is my most treasured because it holds many wonderful Christmas memories from the past. I was 8 years old in 1955, when my mother, Marie, purchased it at Maas Bros. in Tampa. My mother gave it to me after she found it packed away three years ago.

Growing up, my brother, sister and I thought this angel was magnificent. After the family decorated the tree, we could hardly wait for Daddy to put her in the place of honor. We had many beautiful glass and special ornaments, but all deteriorated with age, except this topper. She is called Radiant Ray Angel and was made by Glolite. She shines in comparison to the mass-produced tree toppers of today.

This dear angel now graces the tree in my family's living room at Christmastime.

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