Just one day to go now until the big day. As Blogmas winds down, all we have left to do is enjoy the season. Something that brings me joy this time of year is the Christmas decorations. They are one of my favourite things about the season. I love to rediscover treasured Christmas decorations as we unpack them every year.

Each Christmas decoration is a special treasure with a story to tell. In today’s post, I’ll share the unique story behind five of my family’s favourites.

Christmas carolers

My mother-in-law made these carolers for us when we were first married. She made them out of paper rolls, and hand-knit their scarves and hats. We always display them in our living room so they can greet us when we come home, and also greet guests as they arrive.

The carolers are very special to me for a couple of reasons. First, they were handmade with love and care, which gives them extra sentimental value. And, as a singer, I identify with the carolers. I think the blue one on the left in the grey hat is me!

Little People Nativity Set

When our girls were small, their favourite toys were Fisher-Price Little People. We had the whole collection – the farm, the house, the school bus, the zoo, the amusement park, the mini-van. I’m sure I’ve missed a few but, you get the picture. Our house was like Little People kingdom!

When our daughter Laura was small, we saw an ad for this Little People Nativity Set. Of course, we decided to get it for her for Christmas. But…it wasn’t available in Canada. So, the quest began. We looked online but couldn’t find anyone who would ship it to Canada.

Not willing to give up, we explored other options. We talked to people we knew who had family and friends in the States to see if we could get our hands on one of these elusive nativity sets. We got lucky. In fact, two of our connections came through and we ended up with two of them!

After all of our hard work, when the Sears Canada Wish Book arrived the next year, there was the Little People Nativity Set. That would have been too easy and we wouldn’t have a story to tell!

M&Ms Train Set

Our family loves the M&Ms characters. When my husband and I were first married, you could buy tubes of M&Ms at Christmas. Each tube came with a train piece on top. We collected the train pieces for many years and they are still some of our favourite decorations.  

Over the years, we collected enough pieces to make two trains. We were disappointed when M&Ms stopped selling the tubes, but assembling the trains and putting them on display is something we look forward to every Christmas.

Santa and Frosty the Snowman

Santa and Frosty the Snowman are fairly recent additions to our collection but they are some of our favourite decorations. My daughter Colleen and I picked them up on sale at Michael’s a few years ago. We display them on top of our china cabinet every year.

We decided a couple of years ago that Santa needs a Mrs. Claus to keep him company. Every year, we go back to Michael’s in the hope of finding Mrs. Claus. We have yet to find her.

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“2000 Guys” stuffed animals from Sears

The last on our list of treasured Christmas decorations are these adorable stuffed animals. In the early 2000s, Sears Canada used to sell a stuffed toy every year as a fund raiser. Each year was a different animal wearing a bright scarf and Christmas cap. They were the cutest toys.

My mother-in-law used to get one every year for my daughters’ stockings. The girls were always so excited to add a new “2000 guy” to their collection every year. They called them that because each animal was embroidered with the year it was made.

In later years, Sears replaced the cute animals with plain teddy bears. The teddies just weren’t the same. Now, sadly Sears Canada is no longer in business so there will be no more 2000 guys.

My daughters still love their 2000 guys and they display them in their rooms every Christmas. In fact, Laura’s have gone to visit her at college this year.

So many memories

I think the reason I love decorating for Christmas so much is every piece comes with its own story and set of memories.

What are your treasured Christmas decorations? Tell us about them below.