An Old Ornament

I'm still working on going through all of our boxes of Christmas ornaments.  We've found some jewels, some clunkers, some memories for us, some nice ones for Good Will, and some treasures belonging to Rebecca. 

You'd think that getting all dusty and tired from pawing through numerous boxes would make me decide to stop now.  After all, I've really cleaned up quite a bit.  But I haven't finished yet, and every now and then I find something that makes me sit right down with the item cradled in my hand and - sometimes - tears in my eyes.  Sometimes the ornament will bring back memories that keep me thinking all day long about a time, a person, or a place.

Today was such a day.  At the very bottom of a box I found, very carefully wrapped in tissue paper (I should have stock in it - I wrap everything!), an old handmade ornament  It was a small felt, rather flat teddy bear.  It couldn't be more that 3" tall if that.  Talk about memories!

When we were first married, David was working on his doctorate and I was working as a stewardess.  Like most newlyweds, we didn't have any extra money.  The idea was that since we planned to spend Christmas with his family so there was no need to spend money on a Christmas tree.  We could enjoy the one in his family's home. 

Well, I wasn't having any part of that!  We had a miniature palm in our apartment so I decided to decorate it, and make it our Christmas tree.  No money, no decorations - no problem!  I decided to make the decorations.  Painted eggs were first on my list.  Carefully I made holes at each end of some raw eggs (they were inexpensive and scrambled eggs made a good supper). That meant I had to blow the raw egg through those small holes and into a bowl.   I still remember sitting on the floor to do that because it made me dizzy and I didn't want to fall over.  I think we still have a few of those in a box that I haven't opened yet.

The other ornaments of that year were the felt ones.  Do you remember how inexpensive the small squares of felt were at Woolworth's?  I had some and allowed myself to buy a few more colors.  I remember making elephants, rabbits, and teddy bears by tracing around my old hand-me-down tin cookie cutters with green wooden handles.  Then they were cut out, faces were painted on or tiny scraps of felt were glued on for eyes and mouths.  Next I would stuff them with bits of cotton cut from a roll pulled from a dark blue box, and  sew up the sides.  Finally, I'd add a bit of embroidery floss or string as a loop so they could hang on the palm tree (and later, on real Christmas trees). 

What a wealth of fond memories.  And what a lesson!  Those years of making do are long past, and now it's so easy to get whatever I want almost immediately.  No fuss, no muss, no waiting.  The days when I made ornaments, gifts, and clothing have flown by too quickly.  I need to remember how much I enjoyed making things and the thrill of finally purchasing something for which I'd saved a long time.   The past is gone as are many of our old ornaments thanks to this clean-out, but I'd better hold on to that felt teddy bear.

He has such good stories to tell if I remember to listen.