Last week, I mentioned that Sidney and I had to start from the ground up when it came to stockpiling Christmas decorations. We took our first step toward this goal by purchasing a bunch of Christmas tree ornaments from Target.

However, not all of the ornaments that adorn our tree are of the major box store variety. Believe it or not, we have some items that hang on our tree that bring more of a sentimental value with them. Don’t get me wrong, Target ornaments still outnumber more personal ornaments by at least 5:1, but over the years this ratio will start to close.

Today I want to share five of the more unique and personal ornaments on our tree. I hope you enjoy.

5. CCU Ornament – Coastal Carolina University holds a special place in the hearts of both Sidney and I. As my employer and as Sid’s alma mater, our Coastal Carolina ornament is very much valued. Making it extra special is that it once belonged to Sidney’s grandma.

It is a no-brainer that we have included a Coastal Caorlina University ornament on our tree.

4. Toddler Sidney – This ornament just tugs at my heart. It is of Sid as a little girl over 22 years ago in 1994. Such a sweet decoration to put on the tree. My mom asked me if I wanted her to send a similar ornament of me from my early years to hang right by Sidney’s but I told her to hold off for the time being.

I love looking at this ornament that depicts a young Sid.

3. First Tree Stump – Sidney saw this brilliant idea somewhere (probably Pinterest) and wanted to make sure to replicate it for us. When we purchased our tree, we had the guy cut off the bottom of the stump for us. Sidney then wrote on it and converted it into a creative ornament. You know, as a kid I always felt a bit sad when we would throw out our Christmas trees. The bonding, the joy, and the fun we had with the tree seemed to go with it to the dumpster. For the two of us, I am thrilled that we will always have a piece of our first tree together.

This was a brilliant idea by Sid to make this ornament using the stump of our tree.

2. Wedding Ornament – As part of the wedding gift that our sponsor couple gave us, they included this special ornament. It has two figures that look like Sidney and I along with our names and the date of our wedding. After our special day in June, we had been waiting to finally hang this up on our tree.

Our sponsor couple, Tim and Kathy McCormick, gave us this ornament as part of the wedding gift they graciously gave us.

1. We Are Expecting Snow People Family – Sidney and I saw this at our local mall and couldn’t resist but have it customized. The woman snow person with the “snow bump” stole our hearts. We had the bump customized with the name of what we will call our daughter but for the sake of this blog post I am “white washing” it.

Needless to say, this is a very precious ornament and it will be a treasured part of our tree for years and years to come.

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There is a quick look at some of the finer ornaments on our tree. This is a big weekend for purchasing and decorating trees, so if you are on this bandwagon, I hope you picked a good one and have lots of special/pretty ornaments to hang on it. Don’t Blink.