From the heart: Readers share their stories about favorite Christmas tree ornaments

There are many ways to decorate a Christmas tree. Some go with modern decorations, while others opt for more traditional ornaments or family heirlooms to adorn the visual centerpiece of their Christmas morning celebrations.

We asked Shaw Local News Network readers from throughout northern Illinois to send in photos of their special ornaments or collections that are hung on their trees every year during the Christmas holidays.

Readers everywhere offered up their heartfelt responses, sharing some of their family traditions and sentimental ornaments that they turn to each year.

My Christmas elf

In the early 1960s, one Christmas morning, my sisters and I found this elf sitting on top of our Christmas stockings (we each borrowed one of our dad’s work socks). Our elf had a small box of chocolates in his arms. There is a family picture of my four sisters and I holding our elves; one sister has him sitting on her shoulder. Every year, I tuck him in the Christmas tree, and it brings back so many childhood memories! – Sharon Brown, Dixon

A historic Mary ornament

While not the prettiest on my tree, this ornament certainly has seniority. My mom, who was born in 1916, had it as a child, making this Mary ornament over 100 years old. Although she’s paper thin, she has adorned many Christmas trees in various houses. There used to be a Joseph also, but he’s unfortunately long gone. Each year, when we decorate the tree, we carefully unwrap Mary to see if she has survived another year. 2023 – Success! – Laurie Schryver, Dixon

The ransom of Astro Santa

I have only one ornament from my childhood – a golden Santa, also known as Astro Santa. To torment me, my sons would root through the ornament boxes every year to find this Santa and “kidnap” him before I could hang him on the tree. I found my Santa hanging in the shower one year and chilling in the freezer the next. One year, I seem to recall some kind of ransom demand note. I would pretend I was upset and angry about their antics, but I was always laughing inside. – Denise Hay, Milledgeville, Georgia

A new, custom-made favorite every year

My most treasured Christmas ornaments are the ones made by my husband, Gary.

Inspired by ornaments my father-in-law made, Gary has given me one every year since 1991. Using balsa wood, glue, bits of cloth, paints and other items, he has crafted a wide variety. They include a red wagon, snowmen, a train, an artist’s easel, a wheel barrel of toys, a sailboat, a tiny creche and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

He also has documented certain milestones by making ornaments depicting our house, backyard arbor, bar and even new windows.

Most of my Christmas decorations are steeped in sentiment, but none hold the place of these ornaments. Since I love them all, each year brings me a new favorite! So I am submitting this year’s favorite ornament: the lighthouse.

Merry Christmas, one and all! – Deb Michalowski, Joliet

Through the generations

These are my most treasured ornaments. I collect ornaments and have many very old ones passed down through my family. The three pictured belonged to my Busia (grandma), who was born in Chicago in 1894. I have no idea how old they are.

My grandparents were married in Chicago in 1911. Were they theirs? My mom, who was born in 1915, remembered my Busia always having them on their tree. Whether they come from my grandparents or my great-grandparents (my grandfather’s parents), who came to this country in the early 1900s, we don’t know. But they are truly my connection to the past generations. I don’t hang them on my tree but display them in a special place in my curio cabinet. – Grace Blaszak, Crest Hill

The Travel Tree

My wife, Jeanine, and I have lived on four continents and have visited more than 70 countries in our 64 years of marriage. This photo is of our Travel Tree, one of four trees we decorate each year.

Every ornament is from nature, free or inexpensive. Items range from small, wooden African animals and Moai replicas from Easter Island to little lighthouses from Maine and glass blue whales from a whaling museum in Western Australia.

We have never counted them. We know our family will throw all of this stuff in a dumpster when we are gone, but we enjoy decorating this Christmas tree each year. – Mike Fuller, Crest Hill

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

I remember the first time I saw the film “The Wizard of Oz.” The family gathered in front of our living room cabinet-style tube television “set,” as we called them. I especially will never forget the magical feeling of watching Dorothy’s perspective transform from black-and-white to fantastic technicolor as she opens the door upon entering the Land of Oz. This was a great decision on the producer’s part, even though color television had already entered the homes of most Americans. The fact that I had been born after most families owned color televisions did not subtract from the wonder I felt during that moment when I somehow knew “I’m in for a wonderful story!” That may not have been my exact thought at 5 years old, but that was certainly what I felt.

What does this have to do with Christmas ornaments? For decades, my mother has adorned our Christmas tree each year with dozens of beautiful ornaments, all with a unique story. Four ornaments I am most attached to were made by my mother. As you may have guessed, they are characters from “The Wizard of Oz” – Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion. Perhaps I love them mostly because they represent a simpler time; my childhood and that moment with my family will always remain close to my heart. These ornaments also represent the magical way that pop culture can bring us together.

So each and every year I look forward to helping my mother adorn the tree with lights and garland, to seeing each and every sentimental ornament that represents both the care my mother takes in displaying them and the closeness my family has shared well into my middle ages. – Jamie Michael Albert

Five generations

This year, our Christmas tree will have hand-sewn monogrammed ornaments representing five generations of family members. The oldest ornaments were crafted in the 1970s, when American Country décor was popular with its use of gingham checks and calico print fabric. In 2023, we continue this tradition.

On Nov. 4, our family welcomed little Nathaniel, and he already has his monogrammed ornament decorating a branch on the tree. Gnomes and nutcrackers are currently popular, but finding your special ornament with a name carefully sewn assures you of forever being a special member of our family tree. – Carol Lukowski, Joliet

A different way to wrap

Our 9-year-old son was learning how to use a soldering iron and wrapped my gift with wire and a dollop of solder. We hang it on the tree every year. – Kathleen Anderson, Marengo

The Triangle House

One of my favorite memories from Christmastime as a child was the anticipated appearance of the Triangle House. When my mom would start getting the decorations out, it was the first thing I would look for.

Now that I have it, I still feel that excitement when I know the time is coming to take it out of its box and put it on display each year. It’s almost like I’m seeing it for the first time. I handle it gently as I Iook at it from every angle. It is truly a step back in time! The Triangle House takes me back to simpler times as a child and the anticipation of the holiday season! – Mary Jo Shain, Carbon Hill

Treasured ornaments from the 1960s

My mother, Frances Gale, made these ornaments in the 1960s. She sourced the miniature figures and created scenes inside each clear plastic ornament. I still have 57 ornaments, which I treasure. – Virginia Gale, Joliet