Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas Collection



by Beth


I'm not much of a collector. Oh, I've started collections before: My mom used to buy us Precious Moments figurines for Christmas every year but after awhile, we all had so many, we really didn't want any more *g* As a teen, I tried to collect music boxes until I realized how expensive a hobby that was (although the ones I have hold a special place in my heart!) I'm not really much of a 'saver' and have no problems tossing things out that hold no use to me. But there is something I've collected over the years, items that threaten to take over my house every Christmas:

Christmas books!

Children's Christmas books to be exact :-)

This obsession...er...collection started innocently enough. I wanted a special gift I could get for my kids each year, something they could take with them when they moved out that could be used or passed down to their own children. My first thought was to get them each an ornament. Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding ornaments I actually liked well enough to spend money on *g*



So I came up with the idea of buying them each a Christmas book. My hope was that they would save their books and be able to pass them down to their own children someday. I have to admit, I love buying this gift each year! I get such a kick out of taking the books out and displaying them as part of our Christmas decorations and I always re-read my favorite ones.

I honestly love these books so much, I almost don't want the kids to take them! I'm sort of hoping they'll want to leave them with me until they have children who can appreciate them *g*



Some of our favorites are: A version of The Night Before Christmas with pictures by Mary Englebreit

Are You Grumpy Santa? about poor Santa getting grumpy after a bad day

Merry Un-Christmas, about how special an ordinary day would be if the other 364 days of the year were Christmas


Olivia Helps With Christmas, about a little pig with a big imagination who helps her family get ready for the holiday

So far this year I've bought: It's Christmas, David! about a mishcevious boy who's always being told "No" and I See Santa Everywhere - about a boy who thinks Santa is stalking him year 'round (but only to check to see if he's naughty or nice) *g*



Do you have any Christmas collections? Any items you buy every year for your kids or someone else on your list?

It's FINALLY here! The Romance Bandits 12 Days of Christmas Booty! Every day between now and Christmas, one lucky commenter per day will win a daily prize and on some days, additional goodies from that day's blogging Bandita or guest. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we'll give away bigger prizes, including autographed books, GR mugs and much more! Come join us! Tell your friends! Let's make the Season BRIGHT!

107 comments:

Jane said...

I don't really have any real Christmas collections. I do love to shop for ornaments and I saved a few wooden ones from my childhood. I wish I had saved all the old ornaments for the memories. I also have quite a few stockings I've picked up over the years(mostly from when I stayed a relative's home during Christmas.)

Christine Wells said...

Hi Beth, what a lovely collection you have there and a great legacy to hand down to future generations.

We have quite a few Christmas books, but I'd say we have more of a collection of Christmas DVDs, with everything from How the Grinch stole Christmas to The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Polar Express. We also collect Christmas carols by many different artists--the old favourites and a few that are in pretty bad taste, such as Elvis (Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me) and Neil Diamond. But we love them anyway!

I love getting all these out and playing them. It helps the Christmas spirit last all of December.

Congrats on collecting the rooster today, Jane!

Anna Sugden said...

What a lovely post and a lovely idea, Beth - we may have to steal that one!

I don't have a Christmas collection per se, although we do collect ornaments from all the places we travel to. That makes decorating the Christmas tree a real pleasure as it's also a walk down memory lane.

I love the Night Before Christmas and have a first edition of it, that I got for a present one year. Hubby has a pop-up version that is awesome.

I shall have to keep an eye out for those Christmas children's books.

Helen said...

Well done Jane have fun with him

Beth
Lovely post but I don't have a Christmas collection either although it is a great idea I am sure I can start one this year for my grandchildren LOL

Have Fun
Helen

Unknown said...

Enjoy GR Jane
Love your post Beth, I don't have a Christmas collection although I did collect christmas elf ornaments with the year on until they stopped making them.

Deb Marlowe said...

Love your idea, Beth!

We have a boxed collection of Little Golden Christmas books that we get out every year. I think the fave is The Cat Who Climbed the Christmas Tree.

My only collection is a Christmas collection. I adore the Nutcracker and I have a lovely collection of different historical nutcrackers. They bring out my holiday spirit!

Maureen said...

I usually buy my nephews a Christmas book and ornament. My sister and mother have bought my children an ornament every year since they were born so over twenty years later their ornaments cover most of the tree.

Gillian Layne said...

Love it, Beth! I do the same thing. We have a narrow shelf that runs around our family room and I fill it with the books. The covers are so gorgeous! My favorites are Tosca's Christmas, Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas, Merry Christmas Strega Nona, The Animal's Christmas Carol, Truffle's Christmas, and Lauren's Christmas Star (my middle daughter is Lauren).

I also line up all my Christmas romance in one special place so I can just grab one when I have a moment.

Gannon Carr said...

I do have quite a few Santas, but I haven't bought any new ones in the last couple of years. They have to catch my eye to be worth it. We usually buy a new ornament any time we go on a trip.

Donna MacMeans said...

Beth -

I have a collection of Santas that go up on the mantle each year. And, of course, the ornaments that have stories connected to each one (otherwise why buy it?). But I love your collection of children's books. I bought books for my kids for every holiday - Christmas, Easter, Halloween...but I don't know what happened to them. Perhaps they got read to death. I thought I was finished with my shopping, but I may have to dash out and pick up Merry Christmas David. I know the perfect home for it.

Minna said...

I don't really have any Christmas collections at the moment, although I wish I'll someday have all Christmas themed books by Mauri Kunnas.

Kirsten said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MJFredrick said...

The ones I read to my class every year are Tomie di Paola's Legend of the Poinsettia, Santa Claustrophobia, and Jan Brett's The Night Before Christmas.

gamistress66 said...

I love ornaments and have many. My mom buys me a new one each year and I love it. I've been able to get the white house ornament the past several years (either as a gift or bought myself) so I've a small collection of those now. I've also more Holiday CD's than necessary. Though I never planned on it being a collection. ;) I've disallowed myself to buy anymore (I've enough holiday songs to go days without repeating a version).

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

I used to collect many things and now nothing.....LOL, I did used to collect Santas, I was aiming for Santas from around the world but ran out of room to display them very quickly.

The only items I buy every year faithfully is socks, don't know how that came about but heaven forbid I don't get them now because no one would have socks for a whole year.

Deb said...

Hi, Beth. I used to collect angel figurines and teapots all year 'round, but haven't done so in quite awhile. Shary loves dogs and puppies, so, since I buy her an ornament every year, I've bought puppy ones for the last couple of years.

Some other children's Christmas books that are really very good are:

-The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett (anything by Jan Brett is worth checking out)--pic book
-The Christmas Collie--pic book
-The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree--pic book
-The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
-The House Without A Christmas Tree
-The Polar Express--pic book

Laney4 said...

Nope. No collections per se.

It does seem like every few years there is a theme to gifts. One year my sis, her daughters, and I all gave and received CDs. Another year it was slippers. Another was pajamas.

My sister's family always buys her "useless" kitchen tools for Christmas. She has drawers full of them. They are "neat things" that LOOK useful, but they just take up space when a spoon, for example, could do just as good a job.

Dina said...

,y new computer died, using VERY old one, its not running well either. :(

no collections for me.

Angela Hood-Ross said...

I collect angels. However, since my mother's passing three years ago, I inherited her snowman collection. Year-round I collect stemware. AND from the time I was a little girl until now with my children and grandchildren, a new ornament is always in the stockings to add to our collection. I still have ornaments from when I was little.

petite said...

I enjoyed your post. I don't have a Christmas collection. Yours sounds wonderful.

traveler said...

I love collections that are memorable although I haven't any real Christmas memorabilia.

elaing8 said...

I collect Christmas snow globes. And when my nieces and nephews were younger,every year they would make me a tree ornament. I still have them all.
Happy Holidays!

Beth Andrews said...

Good morning! Congrats on nabbing the GR, Jane!

Isn't it funny how many memories are tied to ornaments? I have a few from my childhood and we have some from my husband's grandmother. They're so special! I also have the knit stocking my mom made - she's knit a stocking for all of her kids, our spouses and all the grandchildren *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Christine, can you believe I've never seen The Polar Express? We do have the book though *g*

We love our Christmas carols, too! My kids' faves include a Mickey Mouse one, The Chipmunks, and Destiny's Child. And on Christmas morning, we only listen to Bing Crosby :-)

alinaduffer said...

Hi Beth! I have two Christmas collections, well kinda, lol! Every year my kids each get a new ornament and my hubby and I get one together. So thats one collection. The other one is few ceramic decorations my Mom and I made years ago. Aside from that my best friend and I have started giving each other a certain gift every year to build our collections. Mine is Precious Moments and hers is Snowbabies.

Have a Very Wonderful Christmas!!!

Beth Andrews said...

What a lovely post and a lovely idea, Beth - we may have to steal that one!

Steal away! It's so much fun shopping for Christmas books *g* I also buy one each year for my youngest niece and nephews. The only problem is I keep forgetting to write down all the ones I've bought and have gotten doubles :-)

Love the idea of buying ornaments from your travels! What a great way to remember your trips *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, Helen! My only problem with my collection now is I'm not sure I want my kids to take them when they move out *g* I'll have to buy each book again so I have my own copy :-)

Minna said...

I used to collect Christmas stamps, but now I've concentrated on collecting cat stamps and I'm trying to fill one small stamp album with space stamps. Of course there are probably at Christmas themed cat stamps, although I haven't seen any of those yet. Of course, I would be happy if I would see ANY STAMPS AT ALL on envelopes, not just some white sticker with the date and the price of postage.

Joulu Peruutettu - Mamba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Oe8bC5Mdw

Janga said...

Lovely post, Beth! I have a Christmas book collection too. Some of my favorites are The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, and Winter Lights: A Season in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines, which celebrates all the witer holidays and is illustrated by the most gorgeous quilts made by the author specifically for this book.

jo robertson said...

What a darling post, Beth. I love the idea of collecting Christmas books. Wish I'd thought of it.

I do collect Nativity scenes, many of which are wooden or resin, very kid-friendly, so the children can play with them. One of the most interesting is a black Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. It's interesting because, being Middle Eastern, they would've been dark skinned.

Gillian Layne said...

Janga said:

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski...

We have this, and I love it! Did you know it's also a movie? I saw it for rent at the movie rental store the other day. But I didn't get it---I didn't want a bad movie version to ruin a wonderful book, do you know what I mean? Has anyone seen the movie?

Susan Mallery said...

What a great idea for a collection! Not only are they fun to read, but having the books strewn around the house makes for very engaging, colorful decorations. Love it!

Nancy said...

Jane, congrats on the bird!

Beth, what a cool collection! There's nothing we buy every year, but the boy had several Christmas picture books, which I refused to allow him to throw away (my hypothetical grandchildren may want them someday). They're in storage because they're embarrassing to have in a teenaged boy's room.

We do try to buy Christmas ornaments when we go on vacation. The dh and I started this when we walked into a glass shop on Savannah's River Street a month before our wedding.

We honeymooned in San Francisco, and there was a Christmas shop on Pier 39. We have glass balls from Bar Harbor, Maine, and Bellingham, Washington, a whale and a sea turtle from Plimoth Plantation, Massachusetts, a miniature of the Hatteras Light and a turtle and a caterpillar made with jingle bells from the NC Outer Banks, a Santa from a little town in Colorado, a bear from the Colorado RenFest, and a polar bear from the Denver Zoo (we have relatives in Colorado).

There are others but none from the UK. If we ever manage to get back there, I will insist on something that can be hung on the tree, whether or not it officially is an ornament.

We also have ornaments or decorations commemorating each of our dogs. I have the USS Enterprise and USS Voyager and, I think, the Millennium Falcon as well as an assortment of super-heroes, which the boy displays with great care every year.

Last Christmas, as we were decorating the tree, I commented that I should tag those ornaments from vacations so the boy would know where they came from when we were gone. His response? "That's okay. I don't care much about that."

Ouch.

But he's a teenaged boy. What did I expect? *sigh*

Nancy said...

Jane, I love wooden ornaments. I have a couple of ornaments from my childhood, but they're plastic or papier mache.

Nancy said...

Gillian, you remind me that I do have some Christmas romance anthologies, some of them Signet traditional regencies. I don't read a lot of anthologies, but I do like Christmas ones.

Unknown said...

I don't have any Christmas collections but my son has ornaments from the time he was born up until age 18, that my sister bought for him.

Beth Andrews said...

Hi, Barb. That's what usually happened to me when I thought I wanted to collect something. They either stopped making them or became too expensive *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, Deb! We have a few Little Golden Books from when my husband was little including Toy Soldiers based on the movie Babes in Toyland *g*

I love nutcrackers although I don't have any. The ones we had broke. I think the kids must've tried to really crack nuts with them :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Maureen, I do think buying ornaments is a lovely tradition! My youngest gets an ornament every year from her godparents and she cherishes them *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Gillian, I'm envious of your shelf! I have my books on the piano, on a pretty bench and on the end tables. But I need more room *g*

We have one book with my youngest daughter's name but nothing for the other two. But I did get my older daughter Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas because she's all about fancy and Loren Long's Drummer Boy for my son the drummer :-)

Hellie Sinclair said...

I have a collection of ornaments: Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. :)

Beth Andrews said...

I do like Santas, Gannon. But like you, they have to catch my eye. I prefer Victorian style Santas but I have a hard time finding them *g*

Beth Andrews said...

I may have to dash out and pick up Merry Christmas David. I know the perfect home for it.

Donna, we adore the David books. The first one was No, David! I used to volunteer at my kids' school when they went to the library and read books to them and I had to read No, David! every week. They loved it *g*

Andrea said...

What a wonderful blog, Beth! The only "Christmas collection" I have is that I purchase the Holiday Barbie ornament every year. I have every years' dating back to 1996. And I'm very particular about where I put them on the tree. Since my daughter is 6 (and loves Barbie), she loved helping me hang them this year. Hopefully she'll still be interested in them later on so I can pass them down to her. :) Merry Christmas!

Blodeuedd said...

Hm, no can't say there is anything I buy every year.
But what a great collection, I sure have nothing like that

Book Chatter Cath said...

I dont collect anything Christmas themed as such although I have started collecting angel ornaments and I have a couple of spun glass ones that could hang from the tree :)

Christie Kelley said...

I don't have any Christmas collections but every year I buy an ornament for each of my boys. I usually try to find something related to our family vacations. This year when we stopped in St. Thomas during our cruise, I bought sand dollars that were painted with Christmas scenes. When they both move out, I'm going to have to buy more ornaments for the tree.

Nancy said...

Cath, I love angel ornaments. A friend gave us one of those beautiful tabletop angels one year, and I thought about starting a collection, but we really don't have enough flat surfaces that aren't in use for it to be practical.

Two of the angels on our tree are papier mache left from my childhood (there were six originally, but the wing area tends to break off). Each has an instrument.

Beth Andrews said...

Minna, maybe some day you'll get your books! I know there are a few things I'd like to collect but I'm waiting for the right time *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Kirsten, I love holiday themed romance books! Tawny's is out now and it's fabulous - three stories for the price of one *g*

And don't you love how some collections start? So innocently...and the next thing you know, you need bigger bookcases :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Mary, thanks for the suggestions! Thoser are ones we don't have yet *g* I've added them to my wish list for next year :-)

I do love Jan Brett's books. So pretty!

Beth Andrews said...

Gamemistress, how nice that your mom gets you ornaments! My mom buys them for all of us, too *g*

My youngest gets a precious moments ornament each year and they are so pretty - but heavy. Good thing we have an artificial tree of they'd never stay on :-)

runner10 said...

I like to pick up a new ornament for each of my children every Christmas. The tree is really full now.

Beth Andrews said...

The only items I buy every year faithfully is socks, don't know how that came about but heaven forbid I don't get them now because no one would have socks for a whole year.

LOL, Dianna! My mom does the same thing. It's gotten to the point where my husband has said he needs new socks and I tell him to just hang on until Christmas because he'll get some from her *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Deb, I bet you've found some cute dog and puppy ornaments! It's nice when you find something they like *g*

Thanks for the book suggestions!

Beth Andrews said...

LOL, Laney! That's so funny that you were all on the same wavelength with your gifts *g*

I'm cracking up over the 'neat looking' kitchen gadgets because my husband was just complaining about all of my kitchen items and how they take up so much space. He's right but I can't part with any of them! What if someday I need that third soup ladle? ;-)

Beth Andrews said...

Sorry to hear about the computer woes, Dina! Hope you get it figured out.

Dina said...

thanks Beth, you get so used to needing it and then its gone. :(

Unknown said...

I'm a SNOWMAN Freak! I'll admit it I love snowmen..Socks sheets, shirts, toys, you name it and I most likely own it. My daughter who will turn 3 the day after Christmas even goes around singing Frosty the Snowman.
So each year I go out and look for that special snowman to bring home and add to my collection. This year it happened to be the hallmark collection Frosty since it reminded me so much of my daughter. It's always a great sight at Christmas to see my hubby's face when he has to take the 7 tubs of Snowmen down...LOL

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, Jane, congrats on the chook!

Beth, what a lovely tradition! And how wonderful that you're already plotting another generation of readers. One of the wonderful things about my cruise was that so many people were clearly having a wonderful time curled up with their books (I saw the occasional Kindle but most of these people were reading the old-fashioned paper and print versions). Restored my faith in the reading public!

catslady said...

What a great idea. I wish I had thought of it. I do the ornaments lol. It started with an uncle who both both my girls ornaments but he stopped a few years back which is sad I think but I also got them ornaments and still going strong. My oldest is married and took hers with her and loves them as much as I do. I still have my 23 year olds until probably next year but luckily I still will have enough to fill a large tree lol. (I do have a couple of storage bins of children's books though for them to eventually take. I always overbuy when it comes to books!)

catslady said...

I should proofread my comments lol. who "bought" both...

Oh, a great book to add to your collection is The Littlest Angel - it will make you cry!

Nancy said...

Ms. Hellion wrote: I have a collection of ornaments: Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. :)

Why am I not surprised? :-)

I bet they're terrific.

Nancy said...

Gannon, we have a dancing Santa that belonged to my parents (I think he maybe plays a recorded song, but I'm not sure), and we have a small British Santa figuring and a small Scandinavian one. The dh's sister made a big, stuffed Santa who sits on top of the stereo speaker every year.

chey said...

My Christmas collection is Christmas ornaments! I've had to quit collecting them, I'm running out of space!

Sheree said...

I do sort of have a collection of reindeer tableware from Pottery Barn; they're so cute. I don't buy a piece every year though; it's not like I really need Christmas-themed service for 12.

RFTC Blog said...

I don't really do much collecting now unless you count books. When I was younger I used to collect snow globes. Every year for Christmas my mom would buy me a new one. I don't collect them anymore because I simply don't have the room for them. I do still have all of the ones from when I was a kid. I don't think I could ever get rid of those.

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, Savannah! I often think about how fun it would be to collect snowmen. We get lots of snow so I could display them for at least 5 months of the year :-)

Love that you still have ornaments from when you were a kid. I have a few and they're very special to me *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Hi, Petite! Thanks - I'm glad you enjoyed the post and that you stopped by :-)

Beth Andrews said...

traveler, I'm hoping these books mean something to my kids. If not, maybe I'll get to keep them *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Oh, elaing8, snow globes would be a fun collection! Maybe that'll be my next one :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, alinaduffer! That is such a great idea that you and your friend exchange gifts you each collect *g* I still love the Precious Moments figurines I have :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Of course, I would be happy if I would see ANY STAMPS AT ALL on envelopes, not just some white sticker with the date and the price of postage.

Minna, that does make it difficult for stamp collectors! I love the sound of your collection *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, Janga! I love Auntie Claus - so much fun! I'll have to check out the other books you mentioned, they sound great *g*

Beth Andrews said...

I do collect Nativity scenes, many of which are wooden or resin, very kid-friendly, so the children can play with them.

Jo, that is such a great idea! I often played with my mom's nativity scene. She passed it down to us but the poor characters have been through a lot and are a bit chipped *g*

Beth Andrews said...

I didn't want a bad movie version to ruin a wonderful book, do you know what I mean?

Gillian, I haven't seen it but I do know what you mean. I'm not big on movies or tv shows based on books. The only exception are the Harry Potter movies *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Thanks, Susan! Honestly, setting them out is my favorite part of decorating *g*

Louisa Cornell said...

Jane can start a collection of creatures who are full of themselves and she got the First Edition with the GR !!!


Beth,

What a lovely idea. Your children will cherish those books and I hope they become a family legacy.

I have a nice collection of Regency Christmas Anthologies that I pull out every year to read.

I do have several collections of Christmas ornaments and I pick one to adorn my tree each year.

I have a collection of :

Teddy bear ornaments

Dog and cat ornaments

Bird ornaments

Brass ornaments each inscribed with the names of my pets past and present

Victorian ornaments

Cartoon character ornaments

Ornaments from all of the places I've visited over the years

Musical ornaments

I have them all packed away in rubbermaid containers and each year I drag them out and decide which collection to use. This year I chose some from each collection to adorn my tree.

Linda Henderson said...

I have a small collection of snowmen, I like snowmen. I usually buy ornaments for my grandkids every year.

Beth Andrews said...

But he's a teenaged boy. What did I expect?

Ouch is right, Nancy. Luckily, teenaged boys grow up and I'm guessing one day he'll care about stuff like that *g*

Your collection sounds very cool! I need to start traveling more so I can start buying ornaments to remind me of my trips :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Virginia, that was so thoughtful of your sister to buy your son ornaments! They seem to be a popular gift - and they bring such great memories *g*

Beth Andrews said...

I have a collection of ornaments: Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. :)

LOL, hellion! For some reason I'm not surprised :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Hey, Andrea! That's a great collection and so much fun for your daughter *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Thanks, Blodeuedd, I have a lot of fun picking out the books each year :-)

Beth Andrews said...

I have a couple of spun glass ones that could hang from the tree :)

I bet those would be lovely on a tree, Cath! Great idea :-)

Beth Andrews said...

When they both move out, I'm going to have to buy more ornaments for the tree.

Then you can start a collection for yourself *g* I love how you buy ornaments to remind you all of your family vacations!

Beth Andrews said...

LOL, runner10! Maybe you could put up two trees? *g*

Beth Andrews said...

It's always a great sight at Christmas to see my hubby's face when he has to take the 7 tubs of Snowmen down...LOL

LOL, BJ! I've found that everyone helps putting up the decorations but no one is ever around when it's time to put them back again and take the tree down *g* Weird how that happens!

Your snowmen collection sounds fabulous!

Beth Andrews said...

Anna, I've done all I can to get my kids to be readers *g* Not sure it took with the boy but the girls enjoy curling up with a good book!

Beth Andrews said...

I always overbuy when it comes to books!

You and me both, Catslady - lol! I always told my kids I'd buy them as many books as they wanted *g* And when they were little, I was always on the lookout for picture books I could read to them. We still have quite a collection on teh shelves :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Chey, having no space is a real problem for collectibles! I keep trying to figure out new ways to display all of our books but figure in a year or two, there won't be a flat surface left :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Sheree, that reindeer tablewear is so cute! For me, the problem I have with extra plates (of which I have a few *g*) is wear to store them!

Beth Andrews said...

Danielle, I feel the same about my music box collection. I have one with a broken bottom but I could never throw it out as it was a gift from my favorite uncle *g*

Hope you have the room to display the snow globes you have!

Beth Andrews said...

What a lovely idea. Your children will cherish those books and I hope they become a family legacy.

Thanks, Louisa. I hope they mean something special to the kids when they're adults and are something they want to pass down to their own children *g*

Your ornament collection sounds fabulous and so much fun :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Hi, Linda! There are such cute snowmen to collect, I'm afraid I'd quickly run out of room *g*

Pissenlit said...

Ooh! Children's Christmas books! What a nice tradition! When I was really little, I received a delightful children's Christmas book one year that I totally treasured. I still have it tucked away somewhere.

I haven't any Christmas collections but I do try to add an age appropriate book or dvd that I've enjoyed to kids on my gift giving list.

Landra said...

My Christmas Collection is memories. My husband and I take photos and videos of our children in their PJ's opening up the gifts, plus the all important Christmas Tree shot filled with gifts underneath.
Our family lives 3-4 hours away and usually we spend Christmas by ourselves. So the collection is not just for us, but for those who cannot be with us on that great day.

Pat Cochran said...

I've started several collections
over the years: Santa figures &
angels, but let my interest lapse
a few years back.

Books are something I've given my
children, & now my grandchildren, every year. A few years ago, I read
about someone's tradition of having
a birthday cake for Baby Jesus. We
adopted this custom and each year
I now give the family a b-day cake
to further this practice.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Pat Cochran

Beth Andrews said...

I do try to add an age appropriate book or dvd that I've enjoyed to kids on my gift giving list.

Pissenlit, that's a great idea! I try to share some of my favorite holiday movies with my kids and even had my older daughter watching Holiday Inn with me the other night *g*

Beth Andrews said...

Slush, that's such a good point - memories are the best collection *g* I have a few small photo albums filled with just Christmas photos that I love to go through each year :-)

Beth Andrews said...

Pat, some members of our family do the birthday cake, too! What a wonderful tradition *g*

Anna Campbell said...

Petite, did you see that you were one of Elizabeth Essex's winners this week? Check down the posts until you come to the prize one for
EE to get the details of how to contact her. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

My main Christmas collection is Christmas books. I have one full shelf, double stacked of Christmas anthologies, another shelf of children's books, another shelf of novels, and a whole big box of Christmas books with no where to put them. I have already added about 10 more this year.

Tawny said...

Hi Beth :-) I'm sneaking in late, but love your post. What a fun idea, collecting books! And how odd for a writer *snicker*.

I collect unicorns and dragons in real life, and my unicorn collection has spilled over to Christmas, with a number of ornaments that have been gifted to me over the years.

and I discovered this year when I was unpacking the Christmas decorations that I seem to have started collecting stockings, since we have TONS of the suckers of various decoration and type. Totally strange LOL. I decided to hang them all around the house and my oldest daughter asked if we had a couple dozen new people moving in for Christmas morning *g*

Beth Andrews said...

librarypat, I wish I could see your collection! And I'm so envious you've arleady 10 to it this year *g* Makes me want to go Christmas book shopping :-)

Beth Andrews said...

I decided to hang them all around the house and my oldest daughter asked if we had a couple dozen new people moving in for Christmas morning *g*

LOL! Does one have my name on it? If so, I'll get the first plane out today ;-)

My kids each have two stockings - one here (I made counted cross stitch stockings for the older two and bought one for the youngest but am still on the lookout for a counted x-stitch one to make her *g*) and knit ones at my mom's. The knit ones hold a lot more. They really stretch :-)

Fedora said...

Just the ornaments, but we aren't actively trying to expand the collection--the kids are still adding to it each year with school ornaments, etc.

Congrats on the GR, Jane!