When it comes time to decorate our Christmas tree every year, we tend to lean more toward the family decorations – ones that Katie made or that were given to us to mark special occasions. But there are always a few ‘special interest’ decorations that make their way onto the admittedly fake branches that decorate one corner of our living room.
I worked at an incredible sci-fi/fantasy/comic collectibles store just before I started my journalism career. I was finishing up school and working to pay my car off. My friend John owned the shop – Federation Comics in Danvers, Mass., if anyone is from the area – and it was heaven for a sci-fi/fantasy geek like me. During that time I started to buy Star Trek Christmas ornaments. Over a couple years I ended up with a few, and then one of the first Christmases Amy and I spent together after we were married, we started to notice our tree looked more like a comic shop than a Christmas tree. We had the Enterprise D, a Romulan Warbird and a Klingon Bird of Prey, among others. They lit up and were wicked cool. But they just didn’t feel really Christmasy. So we started to scale back. We’d put one or two up each year in lieu of more traditional ornaments.
And of course, we’re a hockey family, so there are these:
The Bruins ornament is from the terrible years, so now it's like a trophy. And Gretzky as a Ranger? I know. It's just wrong.
But the real danger is that our tree could very easily start to resemble a Disney gift shop. I had to make a concerted effort to keep that from happening. Not that I mind having a zillion Disney ornaments, it’s just that I prefer a more traditional look. YMMV, of course.
So here they are – our limited, yet happy Disney ornament collection:
I love this one – the silver just really pops and it has a classic look.
I’ll include Pixar ornaments, too. “Ratatouille” is one of my favorite Disney/Pixar films.
Gotta have a Mickey/ears ornament. You just have to. Or… I just have to.
How many different ways can I say, “I love this one?” Well, I do.
This one probably means the most to me. Amy gave it to me the year my first book came out. She said she got it for me because it’s a “Mickey as a writer.” We know it’s Bob Cratchit, but he is writing at a desk, so that’s how I took it. It made me feel like she was proud.
What Disney ornaments do you have? Post pics of them to the Mousejunkies Facebook page! I want to see them!
Discussion
I don’t want to clog up your FB page with all of the photos… Just doing a quick count on the tree only – 15.
They are already on the tree which makes them hard to count, but we have at least 22. These range from the one my husband made in elementary school, to baby’s first Christmas(she is now 18) and up to 2011′s must have. DTD’s Day’s of Christmas store is by far one of the most dangerous for me. The last few visits have ALL included a new ornament.
Bill, we have a slightly different view. We are closer than you are to having our kids move out and take all their ornaments with them. That will leave us with our tree full of Disney memories.. a few other special memory ones, and yes.. my husband’s talking starship enterprise.. or whatever that is.
I got all the same nerdy star trek ornaments too. My favorite is of Kirk and Spock jumping through the guardian of forever. It’s totally over the top, garish, and amazing because it has no business hanging from a tree branch. As for Disney, we’ve got about 7. Our tree looks like a cartoon.
It’s not the starship Enterprise, it’s the shuttlecraft. And, it’s VERY Christmasy. You push a button and Mr. Spock wishes you Happy Holidays.
I love that Remy ornament! Never saw that one.
We have two trees. A regular one and a Disney tree. The Disney tree has over 50 ornaments collected over the years with a Mickey Mouse animated top. Just to make sure it is Disney enough, the monorail runs around the base of the tree.
Mack, that sounds awesome. Got any pics?
John C – I know that specific ornament well. If I remember correctly, that was highly-valued when I worked at Federation Comics, and was worth a lot of money! Not sure how it’s gone over the years since then, but it was once THE Star Trek ornament to have.
I have the shuttle craft too. The reason it’s worth so much is because it was the very first trek ornament Hallmark made. Getting Leonard Nimoy to do a sound clip for it was a big deal at the time.
Decided to decorate with nothing but Disney ornaments for Christmas during our annual trip in May 2011. It was a mystery to decide on the amount of ornaments but we went with about 35. There are no “Princesses” since we have 7 grandSONS.
The first ornament I see in your pics (silver) is on my small table tree. My little tree has about 20 baubles and 7 of them are Mickey and a Jack. We are leaving on Sunday for a week of oohing and aahing at WDW. I figured I would let them be in charge of decorations this year. Empty nest so off for a feast for the eyes and the bellies. Merry Christmas
Okay, I give. I’ve registered with your web site thinking that would allow me to upload pics and I still can’t figure it out.
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