"How Lovely are your Branches"...

 
This is our "Tannebaum" this year.  We went for a Nostalgic tree.  It is actually one of my favorites.  I have three sets of ornaments..like I said in previous posts.  I have a Rustic Snowman Tree , very countryish and Classic All Santa Tree, which for the last several years the girls have voted to put that one up.  This year they voted on my "Victorian" ornament tree.  It has lots of lace, pearls, gold, glitter, whites, silver  and this year I added the Silhouettes of our family.  I have some of my parents  that they had done years ago at Disneyland I would love to add them to our tree but I bought all the frames at our local Aaron Brothers, so I'm on the hunt for another Aaron Bros to put their silhouettes in when I get the chance. 

 
 
 
 

 
Eventually I would like to have my In-laws silhouettes on the tree also, so in essence it is a "Nostalgic Family Tree"....

 
You might of remembered from this post that my husband's grandmother passed away recently and while my father-in-law was combing through her things he came across this beloved crystal spider.  As long as my husband can remember, when he went to his Grandparent's Home "the Spider" was on the tree and all the grand-kids took to locating "the spider".  Now she resides in a new home on our Christmas Tree.  It is really nice to have a bit of Lady Ponka with us on this Holiday. 

Here is a story that goes with the Crystal Spider...

Once upon a time in Germany long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning her house for the most wonderful day of the year.  the day on which the Christ Child was to come and bring the gifts on Christmas Eve.  Not a speck of dust remained.  Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corener in the ceiling.  To avoid the housewife's busy cleaning, they finally fled to the furthest corner in the attic.

Twas Christmas Eve at last; the tree was decorated and the children were delighted, but the poor spiders were frantic for they could not see the tree nor be present for the Christ Child's visit.  The oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peek through the crack in the door to see him.  Silently they crept out of the attic and across the floor to wait behind the crack in the threshold.

Suddenly the door opened and a wee bit and the spiders quickly snuck into the room. The tree towered so high they couldn't see the oranments at the top.  In face, their eyes were so small they could see only one ornament at a time.  They scurried up the tree trunk and out of all the glittering beauty, every place on the tree they went they left a trail of dusty, grey web..  When at last they had inspected every bit of the Christmas tree, it was completely shrouded in silky web.

The Christ Child smiled as He thought of the happy spiders seeing his tree.  But, as He thought of how broken-hearted the mother would be over the web-covered tree, He reached out His hand and touched the web and blessed the spiders.  They all turned into shimmering, sparkling silver and gold.  The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before.     

And so it became a custom to have a spider among all the decorations on Christmas trees.

Isn't that the sweetest story?  Our li'l Crystal and Gold spider fits in well with our Tannebaum.

 

Comments

[Amanda]

I love your tree. It's very pretty. Victorians thought that spiders brought good luck. That's why so many Victorian things include spiders. Merry Christmas.