I am trying hard to keep my cool. This year I have two trees, one in the living room and one in the den.

I decorated the Den tree and the kitchen. I told my grandson he could decorate the living room tree and end tables.

The only thing I did was put the lights on his tree. Everyday he  picks from a craft book some decoration he wants to

make. A friend stopped by and had the guts to tell me that the THINGS he was doing was going to make the whole

houselook bad. I told her, to me it was going to be the most beautiful part of the house this Christmas. I would have

said more but I am a Christian woman. I had to pary hard for forgiveness of what I wanted to say.

To me Christmas is all about Jesus, family and giving.

His tree is full of colorful pictures of Jesus, and wise men, a barn, the manager, all kinds of farm animals. He is so proud of it all, just as I am.

Oh I don't blame you sister!  I hope she didn't have enough ignorance in her that she actually said it in front of your grandson!  And if she did....makes you want to stoop to her level and politely aim the old size 8 boot at her size 40 butt and boot her out the door huh!  Some people in this world are so ignorant and unhappy with themselves that the only way they can find true happiness is by stealing from those of us who DO have true happiness and know what it means, and then 9 times out of 10 go off and brag about it.  Most like that are not regarded highly in any type of society of which I assume you to be a part of (you know...the dignified class, ones with true beauty, with more important things on their mind then what someone else is doing all the time.....those of us with a NORMAL sized nose on our faces :P  Hope this makes you feel a little better.  As for grandson, would love to see a picture of that tree!  Every year my son helps me decorate and no, the ornaments may not be where they are supposed to be and whatever, but the look on his face when he is finished is the BEST Christmas decoration I could ask for!

I don't know how to post a picture here or if we can. I tell you what if you will PM me your email address, I would be glad to send you a picture of it.

I love, love, love the kid-made ornaments on our tree! Love to drag them out and talk about who made what and when.  Every year we make a new one for the tree with the little ones. I figure when they move away from home they can take them with them.

Last year we did marshmellow nativity ornaments (actually cheated and got the kits from Oriential Trading that year). One year we made dog bone ornaments and made extra for friends. They thought they were so adorable. Here is a link to what how they are made: scroll about halfway down http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/christmas.html  We moved the bow from the dog's head to it's neck and you can make them really Christmas-y by adding Santa hats.

I would have been upset with my friend and politely told her that we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and that God is pleased with even the littlest child's efforts in honoring Him, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

But I digress, I always think of things to say after the fact, so I probably would have just stood there, dumbfounded and speechless.

I hope he didn't hear her.

I hope she didn't have the audacity to say that in front of your gs.  What an awesome idea.  He will grow up with that special memory of you.  Maybe she celebrates a "Consumer Christmas".  Anyway, that is wonderful I hope he knows what a special grandmother he has.

I love the ornaments that my children have made and keep making!  My son always complains about them.  I do purchase each child a new ornament each year (After X-mas Sale) so they can take them with them when they grow up and move out.  But the homemade ones are mine!!!!  They aren't going anywhere but My Tree Every Year! 

I have a friend that has always fussed at her kids for bringing weeds into the house!  My kids say ma-ma why does she say flowers are weeds?  I tell them that some people see Weeds (Deserve)  But I always get lovely wildflowers! 

I have some rather, uh, rough?  looking decorations that I put out only because my kids made them.  None of them match anything else, but I always look at them as the most interesting.  Shame on that woman for not having a clue how much more special those kinds of decorations really are.

Cindy I sent you pictures. I think letting the kids make their own and help is so important.

M

For me thats what makes my christmas. The children!. It just made my grandson so happy to do his very own tree. He is only six.

I am glad that other people feel the same as me about this.

I wouldn't have been as nice had she said it in front of him.

I got the picture!  I love that tree!  I sent you an email back.  I can't wait to get back into decorating with my son.  We used to do it every year, and most times I would have some of my other grandnieces/grandnephews there too and they would all get to want to making one to put on.  I loved it!  We also have a tradition where every year we go and he picks out an ornament of his very own for the tree that symbolizes the biggest thing for him that year (one year it was Winnie The Pooh, one year it was Blues Clues, this past year we got to get an "Our New House" ornament YEAH!!, and now he gets to pick out one for little brother too, until he gets old enough to pick out his own :) )

Merry Xmas to you!

Keep up the good work Grandma!

Nina, no I have always lived in Ga. Hope you find your friend someday. I have a couple of friends that moved away, I would love to find them.

She was out of line by saying that in your home and just plain wrong.

A mother of my (then) teenage daughter was in our house when we were decorating for a birthday party. She had the nerve to tell my young son and his friend NOT to put up some of the decorations I told them to put up because they would look "STUPID". I was in the other room but when I came out my son and teenage daughter told me what she had said. I said to her " When we are at my house we will do things MY way. When I am at your house I will NOT tell you that what you are doing is stupid".  Then I told her she had to get her bill paying project off of my table because we were having a party. She said "I guess I better leave" and I said "Yes, I think you should". 

Some people just do not have a clue about how to be civil.

I am sorry this happened to you.

Sherry

I feel sorry for that woman. Obviously, she is completely missing out on the joy of knowing how to appreciate and enjoy little children. She also does not know how to respect other adults in their own home.

I had something similar happen once. Boy, was I mad and I'm a christian too.

A mother of my teenage daugthers girlfriend came over when we were decorating for a birthday party. This woman had the nerve to tell my younger son and his friend NOT to put up the decorations I had just told him to put up because they would look STUPID.  I told this woman that when we were at MY house we would do things MY way and when we were at her house I would NOT tell her that what she was doing was stupid.  Then I told her to get her things ( she spread her bills out to work on them ) off of my table because we were having a party. She said "I think I better leave" and I said " Yes, I think you should".

Some people have NO clue how to be civil or enjoy others.

Sherry

You are 100% right! That is the best part of Christmas. I  have my kids make ornaments to hang on our tree and to send to relatives. Nothing is better than something a child has made! Nothing more beautiful. tell her if she doesn't like it she doesn't have to come over and look at it! Ever!

Johnnie,

People say the meanest things. My own mother insulted me on Thanksgiving,but thats another story.

As for your "friend", she is no friend at all. My favorite decorative items were the holiday pictures/collages/posters that my son made when he was in preschool and 1st grade. We hung them every year on the front door and around the house until the paper yellowed and ripped.

Family is the greatest treasure of all and the holidays ARE for family. Put those decorations up with pride.

Merry, merry,

Jill

Wow what your friend said was harsh. It is actually kind of sad that a person is unable to put themselves in a child's shoes and think of Christmas in a more joyful way through the eyes of a child.

We have one tree in the house. My boys put on all the ornaments that are not made of glass. They have done this since they were toddlers and preschoolers. They do it at the height they can reach without a ladder. I do the glass ones which end up being up higher. I ask only that each branch have one ornament only and that they make sure the branch is strong enough and that it is hooked on well. Other than that I bite my tongue about how I think it looks. Well I give hints about big bare spots when I see they are cramming a ton in to just one spot.

I bought two small artifical trees (about 18 inches tall) on clearance. They are on the table in the foyer. Each child gets one tree. They decorate it completely with zero input from me. Those trees are very imperfect and clutterd up looking. But they are lovely and sweet and "all theirs". They really are proud of those trees. The trees have raised some eyebrows with some friends and I explain they are the boys' trees and then they smile.

Wow, the things that come out of peoples mouths never fails to amaze me. I'm so sorry you had to put up with her rudeness. I love the things that my children make. I have just about no other decorations in my home and I love it all!

This year I just let my two youngest decorate the tree.  The only stipulation was it had to be blue and white.  That's my fave.  They didn't care.  They just painted all of their pictures in those two colors, with some silver thrown in.

Just to mention, all the lights and garland are on one half of the tree.  There aren't any blue lights up on top and no white lights on bottom.  Who cares!  Tell her to go back to her house and redo it.

2 years ago we had Christmas at my parent's home in Mexico.  FYI, no Christmas decorations to be found anywhere, no tree, no wreath, no lights, no tinsel, nada!  So my step mom was able to find some paint, and she whipped together some flour and water and we made ornaments, cooked them, and painted them.  Adults, teenagers, little ones.  It was one of the funnest times we had there during that holiday!  We hung them from a tree they had in a pot (not a pine tree), hung cranberries and popcorn.  It wouldn't win any decorating awards, but, not the point.  I'm sure your tree is as lovely as can be to you.

Gosh, she'd hate our house! We LOVE homemade decorations around here! =)

Well our tree is up and the only contribution I made was to straighten a couple of branches. (My DH got to add the tree-topper "cuz he's the tallest mom!").

Our tree has strands of beads on about 1/3 of it, no ornaments in the back and several bare spots BUT I LOVE IT!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

ETA : (Corrected spelling)

My favorite ornaments are the ones from my childhood. Every year the kids and I make more. We do the gold tinsel and somehow I got conned into buying Disney lights. When my Grandmother passed I snagged as many of her decorations as I could so needless to say our tree is easily the ugliest in town.

But its so beautiful to me. Nearly every piece on it has a story a friend or a family member attached to it.

When I look at our tree, I don't see how tacky it is, I see all the love it's holding.

Hmm, that lady would just hate my house then. My living room, kitchen, front entry, and hallway are decorated in what I call "modern kid"... which means pretty much every bare space is filled with some sort of kid artwork!

And the photos that I have up... are of course, of the kids.

Sort of shows where my priorities are, hmm?