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It was Thanksgiving weekend last year when I first found out I would be buying my ugly duckling of a house. The moment I heard I was under contract, I called my parents to let them know I would be starting my new year with a new home (the closing was New Years Eve).
One of my favorite gifts to mark the start of my new life was the collection of Christmas ornaments from my family. Merck Family Old World Christmas ornaments are a brand that my mom and aunt have been handing down and collecting for years. They make uniquely shaped blown glass ornaments covered in glitter. And when it comes to the holidays, I am all about sparkle!
One such ornament was in the shape of a mailbox. For my first real house address.
Another was one that closely resembled my house in the snow. With glitter (and cleaned up a bit).
Another favorite gift was for use year-round: my mother has copied our family recipes into my own book.
Each recipe is hand written and included some that had been handed down for generations on both sides of my family. How special is that?
By far, my favorite gift last year.
What gifts did you receive as a new homeowner that were special to you? I’d love to hear your stories!
The family recipe book is so special!! I love that your mom took the time to hand write everything
Oh wow. Those are really special! :) Your Mom took alot of time to write out and bind all those recipes – what a treasure!
Last year we received a very cool ornament for Christmas from Tom's Grandparents, which was an artist's painting of our new house. It was pretty good, too – lots of details, and at first I was convinced it was a photoshopped and filtered photo (haha, I'm such a skeptic), until I realized that some real-life errors had been made – like that our front window had 5 panels instead of 4.
It was, and still is, one of my favorite gifts.
~Chelsea
So, when are you changing the name of the blog to, “Hey, This House Looks Pretty Good, and We Have Some of the Most Awesome Stuff”?
What a wonderful gift…
Having lost my mum quite young I can tell you how special that will always be to you.
Jo xx