Holiday decorating: the tree

Ever since I was a child I've had fake Christmas trees. For some reason it just feels right. I don't need to go out and buy one, I just have to take it out of the box, put it on the stand, and fluff out the branches. No fallen needles to clean up, and you don't have to water it. Some people might think it's tacky, but I'm sticking with the old familiar plastic one. (I think it's made of plastic, at least.)

Since high school I've been decorating my tree with vintage ornaments from the 50s that belonged to my grandparents. I've bought a few similarly styled ones from antique stores over the years but nearly all of them have been in the family for decades.

I love the gold ball that says "Greetings" (though not "Seasons greetings," oddly enough).

There are a few non-vintage ornaments on the tree too, like this gold glitter-covered ball with a plastic angel in the middle, purchased from Toy Joy in Austin.

Serving as the angel at the top of the tree is this handmade ornament that I bought at Polk-A-Dot Variety in San Francisco (sadly, now defunct--it was such a great store).

There are a few items under the tree, such as these old Christmas 45s that belonged to my mom when she was little. They're pretty scratched up but they look pretty cool. The ceramic snow baby was part of the little Christmas village my grandparents used to put under their tree.

All lit up at night.