Every family has their own special Christmas traditions. Something that they do every year without fail, or it could be a way of decorating their tree. My Mom starting crocheting snowflake ornaments for us many years ago, so they’ve always held a special place on our tree. A few years back I “ordered” as many as she could make because I knew the day would come when she would not be able to make them anymore. I now have a plentiful stash.

This year we decided that although we have wonderful ornaments collected from Germany when we lived there, this year we would dedicate our tree to snowflakes. Some of you noticed them in my earlier post.

Okay, okay. You caught me. I did sneak something else besides snowflakes on the tree. I found these old-fashioned pipe cleaner Santas in a shop in Warwick and they just seemed perfect.

This year joining our tree is my Mom’s tree-topper angel. She’s been around for a very long time. Don’t you just love her “angel hair” skirt? Or perhaps it’s a cloud of angel hair that she is sitting on. Which do you think it is?

Also tradition are cookie press butter cookies. Although I deviate a bit from how Mom always decorated them, the designs are the same. A few years back I came across the same exact cookie press and templates that my Mom had in a local flea market. I snapped it up for a mere $9.00. I was thrilled! I had been using a different cookie press but the templates were somewhat different than Mom’s original ones.

Here are the cookies “hot off the press” so to speak and ready for decorating.

And here they are after baking. YummY! Freshly baked this afternoon!

I’m really proud of my sister because she made them today as well. Except for her it’s the first time she’s ever made them, as Mom always sent her cookies at Christmas. Ah, Mom. My sister called not long ago and the whole experience was going well.  She’s using Mom’s original cookie press that is a bit worse for the wear. It even has a band-aid on the spot where there is a hole in the casing so the dough won’t squirt out.

Traditions and treasures. Well loved and carried on. I know Mom would be happy.