Truly a work of art! And it was a family affair. The kids got to watch. Mom and Dad checked every light bulb, and Dad insured our safety by tying the entire production to the wall with a piece of rope so we wouldn't be surprised by a tree falling on us. And just so you notice--we also had the village set-up, which was comprised of a farm, Bethlehem, an electric train and little toilet brush trees. We kids thought it was the best, most splendiferous sight in the whole world.
My mother used to hang every single individual piece of tinsel, one at a time, so they'd hang just right--the old heavy-duty tinsel that didn't stick to everything and form blobs when a draft hit it from an opening door--had to be twenty pounds of it at least. Anyway, each of my brothers and sisters had a favorite ornament. When we were old enough, we got to hang it on the tree ourselves. Mine was a yellow ball with red lettering saying, "Merry Christmas." Today, although the yellow has faded, it hangs on our tree, right next to the angel on the star, which was Charlotte's favorite ornament from her family's tree when she was a child.
Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you make beautiful memories.