Joanna Gaines Shares Her Family's Heartwarming Christmas Ornaments Tradition
Her mother-in-law, Gayle, inspired this sweet annual gesture.
Chip and Joanna Gaines have such a sweet family. While we'd love to be invited over for a holiday dinner in their Waco home, stealing one of their cherished traditions may be the next best thing.
In a recent piece from Joanna Gaines on her Magnolia blog, we learned exactly which tradition we'd want to add to our holiday repertoire: Exchanging ornaments at Thanksgiving with loved ones.
Here's the sweet backstory from Joanna's post:
Our family's tradition of gifting ornaments each year began with Chip's mom, Gayle. The first year that Chip and I were married, I wanted to decorate our Christmas tree based on a specific color story—and decided it would be an all-blue theme. That same year on Thanksgiving, Gayle gifted us a bright red [Christopher] Radko ornament. Truthfully, I hesitated putting it on the tree because I knew it would throw off my color theme. It makes me laugh now, but at the time I truly thought to myself, "Where am I going to put this?" I finally convinced myself that the sentiment mattered more than the aesthetic, so I went ahead and placed it on the tree. What I learned to love was this: Though that ornament stuck out in stark contrast to my blue tree, that bright red ornament told a story. Not only was it a heartfelt gift from Chip's mom, but the ornament signified our first Christmas together, and that made it worthy of the spotlight.
Fast forward to today, and Gayle gives all of her grandchildren an ornament on Thanksgiving and mama Joanna does the same for all of her children. ("Like a football for Drake the first year he started playing or a pair of skis to represent a family ski trip," Gaines writes of her thoughtful selections.)
This heartwarming anecdote has certainly inspired us to think about exchanging ornaments with our friends and family this holiday season.
Admittedly, we wonder if the Magnolia store sells a gorgeous little modern farmhouse charm that says Fixer Upper on it to symbolize the joy the show brought us. For now, it looks like this paintbrush ornament will have to do.
What's your favorite holiday tradition?