Tar Heel Blog’s favorite UNC Christmas ornaments

Maybe you were given one by your grandmother the Christmas after the Heels won the National Championship in 2005, or maybe you gave one as an anniversary gift to your wife to celebrate where you met for the first time.

Ornaments to some people are glittery, sparkly, or just plain tacky; however, to others, they can tell stories about their lives just as well as books can.

Some ornaments are beautiful and elegant to accentuate the tree, while others spark memories and take us back in time to years gone by.

Some are purchased from Hallmark stores across the country and others are school-made trinkets made with love by little hands.

Whatever ornaments are to you, they are a special part of the Christmas holiday in my household. They are one of the things I most look forward to each December. Growing up we made a big deal of putting the ornaments on a tree as a family, and each of us would put up ornaments that either we created when we were younger or that had a special meaning to us.

The University of North Carolina also holds a special place in my life, so over the years I have been given various Tar Heel ornaments each Christmas. Some are handmade, some bring back memories from my time in Chapel Hill, some are from family members that are no longer living, and some are gifts to my two kids, but each ornament tells a story.

By now many of you have already set out to your favorite farm to cut down your tree or went up to the attic to pull down the family tree you have been using for years. Even though this is a busy and hectic time of year, I encourage you take a minute, look at your ornaments and see what stories they tell.

Here are a few of our own favorite Tar Heel ornaments that we wanted to share with all of the readers. Feel free to add pictures of your own ornaments in the comment section below.

• Jay may or may not be married to a Duke graduate, so there have always been questions about their kids’ fandom. This was selected by Jay’s son, so we know he made the right choice and has good taste. When his kids are older all of the ornaments they selected over the years will be passed on to them to put on their own trees.

• These were probably made after the football team’s 2004 victory over Miami.

• Alex’s grandmother gave this as a gift to both him and his dad. She gave it to them because there used to be a UNC Santa that would come to every basketball game in December (see above). When Alex attended games when he was really young, he used to always run down and see him, so it was a little reminder of those memories.

• Somewhat inspired by the premise of this article, Michael purchased his first UNC ornament just a few days ago. Hopefully, this will inspire others as well to fill up their trees with Tar Heel ornaments.

• One of my favorite ornaments. Thanks Student Stores.

• Given to me by a UNC alum (Thanks Brittney!) when my son was born because she knew I would raise him right.

• Another gift from the same UNC alum as above, who knew I would do all I can to brainwash my daughter into loving the Heels as much I do.