Nostalgic ornaments
Every collection has a few pieces that don't match anything else — a chipped glass ball, a photo ornament from a decade ago, something a child made in school. They rarely fit any "theme," and they don't need to.
These are usually the ornaments people talk about first when someone asks about the tree. The imperfection is the point: it marks a specific year, a specific kid's age, a specific version of the family that doesn't exist anymore except on that branch.
Worth keeping, always, even next to the shiniest new pieces on the tree.
