My mom still puts up ornaments that each of us three kids painted back in elementary school, as well as the fun old instrument ornaments, one or two of which still make noise when you blow into them (the French horn and the trumpet).
I managed to get my tree assembled in a few hours last night, but didn't bother trying to pull out the lights yet. They're somewhere in my closet, but since I have to work at the bookstore tonight, they won't start going up until almost midnight. I have to put the ornaments on, drape the ribbon around for garland, and then see if I have some wire so I can make up two big bows to top the tree tomorrow night.
Right now, the majority of my ornaments are cheapo glass balls that I got when my grandma passed away, but I'm slowly replacing them with keepsake and pretty ornaments that I'm accumulating over time. The nonbreakables get placed at cat-range, and the prettier ones go on top on the side facing the room (the cheapo ornaments go on the side facing the balcony door).