Christmas cards and ornaments. I love them. They are two of my favorite Christmas traditions. I got my ornament fascination from my dad. Growing up, he always made such a big deal when we decorated the tree; proudly telling me the story of each one, marveling at them. I inherited that appreciation.
All the ornaments on my tree, we are talking close to two hundred by the way, have a story. My favorites are the handmade ones my grandma, mom and other relatives made. There are also many from family trees stretching over the last 70 some years. Then there are the ones I bought as my kids grew up. Every year I give them an ornament that represents them in some way. They each already have their own large box of ornaments to use on their future trees.
I also love Christmas cards. Getting and giving. I display the ones I receive in the den and the next year I will cut them up and make gift tags with some and others I just keep because they are pretty. I collect unusual cards all year round too. They can be beautiful works of art.
Years ago I was wishing I could give all my friends something special for Christmas, but I couldn’t really afford too. I must have been putting up some homemade ornaments on the tree at the same time, because I decided why not make handmade ornaments that could also be a Christmas card! I could make them out of felt and they would be flat enough to mail.
Every year around July I start thinking about ornament ideas. It usually takes a month to come up with what I want to do that year. Around October I’ll get serious about it and figure out how I can decorate it, what materials I will need and fiddling with pattern ideas. They have to fit in an invitation sized envelope, so I cut paper to that size and start sketching. Eventually I come up with the pattern and cut out the pieces. I like to start cutting out the shapes in November. Once all the felt pieces are cut I will start adding the beads and stitching. Because I make a freaking mess on the back with my haphazard non-sewing techniques, I sew a blank piece of felt to the back to hide it. I also include a funny picture of my kids. Usually labeling my oldest Naughty and my youngest Nice.
The ornament this year is the gingerbread house. The pic I included is selfie themed because the only way I get pictures of my girls is if I grab them off of social media <G> . There is a song called “Let me take a Selfie†so I referenced that.
GIVEAWAY
I am giving away some ornaments I’ve made over the years, I always make extras in case I forget someone, and a $15 Starbucks gift card.
To enter: Give me an idea for next year’s ornament in the comments below or you can tell me about a favorite ornament on your tree. If you don’t celebrate Christmas then tell me about your favorite holiday decoration.
Sharon Stogner
Blogger: I Smell Sheep
My favorite holiday decorations are all the different lanterns (with tassles) that can be made with red envelopes for Lunar New Year.
Hello! I finally made it here. The family decided they wanted to eat our big Christmas Even dinner at 5:30. Papa John’s pizza and Dunkin Donuts! Seriously… Thanks to everyone who has stopped by. I’m around now and glad to talk with anyone 🙂
My fav ornament I made was a rocking horse! Each member of my family including the larger pets gets their own ornament!
I’ve made a whole bunch of ornaments as well. I think some of the easiest ones have been the decorated pine cones. I hot glue a pine cone into a small terra cotta bowl found at a craft shop and then paint the whole pine cone green and sprinkle with glitter. Then I hot glued small plastic or glass beads as ornaments on it and hot glued a string to hold it on the tree. They come out really cute.
Merry Christmas all.
Because we have pine trees in our yard, we used to pick up the pine cones and do a simple ornament with a piece of yarn, some glue, and glitter.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Lynn
lareynolds0316@gmail.com
Super post, Sharon. I actually kept one Christmas card from box of twenty I bought to send out, as it is two cardinals in a pine tree with snow falling. Plan to frame it. 🙂
Have many ornaments collected over years. Most fave and now an expensive collectible by Hallmark collectors is the original Enterprise. Most of the year, it stays in my curio cabinet of dragons, carousel horses and more, but t Christmas it goes on the tree.
My mother and I used to make these type of ornaments at Christmas time. My middle sister was very young then we would make snowmen, toy soldiers, Christmas trees, and Christmas bells to name a few. I loved doing that and did something similar with my own kids when they were young. We would make homemade presents for their classrooms and for family members.
Pillowtext: those lanterns are beautiful! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Colleen: a rocking horse would be an excellent idea for next year’s ornament….wish you could post a pic of yours 🙂 our dog gets an ornament from our groomer each year.
Mary: that sounds cute! Something my youngest could make too 🙂 thanks for popping in for the flock!
Lynn: I miss having trees that produce pine cones. You can make so many cool crafts with them. Glitter and pine cones go together like peas and carrots!
Pamela: thanks for stopping by. Hope the church service was nice. What a perfectly awesome nerd ornament. I have many Hallmark ornaments my grandma gave me each year :). There is an Optimus Prime Hallmark one this year!
Kathleen: i make cookies with my kids to give out. They make a freaking mess but they were so proud of what they made. Thanks for representing the flock 🙂
My favorite ornaments are the ones my two sons made in school. One in particular always makes me smile when I hang it on the tree. My youngest, who spent most of elementary school on the teachers naughty list for being too social, was supposed to decorate a clear glass ball as ornament gift for parents. He cleverly took a little pompom and drew a sad face on it and stuffed it down in the glass ball and then drew jail bars on the outside with the caption,” save me.” Yeah, he never cared much for school back then.
My grandmother was a nurse’s aide way back in the day and she would collect the clear little dosage cups and give them to us to use in our Christmas decoration making. We would punch a hole in the bottom for the hanger but before we inserted the jingle bell inside we would cover the outside with glue and cover it with glitter or with beads. The jingle bell was strung on a piece of ribbon or pipe cleaner and brought up through the bottom to create a hanger for the bell. It was simple enough for the littler kids to make while we older children made other ornaments.
I had a friend make some ornaments this year with her grandsons. She made snowmen on the ornaments out of their fingerprints dipped in paint and they turned out so blasted cute! I wish I could post a picture here of them.
I love sheep ornaments! And I love this post. Baaaa Sharon rocks!
My granddaughter made those finger snowman ornaments last year for Christmas. They are adorable.
I love the ornaments my daughter has made through the years. I think you should do a penguin ornament next year!
Merry Christmas!
I used to make most of the ornaments on our tree. We always got an enormous “Griswoldian” tree, and it needed larger ornaments so I sewed them. I made up stuffed candy canes, geese, mittens, etc. I did needlepoint ornaments with beads and long tassels. My favorite were the gingerbread men. They were about six inches high and after they were stuffed I “decorated” them with little tubes of bathtub caulking — the white stuff works just like icing (looks like it too) and it’s absolutely permanent! Before it dried, I set sequins in it for “candies”.