A Handmade (Ornament) Christmas

December 11, 2012

written by Cathy Baker, mom of two sweet tween girls, living in the Ozarks of Missouri

There is just something about handmade gifts at Christmastime. They are the presents I most look forward to giving. And they are the ones I cherish the most year after year. Especially from those loved ones who have left this Earth.

It’s one of the things I love about getting out my Christmas decorations, and especially with decorating my Christmas tree. So many ornaments have such deep memories, so many made-with-love-thinking-of-me-ones, and I can’t help but smile as I place them on my tree each year. So with that heart in mind, I’ve found a few ornaments you still have time to make! Enjoy the inspiration…

“Mistle-toes!” Oh I wish I still had baby feet in my house because I think this is one of the most adorable ornaments ever!! Complete directions to make this can be found here.

How cute are these snowman ornaments made from your child’s fingerprints!! She has several other styles and complete directions over at Under the Table and Dreaming. If you need oven-baked clay, just order here, and amazon can have it at your door in just a couple of days!

Look how simple these ornaments are, and yet how pretty!! A star cookie cutter would be cute too! Complete directions over at Garden Mama blog. And if you need a good set of metal cookie cutters, check out the selection at amazon.

My husband and I actually made the above ornaments for this Christmas – for our daughters (star wars and volleyball), for volleyball coaches, and for family members to remember Gram (she loved scrabble!). He cut out a base and we just used wood glue to attach the tiles on. Added a couple of eye hooks, attached wire, and strung on some beads, but you could just leave it a plain wire too. And while I hope you make your own, I also have some for sale on etsy, if you’re interested, take a look! And all you sweet readers can get 10% off with the code GSG10!

I know this one isn’t necessarily one you’d give away — but I sure wish I had thought of this for our first Christmas tree, or my daughter’s first Christmas! How simple! Yet how neat to pull out year after year! (And I won’t even go into the fact that we now have a fake tree…sigh…oh, how I miss our ‘real’ trees!)