We set up our tree this week.  After the fully acknowledged stress of tree getting, cutting, hauling, shoving, carrying, tipping, watering, lighting, decorating day, it is so nice to sit and reminisce about Christmases long, long, ago by checking out some hand made ornaments.   Here are a few I have made, maybe they will spark some creativity for you!

Grab yourself an old metal cookie cutter, some scraps of paper, some tinsel, and your handy dandy glue gun, and you’ve got yourself a one of a kind vintage ornament.

This one started as two chipboard cut outs that I glued patterned paper on to.  Then I punched some holes, strung some sparkly beads on thin silver wire, and stamped the word peace on the heart.  If you don’t have the chipboard cut outs, use that cereal box in the recycling bin and cut your own perfect shapes!

How’s this for easy?  Clear glass ornament, thin strips of pretty paper, and a chopstick.  Open the top of the ornament, curl each strip of paper around the chopstick, pretty tight and then put the chopstick into the ornament and slide the paper off.  Fill it with as much paper as you want, maybe even add some glitter!

This is a Polish Star Ornament.  I had the great idea one year to make these for everyone I knew.  I watched a few Youtube videos and then made one; this one.  It’s super cool, fairly easy in concept, but a little too time consuming for me.  Here’s a video if you want to give it a go.  See if you can make more than one!

A tradition that I started in my home, is to gift my husband an ornament that signifies something we did during the year.  Like a trip, or family thing, or like this, the time he did nothing but catch mice ALL YEAR LONG!  This is an antique multi-mouse mouse trap that I prettied up with ribbon and a nice piece of paper cheese tied on with tinsel.

And finally, one of my most favorite ornaments is this whistle.  So easy to do.  Find an old toy from the toy box, or the cereal box, or where ever, tie it up with a piece of string, and voila — ornament.  This one is special to me because it comes from the first tree my college room and I ever had, on our own, in our first apartment.  I think the tree topper that first year was a Lieutenant Worf action figure (Star Trek The Next Generation); it was a great tree. . .