Holiday Nostalgia

The weather is getting colder, and the holidays will soon be here. Tis’ the season to become crafty, at least for me. When I was a kid I used to make all kinds of things to give as Christmas gifts. I still do. I learned the pleasures of creating things with my hands early on. My mom was often sewing clothing for us or our Barbie dolls or she was baking or decorating. My Dad was the one that designed our Christmas cards and worked tirelessly on his amazing calligraphy.

Gold Plastic Ornament - 1964

Every year we each got a new ornament and my mom would put labels with the date and our names on them. When we got older and moved out on our own we had a box full of memories and ornaments to take with us and decorate our own trees. This is my favorite holiday tradition. Over the years many of my ornaments have gotten broken or lost but I still have a few that I thought I would share….they are a little worn around the edges but every year when I unpack them from the storage box, I take a little trip down memory lane.

Red Pixie - 1965 Angel with Deer 1967

When I have time, I still like to make my own ornaments to give as presents to family and friends. Making Holiday decorations is also an opportunity to re-purpose keepsakes, family hand me-downs, as well as vintage thrift finds.

Fruit & Veggi Felt Ornaments Birds and Fish Felt Ornaments

I still think handmade ornaments and decorations are the best! I’ve saved the ornaments our daughter made when she was little. This is an ornament we made with our her when she was 4 years old. We traced her hand on a piece of wood, cut it out, sanded and painted it.  Each year we would compare her hand to the ornament and see how much she had grown.

Wooden Hand Ornament

This time of year is great for finding ideas on the web, everyone is posting creative ideas for handmade ornaments and decorations.

Paper Ornament project from A Little Hut blog

This is a fun and simple project to make – from Patricia Zapata’s beautiful blog A Little Hut – she does some amazing things with paper.

For More Inspiration visit:
Sweet Something blog – upcycled ornaments project
Renest – upcycled star project
Everything Etsy – 101 Handmade Christmas Ornaments – tutorials

To buy some amazingly creative hand made ornaments visit Etsy.com – probably some of the most creative folks around are selling on this site.

Have a favorite ornament or tradition?  Find any good vintage ornaments while thrift shopping? Don’t forget this is a perfect time of year to support craftspeople and artists and to shop local. Have Fun!
More Later….